Blew up my 629 today..embarrassed

If you can type that post, it seems you still have all your fingers and eyes. I'm glad you survived the experience with the loss of nothing more than a gun. I'm certainly sorry about the revolver, but I'm glad that you and anybody else in your vicinity managed to avoid injury.

My caution is reinforced and I learn something from every Kaboom story I read. I am feeling very well informed as I type this. Thank you for reporting your experience.
 
badguybuster said:
It can happen to anyone. Glad yer ok
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And, no, it cannot happen to anyone unless, they are not paying attention or are using a powder that is wrong for the application. I suppose that in those scenarios, if someone was to go against all of the long established norms of our wonderful hobby, then, yeah, it could happen to them.

I am no better than the other guy, the one that uses this powder in huge, cavernous, magnum cases, with little or none in the case, other than I am not that ignorant. Not better than them, I just made some assessments as to what is safe, consistent practices in a hobby that a blown up gun is one of the consequences of not paying attention.

I am not trying to make this a personal attack against the OP, I have, venom has, others that have lots more experience than me have warned against this "super duper nothing in the case non-position sensitive marketing hype" powder for a long, long time. I am sorry for the loss of a fine revolver but, what are the consequences of not paying attention while loading cartridges?

Maybe I just grew up in a non-mamby pamby place or something. Truth is a hard medicine to take at times. It seldom tastes good as it goes down but, hopefully it will be the medicine that keeps this ailment from rearing it's ugly head again!

To the OP, please, go over safe reloading policies again. I am wondering how the double, or triple charge got in the case in the first place. Go back to that place in your mind and correct your "system" of loading.

And, use the Titegroup for those peonies or something. It will be much more productive there than on your reloading bench! ;)
 
RussellD said:
Guns can be replaced-eyes and fingers are much more valuable. The most important thing is you and those near you were not harmed. Sorry to hear of your loss. I would display the revolver in your reloading area as a reminder.
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Couldn't have said it better.
As an extremely distant second to your health, the cost of another 29 can't begin to compare to an ER visit folllowed by a hospital stay.
 
Skip Sackett said:
As I said earlier, I am super thankful that you are okay......but.......if you had read a warning by me or another experienced loader about Titegroup and you went ahead and loaded it, anyway, you deserve to blow up a gun. Actions have consequences. Thankfully, no personal injury occurred this time.
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Self-righteousness doesn't carry much weight with me, I don't care how much experience you have. Something about stones and glass houses, those without sin and all.

I'm glad the OP is OK and was willing to share his experience with the rest of us as a reminder.
 
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WNC Seabee said:
Self-righteousness doesn't carry much weight with me, I don't care how much experience you have. Something about stones and glass houses, those without sin and all.

I'm glad the OP is OK and was willing to share his experience with the rest of us as a reminder.
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I don't read the self righteousness, just the frustration.
We've fielded many questions to the tune of "I want to load TG into this magnum load, what do you all think"
The guns we have saved go untold. it's these that have slipped the dragnet that truly sadden us. I can't help but feel a few fragments of the OP's 629 are a failure on my part. We tried, it's all in the history, but none the less this one got past us. and it stings a little.
 
I use Titegroup in some loads. It's just another powder as far as I am
concerned. It would be interesting to know your loading procedures
and how it would even be possible for you to get more than one charge
into a case. Titegroup isn't the only powder that could take your 629
apart with a double or tripple charge, and implying that a blow-up is
an inevitable consequence of using Titegroup rather than a loading
error is ludicrous. How about more details?
 
Here is a picture I found on the net......worth 1,000 words !!



m7tf6h.jpg
 
I too am happy the OP wasn't hurt. I have to agree with the above posts, Titegroup is a very dangerous powder for loading huge magnum cases.

I would also like to hear how it was possible to double or triple charge the case?
 
WNC Seabee said:
Self-righteousness doesn't carry much weight with me, I don't care how much experience you have. Something about stones and glass houses, those without sin and all.

I'm glad the OP is OK and was willing to share his experience with the rest of us as a reminder.
Click to expand...

Guess I am good to go then 'cause........I have never used Titegroup to blow up a gun yet! Since I don't use the powder, well, I guess I will never "sin", as you put it, in this fashion. :rolleyes:

No, the powder is not the cause of the problem here, reloading practices are BUT, from all the hype surrounding Titegroup, it was forgotten about case fill and the important part that it plays in handloading, hence, all of the warning by experience handloaders.

When the way that he was reloading comes out, single stage or progressive or turret, there will be folks that jump on that bandwagon as the reason that the accident happened too. I will still be criticizing the powder because of case fill. Case fill. Case fill. The perfect powder for the caliber will overflow the case on a double charge.

Why doesn't someone that has some do an experiment for us and report back. How many 4.5gr charges of Titegroup will fit in a 44Mag case and still get a bullet in, how many? So, reloading practices = powder selection in accordance with case fill/charge weight.

Titegroup is just dangerous in this area.........period.
 
here is my wifes lady smith i blew up about 20 years ago. i was useing 2.7gr. of bullseye with a 148gr WC i never knew how i through a double charge. then one day i was reading many guns have blew from light charges of fast burning powder with air space in the case! to this day i see no way i through a double charge.
IMG_3339.jpg
 
To the OP:

It's not anger you are reading in Skip's post or anyone else's. It's the frustration leaking through. I will admit to buying some Titegroup powder when I first started loading. My thoughts at the start were going about reloading on the cheapest. I saw all the load data and the small powder charges as being a great way to control costs. It was fine in 9mm but when I went to load .38 special I couldn't even tell I had dropped powder. As in I would drop the powder, look down there, and darn if I could even see it. Without additional light I found I could drop three charges before I could really see the powder. That's when I installed a lamp over my reloading station. I switched to HP-38 for a while and while it is still a small charge it's still more powder and you can see a double charge much more easily. I tried Bullseye for while and the more granular texture of the powder made it also easier to see by far than the Titegroup. I've learned that for my eye I can see HP-38 or Win 231 much easier than most other powders due to the silvery sheen and the slightly larger volume of powder per charge. Add to that they both meter out very easily from all the powder measures I've ever used.

BUT…

When it comes to magnum pressures there is just no replacement for slower burning bulkier powders. I personally favor 2400 for my loads and I no longer care that the bottle runs empty faster than any other powders during reloading. It's in your face obvious when you drop a double charge as the case will usually flow over the edges.

Reloading is already pinching pennies. It's not worth a couple more pennies to add so much risk with such tiny hard to see powder drops in magnum cases or high pressure spike risking auto loads.
 
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