Eye Protection – Use It!

[tndrfttom]

I took several 9mm pistols to the range today along with 5 partial boxes of my reloads. These partial boxes were left-overs from various matches and range sessions. The brass was Winchester with a combination of 115 grain FMJ and HP bullets with various charge weights of Bullseye powder.

At the time I was shooting a S&W M&P Pro Series (5 inch) CORE. As you can see in the photo the base of one case blew out and peppered me with hot gas, powder and whatever else can blow out the back of a pistol. Thankfully, no damage to me or the pistol but glad I had my eye protection on!

 

[jkallner]

Wow! First, I'm glad you weren't hurt - eye protection to the rescue for sure. Do you think you had a double charge or do you think the case was plain worn out? Did you experience anything different from a regular re-load?

 

[max]

I always do.

 

[BE Mike]

A friend of mine always wore glasses when shooting. The exception was the one time, he took them off and wanted to fire one shot from a rest after he had been shooting standing unsupported for a while. A very small piece of brass came back and put out his eye. Wear those eyes and ears! All those deaf shooters can't be wrong!

 

[Eric300]

Eyes, Ears, AND Gloves!

 

[vonn]

Bet that was exciting!

 

[Messer]

The firing pin hit is off center - it looks like the gun wasn't in full battery when the round went off.

 

[Racer X]

I took several 9mm pistols to the range today along with 5 partial boxes of my reloads. These partial boxes were left-overs from various matches and range sessions. The brass was Winchester with a combination of 115 grain FMJ and HP bullets with various charge weights of Bullseye powder.

At the time I was shooting a S&W M&P Pro Series (5 inch) CORE. As you can see in the photo the base of one case blew out and peppered me with hot gas, powder and whatever else can blow out the back of a pistol. Thankfully, no damage to me or the pistol but glad I had my eye protection on!

Some JB Weld and a file, and you can save that case.

 

[Sevens]

My buddy's M&P 2.0 Compact has done that TWICE. Out of battery. It's unacceptable but far more so, it {stuff that will get me suspended from the forum again} and it gives me even less confidence in the stuff they ship these days.

 

[Ruger 13]

How many times has that batch of brass been reloaded?

 

[stansdds]

Wow! The primer is cratered, but not flattened and that is one heck of a case head rupture. Either very weak brass or out of battery firing would be my guesses.

As to eye protection, always! I wear impact resistant polycarbonate safety glasses when shooting and also when I am making my reloaded ammo. These days, I often wear the safety glasses that feature a magnifying section at the bottom of the lens. Getting old is not fun.

 

[Moe Mentum]

I can't remember how many times my safety glasses were hit with pieces of burning powder, pieces of lead, and at a steel shoot a hunk of metal off a steel target. Once when I was a RSO, a brass casing ejected from a shooter put a really deep scratch in front of my left eye, without safety glasses, I would have lost the eye. Never shoot without them !

 

[Nevada Ed]

When shooting my .357 Magnum with full loads of IMR4227 and a 125 JHP bullet,
I felt something strike my left cheek.
It must have been copper shavings, since it was enough to draw blood.

Yes, eye's & ears are a good thing to have when shooting any weapon.

 

[H Richard]

Gives the appearance of a double charge. Happened to a friend of mine with a 45 acp, and the hot gasses cooked off the round underneath it, blew the mag out of the gun, shattered the grip panels, locked the slide back, and put a piece of brass embedded in his cheek . Sent his Ruger 1911 in and they replaced the grips & mag, and tested it and said it's fine use it.

 

[dave1918a2]

I always wear eye and ear protection. One of the main rules at My gun club. Even for spectators. Non members would say ' I'm not a member, so the rules don't apply '. They are promptly escorted off the property.

 

[Eric300]

My buddy's M&P 2.0 Compact has done that TWICE. Out of battery. It's unacceptable but far more so, it {stuff that will get me suspended from the forum again} and it gives me even less confidence in the stuff they ship these days.

So, immediately place all of the blame on the firearm and not the RELOADED ammo?! I would tend to believe the opposite in the OP's situation. Bad reload, or bad case. Seriously doubt it was the fault of the pistol.

 

[tndrfttom]

Wow! The primer is cratered, but not flattened and that is one heck of a case head rupture. Either very weak brass or out of battery firing would be my guesses.

As to eye protection, always! I wear impact resistant polycarbonate safety glasses when shooting and also when I am making my reloaded ammo. These days, I often wear the safety glasses that feature a magnifying section at the bottom of the lens. Getting old is not fun.

I think it was a weak spot in the web of the case; possibly a defective case, worn out brass – I don't know for sure. It did fail where the ramp is located at the entrance to the chamber. Double-charge overload? Could be, but I doubt it. Out-of-battery ignition? I suppose that's possible too. Whatever the cause, cartridge cases do fail and guns can fire out of battery. That's why I wear eye (and ear) protection. Better safe than sorry!

 

[S&WIowegan]

I have had several blowouts with used brass and handloads. When the 40 S&W cartridge came out in the early 1990s it was quickly adopted by USPSA shooters for Limited class. I was a very early adopter and did a lot of load development. Eventually, we settled on a heavy bullet and a fast powder to make major power factor. My favorite load was used brass (Winchester), Clays powder and a 220gr lead bullet. The load was low recoil and accurate. The only problem was used brass was a bit thin ahead of the head stamp. I experienced several case head separations which extracted the case head and fired the bullet, BUT left the rest of the brass stuck tight in the chamber. That disabled the pistol so I got a terrible score on the stage. I also had to go to a safe table and get the brass out of the chamber.

After several episodes, I changed powder, brass and bullet to something else!

Needless to say eye and ear protection are essential to this type of experimentation.