Killed a beautiful 1905

[Yankeetom]

This is after 10 rounds. First 6 was 158 grain rnfp on top of 4.1 gn of w231, oal 1.455
What's behind the one sticking out the barrel is 158 gn lswc on top of 3.4 gn of w231, oal 1.475
I've loaded thousands and thousands of both of these combinations without any issues. I just bought this pistol and only had 10 shot's through it. Before going to the range I had it apart for a check out and cleaning. What a shame, it was a beautiful numbers matching 100+ yr old gun.
I'm thinking probably a light load.

 

[67tempest]

What a shame! Glad no one was hurt.

 

[Sevens]

That's awful and I'm sad for you.

One thing I've tried to preach over many years is that handloading for a revolver means that you always need to remember that there is a pressure bleed valve -- the cylinder gap willfully allows pressure to leak out. It is always there and it always allows this to happen.

And handloaders, especially brand new handloaders are (usually?) always very aware and somewhat afraid of making loads too heavy, they often don't realize the catastrophic danger of making them too light.

When you make a too light load in a semiautomatic pistol, there is less chance of sticking a bullet because if the cartridge case manages to seal up on the breech end, -ALL- of the pressure you have is retained to belch the bullet out of the barrel.

NOT in a revolver. As soon as the bullet loses it's will to travel, that pressure will simply leak out of the flash gap. And that pressure is needed.

I recommend to new handloaders to be careful and never go too light. And it gets even more sketchy when you use powders that aren't measuring consistently. And then worse again when you run plated or jacketed bullets that offer more resistance in the bore.

 

[6518John]

I just bought this pistol and only had 10 shot's through it.

Aren't 4-5 of those 10 shots still in the barrel!?

 

[austintexas]

disaster

OK, major goof, Watch the classifies Here, barrels do show up, another barrel can be fitted and the revolver won't be a total loss. I've replaced 2 barrels on M-15s I bought cheap because they had cracked forcing cones. Not that hard and you will save a nice revolver.
SWCA 892

 

[rockquarry]

How many bullets are in the barrel? Is that a jacketed, lead, or coated bullet sticking out?

 

[moosedog]

That's where a range scope comes in. If you feel a light load and don't see a hole in the target, stop and check the gun.
You can always make a snub nose.

 

[mikld]

If it don't make any noise or jump in yer hand, stop! and make sure the barrel is clear...

 

[SmithNut]

Too bad about the gun, and glad you were not hurt...

On the bright side, you can probably package that gun up as the latest in Tactical barrel porting, someone might want to have a lighter shooting .38 Special....

Sorry, making light of it as there is no other recourse for that fine old Smith...

 

[Vtgw938]

Thanks for posting this so that we are all reminded what can happen and to pay attention when something doesn't sound right when we pull the trigger. I have had a few squib loads with no powder but never a light load that actually goes bang, but holds the projectile in the barrel.

 

[nbedford]

The one sticking out looks to be a jacketed bullet. I tried loading and shooting some jacketed hollow points in my 44 Special with a moderate load of Unique. The first round sounded kind of funny; so I looked at he end of the barrel. The top of the jacketed bullet was flush with the end of the barrel. Being a bit contrary, I have never since then loaded my pistol cartridges with jacketed bullets. I heard a similar sound once while shooting a S&W H.E. in 32 S&W Long loaded with 98 grain lswc's. Somehow I had managed to not load powder in that particular case. I asked my cousin what he saw when I fired, and he said he had seen the bullet bounce off the paper target at 15 yards. It just does not take as much power to get a cast lubed bullet down the barrel.

 

[glowe]

It sure looks like a copper jacketed bullet sticking our of the muzzle? Light load and jacketed bullet is a no-no in my shop. Copper offers no lubrication and likely ran much slower than lead would have. Let us know if it is a lighting issue???

158g lead load is 3.1 to 3.7g and runs at 834fps max. By contrast a 158g jacketed needs 3.8 - 4.3g to get 779fps max.
I would, however, review your loads and reloading practices since it may not have been a light load, but rather much lighter than you thought you were throwing??? Operator error for sure, light load . . . not so sure. Pull all remaining loads in your box and weigh the powder. Check to see if you used fresh primers, all of the same manufacturer?

Too light a load is easy cause to place blame, but if you loaded this recipe thousands of times, I would rather think something else like a partial powder drop might even be more likely.

As I reviewed your original thread post, it appears that your load that stuck was supposed to be loaded with 4.1g 231. That would be near the top of the Hodgdon's loading guide. The lead loads that followed were not part of the original problem but certainly caused the barrel split. I would unload your plated loads and check the charge in all of that box.

 

[lowriderfxr]

Why do I get the feeling that this whole post was just a yarn?

 

[Yankeetom]

The bullet hanging out the barrel is a jacketed rnfp, the 2 behind it are 158 lead swc. Not an excuse but it was a noisy range and the .38 is always a soft shooting pistol, at least for me. At this point I'm not sure of the cause but a light load would do that, but the 4.1 grain charge of 231 isn't close to the Winchester load start number.

 

[CH4]

Weak/light crimp will also cause squibs, even with the correct charge.

 

[rockquarry]

The bullet hanging out the barrel is a jacketed rnfp, the 2 behind it are 158 lead swc. Not an excuse but it was a noisy range and the .38 is always a soft shooting pistol, at least for me. At this point I'm not sure of the cause but a light load would do that, but the 4.1 grain charge of 231 isn't close to the Winchester load start number.

Suggestion only, not a criticism... 4.1 231 is pretty light with a jacketed 158 bullet; you're probably getting 650 fps or so. 650 is fine unless you get a light charge (which may have happened), but I'd consider it a minimal velocity if you always want the bullet to always exit the bore and with a long barrel that low velocity becomes even more critical. 4 grs. or a bit more is okay with a cast bullet; it'll give you around 800 fps or so - that's safe.

There's a lot of confusion with 231 data; some of it that has been published is too light; avoid the low end on Hodgdon data. Most data is okay, however. Study several paper sources and compare; you'll generally find more there than on the Internet with the exception of the Hodgdon paper data for .38 Special. (I don't know if Hodgdon data is on the Internet; I don't use Internet data without verifying it against a paper source anyway). Good luck-

 

[smithra_66]

"Light" loads and jacketed bullets to me are a no-no.

Especially older guns where they wouldn't have been shooting jacketed anyway.

They are hard on guns even if they make it out of the barrel!

Either way, learning experience. You weren't hurt. you can pick up a barrel pretty cheaply probably.

Use it as an excuse to get into bullet casting if you aren't already!

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Or, a hacksaw and Voila! A "SNUBBY"?

 

[SS336]

M&P's are my favorite S&W. That is really to bad. I'm glad your alright, at least physically.
Hate to pile on but I do not shoot jacketed bullets in any of my handguns except the ones that I carry for self defense and they are factory ammo.
Even with lead bullets this can happen with reloads. It is hard on a noisy range to hear a squib, but you should feel it. I have a.38 and .45 caliber brass rod in my range bag to knock out a squib, luckily I haven't had to use either of them yet.
After seeing this I know I will be paying more attention.

 

[ejjeff]

Thanks for sharing your misfortune. You may have saved someone a similar experience.