[sturmruger]

I did a few searches to see if anyone had posted this link before, but didn't see anything. I did email the user the owns the website to see what the rest of the story is on this gun. This must have been a scary shot! I can't even imagine what happened here. It was probably a guy that was trying some crazy new handloads.


http://iris.nyit.edu/~bithead/anaconda/


It seems like almost all of these are someone trying to squeeze that last little bit of power out of their .44 magnum.

[pezo]

I saved some of those pics as possible "wall paper" Although I hope the shooter by all means was ok after this happened , These pics are pretty interesting . hmmmmm anymore? anyone?

[sturmruger]

they would make good wallpaper they certainly have plenty of resolution. Hopefully I hear back from the guy that posted the pictures I am really interested to find out what happened.

[larry starling]

OMG! Some Moron ruined a perfectly good colt revolver! :what: I hope the poor guy is ok! Man I have seen to many pictures like this! Makes me shy away from reloads and reloading! I would hate to ruin a expensive gun trying to save a few cents buying cheap reloaded ammo! :cuss:

[Magnum88C]

Holy bird turds Batman!
That sucks.

Man I have seen to many pictures like this! Makes me shy away from reloads and reloading! I would hate to ruin a expensive gun trying to save a few cents buying cheap reloaded ammo!

Well, that's one reason I don't see how far I can push it with reloads, besides, loads below maximum are usually more accurate. Second, I won't EVER buy someone else's reloads.

[tc300mag1]

Boom here comes the Boom ... Either gunshow reloads or hotrodding it .. Its not a ruger Jezz they are call maxium loads for a reason :cuss:

[absolute0]

Every once in a while I'm glad I'm not a reloader.....

[Standing Wolf]

Yeah, yeah, yeah! A few bent paper clips and some duct tape, and it'll be back on the line.

[Vern Humphrey]

Classic double charge -- always, always use a loading block, and check each case with a flashlight before seating a bullet.

[larryw]

Double charge? I'd bet a hang fire and he already clicked through to the next cylinder when it went off (look at the bullet and crane).

This is why I reload all my own ammo: I don't trust some monkey or machine making mine.

[larryf1952]

Those pics are certainly food for nightmares. :eek: If I had to guess at a cause, I'd guess way too much of a powder that was too fast for a .44 Mag. But, that's no reason to fear reloads, if done with care and expertise. In 29 years of reloading, I've had one squib.

My Anaconda sleeps well within my safe, having shot only reloads.

[sgt127]

"Four Grains of Bullseye or four Ounces.....Oh well, we'll just see what fits..." :what:

[mrhuckins]

Thats what you get when you buy a cheaply made gun. :rolleyes:

[thatguy]

I don't like to use any load that can be double charged and not spill over. It's a problem with cases like the 45 Colt. I have a New Service that was double charged with 16 grains of Unique behind a 250 grain bullet. Even though the gun was made in 1917 it survived with just a bulged chamber. A replacement cylinder fixed it right up.

I wonder if the mount for the optical sight supported the top strap enough to keep it from leaving? That's what usually heppens when the top half of the cylinder blows out and this one looks like it was trying to leave.

[larry starling]

quote:Thats what you get when you buy a cheaply made gun. : What have you been smoking? What would make you call a Colt CHEAP? I in my 20+ years of owning and buying guns have never seen a cheap Colt! If you are in a area where colts are cheap please let us know! Of coarse opinions are like a*****e's everyone has one! :confused:

[mrhuckins]

I didn't say colts are cheap. I said they are cheaply made. As in J-U-N-K. Of coarse, this is just one a*****e's opinion. :scrutiny:

[The Rabbi]

Kuhnhausen's revolver book on COlts shows a Python in similar repair. The owner had 3 or 4 squib loads followed up by a double-charge .357. It blew the side of the barrel out, among other damages.

[yorec]

The pics say he wasn't hurt - good deal! But that just means he wan't bleedin' - the loss of his gun hurt him plenty! :uhoh:

Does look like a squib stuck in in the barrel to me too.

[Bart Noir]

Wurnt no cheeply made gun!!! I mean, after that "grenade" the cylinder could still be opened.

Bart Noir

[P. Plainsman]

The owner had 3 or 4 squib loads followed up by a double-charge .357.

That ... is not an ideal reloading scenario. :scrutiny:

[BluesBear]

I'd bet a hang fire and he already clicked through to the next cylinder when it went off (look at the bullet and crane). You'd lose that bet. :neener:

That's a classic over pressure burst. Look at the topstrap near the breechface. You can see where the pressure vented upwards as the cylinder split.
Also the Colt cylinder turns clockwise.

Plus when's the last time you encountered a hangfire on ammo loaded within the past 20 years?

[sturmruger]

Follw the link below for the rest of the story.


http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=1736175#post1736175

[klw]

I shot a S&W Performance Center 500 magnum for a while. The first year I used a load from the Hodgdon web site but I started at 5 grains below their recommended minimum. The recoil was absolutely horrible.

The second year I bought 8 pounds of titegroup. Set the load for the cast bullet right at the minimum recommended on the Hodgdon web site. Much less recoil.

I was using a turret press. The powder charge was weight and dispensed on the newest RCBS powder dispensing system. After the charge was put into a case the next die was a powder height checking die. Change of a double charge should have been zero.

Well the gun exploded. The cylinder blue out. The bulge was stopped by the frame. The recoil was so severe that the gun hit me in the face. The hammer completely cut through my safety glasses. Cut clean through the frame. It that hammer had been one inch higher it would have split my skull right about my left eye. Scared the shi@ out of me. Of course the gun was completely ruined.

I'm 99.99% sure that this was not a double charge. I called Hodgdon to ask them to reconsider that load. They made it ABSOLUTELY clear to me that they never made mistakes. That only reloaders made mistakes. NEVER HODGDON. Couldn't have cared less.

So was it a double charge. I don't think so. I think that it was a detonation. 500's do that. There was a very long thread on this particular explosion on the Smith site.

Oddly enough my gun had "collector" value. Sold it for what I had in it. Gun was collecting blown up 500's.

So this is interesting to me. I've long known that some believe that a small charge in a large case can detonate rather than burn. I didn't believe that until it happened to me. Now I wonder if this could be powder specific. Interesting idea.

I'm glad you weren't hurt. I know that in the few seconds it took me to realize what happen and to check to see if I still had both my eyes my accident scared the shi@ out of me.

[Vern Humphrey]

So was it a double charge. I don't think so. I think that it was a detonation. 500's do that. There was a very long thread on this particular explosion on the Smith site.


Do you have pictures of the gun afterwards?

"Detonation" means a chemical reaction propagated by a shock wave -- typically at several times the maximum theoretical speed of expansion of a gas. The "signature" of detonation is shattering and spalling -- if the gun detonated, you should find pieces in much their original configuration, but broken like glass. You should find where pieces broke off on the side opposite the explosion.

If you had a double charge, you should find pieces that are distorted and stretched by the pressure. They will look a lot different from those produced by a detonation.

[BluesBear]

I'm 99.99% sure that this was not a double charge. I called Hodgdon to ask them to reconsider that load. They made it ABSOLUTELY clear to me that they never made mistakes. That only reloaders made mistakes. NEVER HODGDON. Couldn't have cared less. By your own admission you are not completely sure you didn't make the mistake.

You have already demonstrated questionable loading practices by admitting to using a load that was... 5 grains below their recommended minimum

People who believe in the myth of detonation think it magically happens by using charges that are too small.
Prior to your mistake, did you not believe in detonation or just that it wouldn't happen to you?

The fact is detonations just don't happen in handgun cartridges with any powder available over the counter. Not even in in a case as large as the .500S&W.


You overcharged a case and blew up your S&W. I am glad you weren't seriously injured but don't try and blame Hodgdon.

[klw]

Must be nice to see life so clearly.

[BluesBear]

In the real world, many things are crystal clear.
Quite often William of Occum is right.

As my Father used to say,
The easiest way to learn is to pay attention.
The best way to pay attention is to shut your mouth and open your ears, open your eyes and open your mind.

[Vern Humphrey]

As my Father used to say,
The easiest way to learn is to pay attention.
The best way to pay attention is to shut your mouth and open your ears, open your eyes and open your mind.


Or as Will Rogers said, "There's three kinds of people. There's those that can learn from books. There's those who can learn from watching others. And there's those that have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."

[Selfdfenz]

I'm very glad no one was injured in these accidents. I have praise for the guys that shared these stories because I trust their aim in sharing is to get the rest of us to be safer and/or more careful. Everyone can decide for them selves if busting the thread starters chops is a class act or not.

A couple of points worth at least considering are:
1) the data on reloading the S&W 500 is not decades in depth, a few years only
2) the powder listed as being used in the 44 is a "relatively" new one IIRC, we only have a few years expereince with that propellant

I'm not saying an error in reloading did not occur in both cases but putting 1) and 2) together means considering all the possibilities makes sense.

(Come to think of it what was that Lil'Gun recall all about?)

Best
S-

[sturmruger]

I don't think it is even worth debating. This gun failed because of an error in the reloading process. The gun owner said that is what it had to be, nothing else makes any sense. Colts are kind of like Rugers they are known to be tough guns, but when you mess up something and double load a case this kind of thing is bound to happen.

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Well said SturmRuger. I've been a Ruger fan for the last 25 years and since I do tend to push things a bit hard with my hunting loads, I rely upon their strength and design. But the Colt's of the last couple decades are also very strong. Double charging just about any powder load in a pistol case is leaving the door open for disaster. Too much crimp on a heavy load can be detramental to the weaker handguns. They might not blow up, but I've even broken the frame lock on a Taurus model 66 when the loads were too strong. No real signs of too much powder, or split cases. Not even flattened primers, But frame damage was the result.

There have been comments about using powders that can't be double charged. Great idea. And that's what I do. But, even a 20% extra charge can be dangerous. So, All warm loads should be loaded single stage. Each one should be weighed after thrown. No,, Not every fifth one. Every charge. I also have a Dillon press. It's awfully tempting to speed up the reload process just because I can. But I don't with the hot loads. The Dillon powder measure is very reliable. But we need to be careful with heavy or even some light loads. I've been reading about light charging the .243. I've resorted to not doing it.

Owner of this mangled Anaconda admits his search for the one powder that fits all, allowed for the double charge. He admits that must have been what happened.

We should be thankful for his honesty. If this thread saves one firearm. One life or injury to someone by them making a change to their own reloading processes to be one step safer. That is worth his humility in public. He's lucky to be here to shoot another day.

Hopefully there are many that have read this thread that will analyze their reloading practices and adjust if neccessary.

-Steve

[BluesBear]

What Jack said +1.

[badgerrr]

"Makes me shy away from reloads and reloading! I would hate to ruin a expensive gun trying to save a few cents buying cheap reloaded ammo! "

Every time I hear something like this, I flash-back to the day I opened a spanking fresh pack of Remington 12 gauge rifled slugs only to find one round where the slug....had been loaded SIDEWAYS! :what:

Please don't think factory ammo is unquestionably safe. Life is a gamble. Spin the wheel and take your chances. :D

[TimboKhan]

Well, that's one reason I don't see how far I can push it with reloads, besides, loads below maximum are usually more accurate. Second, I won't EVER buy someone else's reloads.

This is a maxim that I wholeheartedly agree with. I think reloading is fun, interesting and a good idea for those that have the patience to do it properly, but shooting someone elses reloads, especially someone you don't know, is like kissing someone elses girlfriend, in my opinion.

[BluesBear]

Second, I won't EVER buy someone else's reloads. Good idea. Because, unless that other person has a #06 FFL, it is unlawful for them to sell their reloaded ammunition.
Technically, it is also unlawful to give away reloaded ammunition.

In the eyes of F-troop, reloading for anyone other than yourself is considered "manufacturing".

Don't confuse a #06 FFL (license to manufacture small arms ammunition) with a standard run of the mill #01 FFL.
A standard FFL can sell reloaded ammunition produced by a licensed manufacturer. But they need a separate FFL to reload/manufacture/produce ammunition for sale.

[cedarsavage]

I betcha four or five such incidents could lead to "flinching"!

taa, cs :D

[Krag]

Like you would expect something else from a Colt product? :cuss:

[Gewehr98]

People who believe in the myth of detonation think it magically happens by using charges that are too small. Prior to your mistake, did you not believe in detonation or just that it wouldn't happen to you?

The fact is detonations just don't happen in handgun cartridges with any powder available over the counter. Not even in in a case as large as the .500S&W.

So the old "2.7gr Bullseye Surprise" of 20+ years ago really didn't happen? :scrutiny: