My 1 year old Lanber O/U blew up last week!

I was shooting run of the mill federal bird shoot shells last week. Neither me nor my buddy noticed or heard anything strange, like a squib load or a load bang. When it was my turn to shoot again I noticed the barrel looked weird...really weird... as in major explosion. Look at the pictures. In the meantime I sent the shotgun, a Lanbar, to their warranty shop who flat out responded that it had to be a user error, an obstruction, to cause this. I say it was a defective solder because a itty bitty plastic was cannot plug a barrel so that it gets shredded. Or at least so I believe. Any experts around that can say what happened?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/44723422/shotgun1.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/44723422/shotgun2.jpg

Sure looks like a barrel obstruction to me. I am not saying you are wrong or lying about not hearing it, but an overcharged round would likely have ruptured at the chamber, and I don't think even the worlds worst solder job could have caused that (Weld maybe, not solder).

Its possible the round discharged 95% normally, but the bottom of the wad (those cheap federals use a two-piece design) could have remained in the barrel despite the shot column leaving the gun as it normally would.

Looks like a barrel obstruction to me - likely a wad or part of a wad.

Looks like an overpressure buldge to me. Its not a straight seam split and the barrel is 'ballooned'. Certainly you shoulda heard/felt that! I'm betting it was a squib that sent the wad and shot part way down the tube. If you did not tilt the barrel down so that the loose shot maybe coulda run out - the next round behind the squib overpressured it. Hard to do with the low pressures of shotgun loads but not impossible - especially with some of the newer thin wall guns.

Defective solder did not have anything to do with a solid steel tube rupturing in that fashion. It does appear that some type of obstruction occurred. Sorry that it happened, but glad no one was injured.


NCsmitty

Yes, a little bit of plastic wad can cause this, as well as case head separation having a problem.

Ok, I am beginning to believe it must have been some sort of wad obstruction. Now, what are the odds of this happening. I mean, I just had to throw a $600 gun away (I know, I know, ONLY $600) so I want to know if this kind of thing is to be expected every couple years or did I just luck out.

Yup, definitely an obstruction.

Did the previous shell look OK? I've read that a defective shell can sometimes separate at the case head, and some of the shell casing follows the wad column down the barrel; that would be bad.

Since you were shooting Federal factory loads, and not handloads, either Lanber OR FEDERAL definitely owe you a new shotgun. (I hope you kept the empty shell and the box it came in when this happened.)

Since you didn't get satisfaction from Lanber, you need to take this up with Federal.

Even if some wad was left in the barrel, it would still be Federal's responsibility, since it was their ammo.

If you were shooting factory Federal ammo, you should send them your pics, along with a detailed description of the course of events. It is possible (although unlikely) that the cardboard basewad detached from the hull and got stuck in the barrel. This is the reason most reloaders shy away from hulls with a cardboard basewad, but I have never heard of it happening on factory ammo, only when reloaded. Even then, moisture contamination of the basewad is the likely culprit.
Looks exactly like the barrels hanging on the wall of a local range, where someone fired a 12ga shell through a barrel that had a 20ga shell dropped in first.
Whatever happened, it could have been much worse. Glad you are OK.

Did the previous shell look OK? I've read that a defective shell can sometimes separate at the case head, and some of the shell casing follows the wad column down the barrel; that would be bad.

Since you were shooting Federal factory loads, and not handloads, either Lanber OR FEDERAL definitely owe you a new shotgun. (I hope you kept the empty shell and the box it came in when this happened.)

Since you didn't get satisfaction from Lanber, you need to take this up with Federal.

Even if some wad was left in the barrel, it would still be Federal's responsibility, since it was their ammo.
Lets stay real now. Has anybody ever heard of any ammo company ponying up money to buy somebody a new gun. Plus how would you ever prove that it was the ammo?

Lets stay real now. Has anybody ever heard of any ammo company ponying up money to buy somebody a new gun. Plus how would you ever prove that it was the ammo?
Well yes I HAVE heard of an ammo manufacturer helping out on a gun replacment. The trick is to hang on to the rest of the box of shells and specifically the spent hull from the culprit. A couple of witnesses and nicely written letters was all it took. The ammo was examined and determined to be out of spec. If I remember correctly, the whole shotgun was not replaced, but a new barrel was sent for a replacement. The whole process took about 6 months again if I am remembering right.

That was definitely a barrel obstruction.

That sucks, but very glad you are OK!

Well how much barrel is left over behind the bulge? Any chance of turning it into an over under defensive double? Even if it isn't all that useful, I just couldn't bring myself to "throw away" any firing gun.

Hey even if it doesn't meet the barrel length needed, you could always waste $200 instead of $600 and get a nice 10" coach gun out of it.

By all means make lemonade out of lemons. It looks as though you have a perfect place just behind the blowout to trim the barrel back to the pillar on the rib. You can also get it threaded for screw in choke tubes if it doesn't pattern well. Also have the gunsmith check it over well. The action is proably OK, but checking never hurts.

Good luck, Cheers

ts

You could always saw off the barrels and make it a home defender.

On a break action gun get in the habit of looking down the barrel when you reload. Virtually all competition shooters do this.

I would imagine Lanber would sell you a new set of barrels for the gun.

I would imagine Lanber would sell you a new set of barrels for the gun.

And they would have to be fitted - it isn't the same as swapping barrels on a pump gun

Sorry...

That is clearly obstruction damage IMNSHO...

According to the 2nd photo, it looks like you might have to lose about a foot of barrel if you were to cut off the damaged portion. Unless those were 30" barrels, you're going to end up with a SBS. So you might was well cut her all the way back to the end of the fore-end.

Beats throwing it in the trash, and I'd hate to see that done to such a nice O/U.
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=158171&d=1328206041

Makes ya wanna cry.



...

A card board basewad could lodge in the barrel. The sound and recoil would be normal. The next shell fired would burst the barrel.

Very important that you keep the box if you do not have the fired shell. Federal will check their records with shells manufactured at the same time to see if there have been any other occurances. That's probably the only way you will get any satisfaction from Federal if any.

Man, that's scary. So now I'm thinking that the same could happen to me - or any of us - even with a completely normal-sounding preceeding round... especially with a simi-auto where it's nearly impossible to check. I mean, how many shooters look down the barrel before loading the next handful of shells?

I was shooting run of the mill federal bird shoot shells

These shells (and their budget "Estate" brand shells) have a paper base wads-- it's the reason that these smell vaguely like old fashioned paper shells. This base wad can become seperated and can cause a bore obstruction. This is fairly common with reloads, but has been known to happen with factory shells as well.

The more typical result is a barrel bulge, but this isn't the first ruptured barrel I've seen.

I think you're barking up the wrong tree trying to get Lanber to fix something that isn't their fault, but if you still have the hulls, I'd check them with a flashlight... I'd bet money you find one with a missing base wad. If so, I'd call Federal and try to get them to work with you.

My other recommendation is that you not immediately box up the gun and the bad shell and send it to them... you'll be sending them all the evidence.

One advantage of a break-open type gun is that you can check the barrel(s) for obstructions before reloading. A lot of trapshooters do this as a matter or course, including me.

I had one instance about 10 years ago when I fired a 20 gauge shell and the wad stuck in the barrel. The primer went off but not the powder yet there was enough force to send the load of pellets out the barrel. I checked and sure enough the wad was lodged about halfway down the barrel. Had I fired another shell no doubt that the barrel would have ruptured. I sent the wad, the shell, and the box to Remington after I called them. They wanted to inspect everything. I suspect if you're manufacturing tens of millions of rounds a year that something will sometime go wrong.

tens of millions of rounds a year

The annual US shotgun shell production is 1.2 BILLION shells per year. The fact that only a few bad ones get out is amazing

Someone already mentioned - but i've seen a similar rupture on a gun where the person accidentilly loaded a 20 ga shell into the gun first then dropped a 12 ga into the chamber. Happened while hunting on state gamelands.

The guy accidentilly left a 20 ga shell in his pocket from a previous days hunt (he had several guns). The rupture looked very similar to your gun.

(Or at least so I believe. Any experts around that can say what happened?)



I FEEL LIKE AN EXPERT ALL OF A SUDDEN:neener:
I have blown up a shotgun in my youth that looked much like yours by having a wad in the barrel. The other fellas are correct it sure looks like a bbl obstruction.