Ruger LCP Explosion

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joystick

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Sep 24, 2011
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Location
Fort Worth, TX
2014
SN 371295446

While shooting at the gun range my pistol exploded.

I was firing at a target 10 yards away. I was using one clip loaded with five rounds. The first five rounds fired were okay. I reloaded the clip with another five rounds and the first four rounds were okay. I had 9 hits on the target. On the next round, there was a really loud explosion and very heavy recoil. My thumb and palm felt like they had been hit with a hammer. That’s when I noticed that the gun had exploded.

The barrel split in two and the slide, barrel and misc parts all left the gun, only the handle and clip was left in my hand.

There were 9 hits on the target, the 10th round missed.

I located as many parts as I could find as well as some of the spent brass known to be from my gun. One of the brass casings was split open and the primer was flattened, even the brass looked like it had been flattened. The primers and other brass casings were not flattened.

The pistol had a total of 75 rounds fired since new.

All of the rounds fired were from a Remington Mega Pack 250 round box. Box Data: R213/5B-MEGA, PKG 61500A-1, G58196567
 

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WOW :what: That picture looks like a parts diagram!

Glad you are ok, and seeings how you were using factory ammunition, looks like a dramatic overcharge on Remington's part. And if you are remembering right that you saw 9 rounds on target and the 10th did the damage, no chance of a squib in the barrel.

I'm sure Ruger will take care of you, and they will be hearing from Remington.
 
Holy crap! I think I'd contact both Remington and Ruger. It sounds like an ammo issue to me, but I'm not an expert looking at it. I would think that Ruger would want to do a failure analysis on the gun, and Remington would want their ammo back to analyze as well.
 
If there was no barrel obstruction, it had to be over-charged ammo. Hard to imagine they could stuff enough powder in there to do that kind of damage...seems you'd need the WRONG powder too!
 
That is one seriously catastrophic failure you have there. Hope you weren't injured.

Contact Ruger & Remington immediately and DO NOT FIRE ANYMORE OF THAT AMMO.
 
I'm also very glad you weren't seriously injured. Hopefully you didn't sustain minor injuries, either. The LCP is a very small lightweight gun, and could've done some damage.

My LCP has functioned fine. Not sure of the ammo count, but I don't think I have more than 150 rounds through it. I believe I've run Remington through mine without issue.

That off-center primer strike is really strange. I wonder if the gun was somehow able to fire while not all the way in battery?
 
Buy a lottery ticket and praise whatever deity you choose. You are lucky. Wow.

Remington owes you a new gun, IMO. And probably some shorts.
 
You are not supposed to fire Underwood 10mm in an LCP, didn't they tell you!

But seriously, you are a lucky man!
 
I had this situation with a Kimber 1911, and Winchester ammo.

Kimber wanted for my FFL to send them the handgun.

Winchester requested that I send as many pieces of spent brass as I could locate, to send all unfired ammo that remained, and especially the factory original ammo boxes to identify the ammo lot. I had purchased about 100 to maybe 150 rounds of this particular ammo.

Kimber repaired the pistol, and Winchester effected a nation-wide ammo recall based on the event. Winchester also sent me an entire case (500 rounds) of Winchester P+, 230 grain Personal Defense ammo free of charge for my trouble.

I think that in most cases, corporations really do try to do right by their customers. We all were glad I was 100% uninjured. That is what counts. Guns and ammo can be replaced.

Glad you're well.

Geno
 
Call Ruger, their customer service is amazing.

As long as you didn't run any reloads should be no problem. With the looks of that pistol, Ruger will just need to send you another pistol with a magazine.

I am no Remington ammo expert, but was this 380ACP Mega Pack +P rated? Ruger explicitly states that +P ammo is to NOT be shot from the LCP.

Glad you're OK.
 
Glad you're OK. That was a serious explosion. Take as many pictures (closes up too) of everything you can. Interesting that the firing pin mark is off center on your blown up case but I doubt this was an out of battery kaboom. Those usually blow out the case head and crack the plastic frame. This was powerful enough to split the barrel in half, bend the slide upward and peel the top off.

...this was no boating accident!
 
Looks to me to have fired slightly out of battery. Note off center firing pin strike on primer., asymetrical peeling of fired case.
Possibly bore obstruction from bulging of barrel prior to splitting.
 
Holy Gun Pieces Batman!

And folks claim the .380 is underpowered for self- defense!!!

The local Cabelas here is running Ruger LCP on sale for $199.00. The ad says it is their lowest price ever.

This makes a case for using firearms made of all metal. I think I will stick with my commie 9x18 semi-autos.
 
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Looks to me to have fired slightly out of battery. Note off center firing pin strike on primer., asymetrical peeling of fired case.
Possibly bore obstruction from bulging of barrel prior to splitting.
I would think it would be a REALLY light 380 to get a squib in an LCP.
 
Glad your hand is OK. Count yourself very lucky! That could have been a whole lot worse.

If there was no barrel obstruction, it had to be over-charged ammo.

A defect in the barrel is also possible. They don't typically split from one end to the other like that, and the primer doesn't indicate the kind of severe overpressure it would take to rupture a healthy barrel (although it does appear flatter than the one in the other case).
 
That last round doesn't look at all underpowered. It could have been overcharged...but I'd be really curious if you could have someone disassemble one round from that box and see how much powder is in that cartridge. .380 doesn't have much case volume, and depending on the density of the powder, there may be little or no room for extra without compression.

Also, the primer strike on the failed round looks well off center, suggesting the gun was not quite in battery when that round was fired. That would make me suspect "barrel obstruction", but you said the previous shot felt normal and all bullets were accounted for on the target.

Definitely hold onto all the parts, the ammo, and the box it came in, and if you haven't already contact both Ruger and Remington. Ruger will probably want the gun for examination, and will likely replace it extracting the cost of doing so from Remington. I'd see how friendly both companies appear to be before sending anything off to either of them.
 
And who said the 380 auto is not that powerful?

Looks like bad ammo to me. Like others have said, lucky you are doing ok and not seriously hurt. That is a credit to Ruger and the deity of your choice. The fault is probably with the ammo. Save everything, send the pictures to both companies. Call their help lines and explain what happened.
 
That is a credit to Ruger and the deity of your choice.

God or just dumb luck, sure. I wouldn't be giving Ruger any credit, though; the gun didn't withstand anything in any way, and the pieces that flew off most certainly could have caused serious injury to the OP or a bystander.
 
I can't find the magazine housing in that "parts diagram" :eek:

Follower, spring, baseplate are there, but where is the mag housing? Did the force of explosion cause it to get stuck in the frame?

Just curious.

Glad you're not hurt.
 
Is that rust inside and outside of the barell? Pocket carry?

Edit - glad you are OK?
 
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I had this situation with a Kimber 1911, and Winchester ammo.

Kimber wanted for my FFL to send them the handgun.

Winchester requested that I send as many pieces of spent brass as I could locate, to send all unfired ammo that remained, and especially the factory original ammo boxes to identify the ammo lot. I had purchased about 100 to maybe 150 rounds of this particular ammo.

Kimber repaired the pistol, and Winchester effected a nation-wide ammo recall based on the event. Winchester also sent me an entire case (500 rounds) of Winchester P+, 230 grain Personal Defense ammo free of charge for my trouble.

I think that in most cases, corporations really do try to do right by their customers. We all were glad I was 100% uninjured. That is what counts. Guns and ammo can be replaced.

Glad you're well.

Geno
Gun and ammo manufacturers usually bend over backwards to take care of their customers, which is a far cry from car makers, PC makers, or pretty much any other company that manufactures a consumer product. Something to think about whenever some anti-gun hothead starts pontificating about the "evil" gun industry. They take care of their people better than anyone else does.

Anyway, glad the OP is okay. Holding onto an expensive hand grenade is no fun at all.
 
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