KB stories posted here for posterity please!!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Palladan44

Palladan44

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2020
Messages
1,903
Post your KB story here. (Ka-boom!!!)
Let us know the caliber, the situation, and reason it happened. Was is a handload that went bad, or a blocked barrel, or squib followed by another shot. Was it an old firearm that shouldnt have been used? Do not post bodily injury details, i believe that is against the rules.....And damage to firearm. This information may prevent such from happening to another. THANK YOU!
 
Last edited:
Olon said:
What does KB stand for? Kaboom?

If so, haven't experienced one yet. I've witnessed somebody trying to fire after a squib but luckily it was such a weak squib the next round wouldn't go into battery. That fella got very lucky... This was in a polymer subcompact pistol.
Click to expand...
Good to hear youve never had one!
And its a standard feature that a primer not have enough pressure to push a round far enough for another to cycle, so that was engineering and design intentinally working out to keep that fella safe. However, nothing is guaranteed. Older revolvers with a worn forcing cone, or similar situation with an old semi auto...maybe a squib would allow another to cycle into battery....or how about a magnum primer and a soft lead swaged bullet in a 38 or 357. Ill bet she will squib a little further than its "supposed" to..
 
Last edited:
While not really a violent failure but still a failure. Shooting factory remanufactured stuff I had a case separation shooting a s&w ar15

I was out wasting a day with cheap ammo I found and I heard something funny after a round. I stopped, dropped the mag and checked the chamber. There was a live round bound up on the top half of the last piece of brass. I found the bottom half a couple feet away. I saw the impact of the round but needless to say that was the end of shooting for that day.

I think I still have whats left of that box somewhere
 
Drifter27 said:
While not really a violent failure but still a failure. Shooting factory remanufactured stuff I had a case separation shooting a s&w ar15

I was out wasting a day with cheap ammo I found and I heard something funny after a round. I stopped, dropped the mag and checked the chamber. There was a live round bound up on the top half of the last piece of brass. I found the bottom half a couple feet away. I saw the impact of the round but needless to say that was the end of shooting for that day.

I think I still have whats left of that box somewhere
Click to expand...

Good one, could have ended up worse. I wonder if the case had already been cracked since it was reman, or shortened or too long and head spacing was out of whack. Ive hated reman from the first batch of LAX 9mm i bought which were over crimped, and had to headspace on the extractor/face. Lucky i discovered this and scrapped the rest.
 
I didnt think about looking any of them over since it was factory ammo so cant be sure. What I can be sure of is that I give any more ammo I buy a little more attention
 
Glock 21 with a double charge of Bullseye. I've reloaded for 45+ years without incident except for this one-time lack of attention. Welded the case head into the breech, cracked the frame at the locking block, blooded me up some but no real body damage.

Note the barrel lug in the first photo and the lack of a trigger in the second. The trigger group disintegrated and blew bits out of the trigger slot. Be carful and wear eye pro. My face was peppered with debris but quality glasses saved my eyes. I keep the barrel on my reloading bench as a reminder.

IMG_20170317_161607191.jpg

IMG_20170315_144651070.jpg

IMG_2953.JPG
 
Last edited:
burrhead said:
Glock 21 with a double charge of Bullseye. I've reloaded for 45+ years without incident except for this one-time lack of attention. Welded the case head into the breech, cracked the frame at the locking block, blooded me up some but know real bodily damage.

Note the barrel lug in the first photo and the lack of a trigger in the second. The trigger group disintegrated and blew bits out of the trigger slot. Be carful and wear eye pro. My face was peppered with debris but quality glasses saved my eyes. I keep the barrel on my reloading bench as a reminder.

View attachment 955031

View attachment 955038

View attachment 955039
Click to expand...
that's a bad one there. glad ya came out okay from it.
 
When I was a kid I had a cap gun that took two part cartridges. You pulled the cartridge apart, inserted a cap inside, reassembled, and placed it in the chamber.

Well, what would happen if you carefully opened each cap in a roll of caps, removed the powder, and put all the powder inside one of those cartridges and fired?

You got it, a KB as you call it, and a cap gun in several pieces. Fearing this might happen, I held the gun outside my window and wore a leather glove for safety. lol

My hand still hurt like hell, but fortunately stayed in one piece.

I'm very careful reloading now. lol
 
It's been at least 20+years ago. I'd been shooting high power for several years and was breaking in a new barrel on my match rifle, simultaneously sighting in. I was using hand loads, Model 700 action, .308 Obermeier barrel, 41.5 grains IMR 4895, 168 grain Sierra 2nds. About 10 rounds into the process, the rifle made an unusual sound and my face started stinging. When I touched my face, my fingers had blood on them. I tried to open the bolt to make the rifle safe but it was locked up. I went to my truck and looked in the mirror and fortunately had only had minor powder burns. When I got home I had to hammer the bolt open with a wooden mallet and pry the case from the bolt face. Bore was clear. To this day, I still have no idea what happened. Oversized bullet? Bad primer? I'm sure the charge was good. Could have ended up a lot worse.
 
About 17 years ago a friend of mine and I were shooting some reloads we made. He had a "slight" overcharge of HP 38. His 1911 blew the mag out of the grip, bent the barrel, blew the grip panel apart, and sent shrapnel into his face. I had quite the laugh after we stopped the bleeding. He still has that barrel as a reminder of what happens when you are stupid.
 
burrhead said:
Glock 21 with a double charge of Bullseye. I've reloaded for 45+ years without incident except for this one-time lack of attention. Welded the case head into the breech, cracked the frame at the locking block, blooded me up some but no real body damage.

Damn!! Whenever i use a small quantity of fast powder in a bigger case, i look into it to see if a) the charge is actually there and b) it isnt double thrown.
Id assume a double charge in that combo would be powder quite a ways up the case and probably compressed load. Its surprising that blew it up to that extent, and didnt just go off like 44 magnum with a similar weight bullet and coincidentally similar charge of same powder. Glad you are ok, the Glock, not so much! Good day sir.
Click to expand...
 
tygranch said:
It's been at least 20+years ago. I'd been shooting high power for several years and was breaking in a new barrel on my match rifle, simultaneously sighting in. I was using hand loads, Model 700 action, .308 Obermeier barrel, 41.5 grains IMR 4895, 168 grain Sierra 2nds. About 10 rounds into the process, the rifle made an unusual sound and my face started stinging. When I touched my face, my fingers had blood on them. I tried to open the bolt to make the rifle safe but it was locked up. I went to my truck and looked in the mirror and fortunately had only had minor powder burns. When I got home I had to hammer the bolt open with a wooden mallet and pry the case from the bolt face. Bore was clear. To this day, I still have no idea what happened. Oversized bullet? Bad primer? I'm sure the charge was good. Could have ended up a lot worse.
Click to expand...
This is quite strange, thank for sharing. How much use has this rifle seen since?
 
I've never had one, but I came close enough to having one that it scared me. I was testing some new 38 Special loads I'd came up with and had what I thought was a misfire. I didn't stop and open the cylinder and check though - I just kept shooting until the revolver was empty.
When I got home, I pulled the bullet from the case I thought had a bad primer, only to discover the base of the bullet was burnt black. The primer had gone off, and the only thing I could figure was that I'd forgotten to charge the case with powder. I don't know how that happened - I make a habit of using a desk lamp on my loading bench to check the powder level in each case in the loading block before seating bullets in them. But it did happen, and because I didn't stop shooting when I thought I'd had a misfire, the only thing that saved me from a "KB" was that case had a tight enough grip on the bullet to prevent it from being driven part-way down the barrel by just the primer.:eek:
 
Yeah, I had a bad one. I left a box of 9X18 MM in a plastic tub on my range all Winter. My Son was using the range and saw the box and put it back in my ammunition cabinet. Now it had been subject dampness and freezing temperatures for months. I went to shoot one of my CZ 82's and loaded up with this stuff. Bang, Bang, Bang, BLAM! I didn't know what happened at first then I realized one of the Bang's was more like a poof! Bullet lodged in the barrel and I fired a round after it. No injuries at all but the gun was a write off. Definitely my fault and I'm glad CZ makes strong guns.
 
I had some bad .22 Magnum cartridges detonate in in the cylinder of a High Standard Sentinel Mk IV in what I would describe as “sympathetic concussion” when I fired a round. The gun did not Bloemfontein apart or show any real damage but I did get burnt. Two rounds in chambers next to the chamber being fired went off. The bullets lodged against the frame and the casings shriveled up very strangely. The gun was not harmed. The questionable ammo was taken to a police station to be destroyed.

The ammo had been left in an outdoor storage facility for a few years before it was given to me. If I had known this beforehand I would have never tried firing it.

I am pretty sure I have prevented a few “Kabooms” on the line at Cowboy Action Shooting matches. There have been at least 6 times someone has fired a squib and nearly fired the next round but I was able to stop them by yelling “STOP” that I can recall.
 
Not quite a KaBoom but had a case head rupture on a 10mm. Safety glasses saved my eye. I was picking brass out of my cheek for a year.
 
No kabooms, but I witnessed a Jennings 9 go full auto. (firing pin stuck)
The back story. My brother in law bought it out of a pawn shop when he was in college and delivering pizza. This was probably 1997. It was his first gun. He knew then that it wasn’t a great gun, but it served the purpose and it was cheap.
Fast forward to a couple of years ago, we are out shooting and one of the guns he brings is the Jennings. The second magazine fired goes full auto. We figured out the problem and Jimenez sent him a new firing pin and all the springs and he reassembled the gun. He fired 5 rounds though it to check the function and put it in the case. He says that it will probably never be fired again. But it was his first gun and he will keep it forever.
 
gunlaw said:
Not quite a KaBoom but had a case head rupture on a 10mm. Safety glasses saved my eye. I was picking brass out of my cheek for a year.
Click to expand...
Was it a glock with
gunlaw said:
Not quite a KaBoom but had a case head rupture on a 10mm. Safety glasses saved my eye. I was picking brass out of my cheek for a year.
Click to expand...
Any possible insight as to why this happened?
 
Not a Glock. Kimber TLEII. The pistol is fine. Could have been a weak case. Fired this pistol many times since with no issues.
 
Decided to fire double-taps with a .38 Enfield I had. After a few like this, did some more, first shot was a no-powder and before I realised it I fired a second on top of it, which was a no-powder as well (figured out I must have missed out a whole row in the loading block). Knocked them out of the bbl. with a rod and fired off the rest as singles, finding occasionally another no-powder one.
 
Dragon breath said:
Decided to fire double-taps with a .38 Enfield I had. After a few like this, did some more, first shot was a no-powder and before I realised it I fired a second on top of it, which was a no-powder as well (figured out I must have missed out a whole row in the loading block). Knocked them out of the bbl. with a rod and fired off the rest as singles, finding occasionally another no-powder one.
Click to expand...
Oh dear? Maybe give em all a shake and listen for powder. Thats unfortunate, but lucky it wasnt a squib followed by an accidental double charge!...ahh thats where that ones powder went...!!!!
 
The Kaboom! I experienced was all my fault but it has made me extremely wary of non factory ammunition. No reloads for me ever. I don't care of the gun show stuff is at half price compared to factory. Even factory isn't perfect but your much more likely to get a dud round and not an overloaded one..
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Mr.Revolverguy
  • Locked
Another Glock "KB" This time in 9mm
2 3
Replies
56
Views
4K
Nom de Forum
N
C
  • Locked
Stories on the net after the fact
Replies
10
Views
677
Larry Ashcraft
Larry Ashcraft
Mainsail
  • Locked
Good Firearms Discipline Saved the Day
Replies
3
Views
710
Mp7
Mp7
LiveLife
  • Locked
Checklist/Steps to Prevent KB in Glocks
Replies
15
Views
942
mboylan
M
R
  • Locked
Local Gun Club Post New Rules . . . !!??
Replies
21
Views
1K
seeker_two
S
Back
Top