1911 kabooms

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chopinbloc

chopinbloc

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reading the thread on 1911 v glock for shtf i was reminded about how many people feel that glocks are blowing up everywhere and 1911s were handed down by the Almighty Himself to john moses atop some mountain or other and they are thus infallible. so i thought i'd offer this up.

okay, just to be clear, i'm not knocking the venerable 1911. i own two and i love this type of pistol. i do get tired of people (usually 1911 acolytes) inferring that glocks kaboom all the time. i'm sure most folks know the reasons that pistols can kaboom (oh, and by the way, even revolvers can) but i thought i'd reiterate, state that even 1911s can experience this and post a couple of pics. so here goes:

one reason a pistol can experience a catastrophic failure is an unsupported, or more accurately, a not completely supported chamber. glock uses chambers of this type to increase feed reliability as do many 1911 manufacturers and custom pistol smiths. this should not be a problem on its own but combined with other factors such as an overcharged handload or even factory load - it can happen, the case wall can blow out, damaging the weapon. a round that has been chambered too many times can set back and cause excessive pressure. a live round fired after a squib can and probably will blow ANY gun. remember that police agencies issue glocks more than any other make so there are alot out there. police officers load and unload their weapons quite alot. these two factors alone probably account for the majority of the glock kabooms with excessive handloads rounding up most of the stragglers.

so, here are a couple pictures of 1911 kabooms:






now i'm sure alot of folks will get upset about this; so be it. i'm sure other folks will rage about how much more likely a glock..... blah, blah, blah. i also have a sneaking suspicion that some of you are hording pictures of 1911 kabooms and i would just love to see more.

no, i don't have anything better to do.

yes, i enjoy throwing gas on a fire.
 
We would do well to remember:

1. The 1911 (and IPSC) brought the phrase ".38 Super face" into common firearms parlance many years ago (based on experiment with hot .38 Super loads to make major).

2. The Glock 22 brought the term "kB!" (or "kaboom") into common firearms usage based on factory (mostly Federal) loads.
 
hey myth buster

Could you now find some pictures of a glock that has been buried in the sand for two years by a truck running over it, while it was encrusted in a salt water, ice block. Better yet find after being shot 20000 rounds without a single malfunction nor a single cleaning.

I think acolytes are on both sides of this fence.
 
yeah, it's obvious that these pictures are of a squib load. you can actually see a portion of the jacket on one bullet sticking out the muzzle.

pictures of glocks being tortured? do you mean the manufacturers advertisements? you bet there are acolytes on both sides of this one, that's why everyone gets so heated about it. i don't consider myself an opponent of either weapon. for the record, though i own two 1911s, i carry a glock. not because the 1911 is a bad gun but because a compact glock fits my personal carry needs. if i were allowed to choose a secondary weapon for combat it would be a 1911.

now let's see some pictures of blowed up 1911s.
 
You've shown two pictures of the same gun, a single kaboom, not kabooms. Secondly its a barrel split, unsupported chamber didn't let loose. Could be defective barrel, but most likely barrel burst because the nimrod failed to notice the previous round was a squib and continued shooting with an obstructed bore -- will blow up any gun!

--wally.
 
1911 Kaboom

I have a Norinco 1911 .45 clone...Couple years ago while shooting it with my brothers hand loads I got a squib and the bullet stuck in the brl.. At the time I was an inexperienced shooter and didn't notice anything and fired the next round that sent both bullets down range and split the new Wilson barrel but the rest of the gun was fine. I have long since installed a new Wilson brl.
Thanks
 
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Many moons ago, when I was first contemplating reloading, I was looking over some Dillon equipment in a gun shop. Right there on the wall, for everbody to see, was a blown-up 1911, the result, of course, of an overpressured, poorly-loaded round. This was pre-Glock, so the 1911 didn't learn its bad habits from Glocks.
 
damn, those are some wicked pictures, its a shame to see a blown up gun, I know I'd probably cry if it happened to any of mine, especially my 1911, but it is allways interesting to see the results from when stuff fail. of course safety of the shooter is foremost, salvagability of the gun comes next.
 
1911's indeed can kB from an unsupported chamber. However, 99.9% of the time it's the result of an incompetent gunsmith cutting the barrel mouth too far back when he does a "throat job" to make the gun feed hollow points better.

No design is kB-proof, but properly made or customized 1911's are not prone to it.
 
I saw a very similar picture to that on the Gun Zone. In that case, it was the result of a .40S&W being fired through the gun.
 
i am confident that whatever the gun in question kBs are usually a result of someone doing something for which the gun was not originally designed. whether it was caused by a police officer firing a round whose bullet has been badly set back in the case or a gunsmith butchering a throat job. i think it is extremely rare for a firearm to spontaneously disassemble while using factory standard ammunition in good condition through an unmodified gun. just wanted to remind people that it COULD happen to any weapon.
 
...a Glock blowing up because of a design flaw...

just wanted to remind people that it COULD happen to any weapon.-----chopinbloc
Click to expand...

I've never heard anyone say a 1911 couldn't be blown up, it's just that some designs seem to more prone to Kabooms.

Suggesting that blowing up a 1911 because of a blocked barrel due to a squib round and a Glock blowing up because of a design flaw which encourges overly distorted brass through normal usage are two very different failures.

They should not be used to compare the two different platforms in terms of failure as the cause of failure in each have nothing to do with each other.


Respectfully,

jdkelly
 
as i just said, neither glocks nor 1911s blow up because of "design flaws." they blow up becaus they are abused. any pistol fired with a bore obstruction, like the one above will end up deadlined like the one above - even a glock. even a 1911 will most likely blow up with a badly set back cartridge. 1911s have a straighter feed so they are probably less likely to seat a bullet too deeply in the case but even they can do it. i submit that the two pistols are about equally as likely to blow up when subjected to the same conditions. i.e. treat them the way they were designed to be treated and it won't happen but abuse them in the same way and it will. why does that stick in people's craws so much?
 
;;;

i submit that the two pistols are about equally as likely to blow up when subjected to the same conditions.---chopinblock
Click to expand...

But they are not generaly subjected to the same conditions so why you'd make the comparison in the first place is beyond me.

I think because the Glock supports the case less then the typical 1911 and because the 40 S&W is has a much higher pressure then the 45ACP the Glock is much more likely to have a Kaboom. Even a 1911 in 40 S&W is likely to have more support then the Glock and therefore fewer kabooms.

When I pick up my 40 S&W brass off the range floor I check every piece to ensure none that have been fired in a Glock, accidently gets into my brass bag. I don't like shooting other peoples brass but I hate to have to deal with over stretched Glock brass.

I think that the Glock's lack of case support is why the word "Kaboom" is so very closely associated with the name Glock.


Respectfully,

jkelly
 
"if i were allowed to choose a secondary weapon for combat it would be a 1911." - Why wouldn't you choose another Glock? Or why wouldn't you choose a 1911 as a primary? Or why would you carry 2 such dissimilar weapons into combat in the first place?

Lol, that wasn't even a KB and it didn't help your case. I believe you were trying to show a KB in the pictures - not what happens when a round is fired on top of a squib.... However, it really doesn't need to be said that "ALL" firearms can have a KB given the right circumstances. Isn't that a given? Sounds to me that you have something "stuck in your craw" and are not really trying to enlighten anyone.

Nice example, however, on the importance of being in tune with the feel/sounds that come from firing your firearms. Probably a Mall Ninja/range rat capping off a mag, upside down, from an inverted "Drunken Monkey" position.
 
That really doesn't look that bad. From the shooters perspective I mean. Looking at the damage, it doesn't seem as though the gun exploded any parts into anyone's hand or anything. A couple of the Glock kaboom pictures look like the gun was ripped open with a giant can opener.
 
Why wouldn't you choose another Glock? Or why wouldn't you choose a 1911 as a primary?
Click to expand...

easy one first: a 1911 is a handgun, therefore it can not be a primary weapon.

as to why not a glock for a secondary weapon, that's more complicated. first, i'd prefer .45 acp because of the requirement to use ball ammunition and i never liked the model 21's feel. second, the low round count per magazine is not an issue in a weapon intended to simply engage one or two targets at close range before you get your primary back in the fight. third, i like the trigger on the 1911 more than on the glock. in short, when all i have is a handgun, it's a glock because it gives me high round count, light weight with a better trigger (in my opinion - a trigger IS a very subjective thing) than most hi-cap compacts. when i have a rifle, i'd prefer a 1911 as backup.
 
While this is obviously a squib caused Kaboom, I will stick to the 1911 anyway, thanks.

My only experience with this kind of thing was a more than double charged 10MM load in my Delta Elite. This load would have exploded any other gun I can think of. All it did to my Colt was blow the mag out the bottom and send some brass shrapnel into my face. Scary, yes. Deadly, not this time.

I learned 2 things from this:

1) Reloading isn't worth it (my personal opinion only, not trying to convert anyone)

2) 1911's are tough as nails. I would not want to experience the same thing with
a Glock. No offense to the Glock folks.

And by the way, your post says a "couple of 1911 kabooms" but that's just another picture of the same 1911.

If you're gonna throw gas on a fire, be accurate at least :)
 
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