Anyone ever blow up a gun with *factory* ammo?

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Trebor

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I was talking about "KaBooms!" or blown up guns with someone recently. Neither one of us could think of reported KB! with *factory* ammo, with the exception of some documented cases of Glock pistols and certain .40 S&W factory loads.

It seems like *every* self-reported incident of a KB! on any forum I see the shooter always invariably was shooting reloads. In some cases the shooter admits to a bad load, but in may more they insist, "MY reloads are good! I don't know why the gun blew up!"

So, how many instances of a factory load blowing up a gun can we come up with? We know about the Glock .40 issue, so that's covered. What else?


Btw, old mil-surp ammo doesn't count as "factory" for this as after it's been stored in unknown conditions for years or decades it can no longer be considered the same as new production ammo. (Although I'm still curious if anyone has had a mil-surp let go with mil-surp ammo).

EDIT: If you do know of an instance, what was the factory ammo? (If you know)
 
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A friend of mine here in Alabama (a long-time Staff Member over on Arfcom) blew up a Glock 30 with factory .45ACP loads a few years back.

He admittedly doesn't have the best luck -- he also had a KT PLR-16 blow up on him (again, factory ammo) and blow the bolt straight back, narrowly missing his noggin. :eek:


ETA: In response to the follow-up Q you added, it was Hornady XTP 230gr in his G30 and Winchester Q3131 in his PLR. FWIW, Kel-Tec did a bolt redesign based on his experience with the PLR.
 
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During an NRA Basic Pistol Course last year a student firing factory ammo had a squb load with the first round he fired, he managed to stack 4 bullets in the barrel of his Rossi .38, he pushed the first stuck bullet out with the other 4, the revolver finally locked up on him, with one live round left in the cylinder. The frame is bent with barrel split forward of the forcing cone.

Years ago when I was on active duty and helping to run a range a soldier qualifying with an M9 had a squib load, he didn't realize it, performed, as he was trained to do an immediate action drill and attempted to fire another round with bullet from the squib obstructing the bore. The barrel bulged but did not come apart, the slide locked to the rear, but the pistol seemed undamaged except for the barrel. Support maintenance put a new barrel on the pistol and it worked fine.

I kept the barrel and Rossi and will try to post pictures.

100_0857.jpg

Trebor - the ammo that bulged the M9 was military issue 9mm, as I recall (this was around 1990), maybe WCC or WRA headstamp, the Rossi was firing US made .38 Special from one of the larger companies, said company made it good, with the original (student) owner and the store that sold the ammo receiving compensation. I managed to keep the gun and now use it as a training aid in classes, I have never hand any problems with .38 Special ammo from that manufactured before or since.

I can't find the M9 barrel right now but will post a photo of it when I do.
 
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I also should have asked: If you have, what was the factory ammo, if you know.
 
not personally, but know of plenty of kb due to obstruction in barrel (esp shotguns)

as far as the intent of your question... in the years i've been reading internet gun forums, i have seen a number of ammo and gun recalls. i'd speculate the defect in question for most of those recalls made it self known through rapid disassembly
 
I was present when a friend had 2 squib loads (.38 Special, Federal factory, approx. 15 years ago) stack up inside a Charter Arms snubby. If he hadn't realized the problem after the second muted *pop*, this could have been a disaster.
 
Go on Defensivecarry.com and look under defensive rifles and shotguns about the S&W AR15, accompanied by photos that allegedly was fired with Gov't ammo................destroyed on the 27th round!

Smith finally replaced it after months of back and forth and heel dragging............17 pages of commentary that either directly addresses S&W's product or the factory gov't ammo used...............OP is allegedly an army ranger that was trying out a gun he'd saved up for...........well worth the read.

Friend of mine looked that site over and just today got rid of his S&W M&P because of it................ammo or gun? Dunno, but as I said, worth a read.
 
Btw, old mil-surp ammo doesn't count as "factory" for this as after it's been stored in unknown conditions for years or decades it can no longer be considered the same as new production ammo. (Although I'm still curious if anyone has had a mil-surp let go with mil-surp ammo).
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Since you asked, a CZ-52. Unfortunately I don't recall the ammunition country of origin. I believe it was either Bulgarian 1953 or the Romanian stuff that was repackaged by South Africa and sold as "New Generation" brand. I do recall it as having somewhat tarnished (but not corroded)brass cases and a nickel-plated projectile. It was not the much-touted Czech 1948.

The incident was not all that spectacular. The recoil and blast were stronger to my recollection than normal. The pistol just locked up completely. At the range I noted fairly large cracks on both sides of the slide. When I got home I managed to get the gun apart. I had hardened rollers and both of them were shattered. The barrel and most of the rest of the internals and the frame seemed ok. I still have many of the original parts but the slide is at the bottom of the Trinity or maybe the Brazos I think.

Note that I also had an extra power Wolff spring, and also a Harrington firing pin kit. I had put hundreds of rounds of all kinds through the CZ both before and after modifications without problems.
 
Do you recollect the recall of the Winchester Personal Defense .45 ACP 230 grain HPs? That recall was started because my Kimber Ultra Eclipse blew up using it. I sent the spent brass and the still unfired Win ammo back to Winchester. The pistol went back to Kimber.

Winchester determined that the flash holes were too small, and started the recall. The pistol was repaired by Kimber. Winchester gave me a free case of ammo for my efforts in alerting them, and a letter stating that based on their finding of that report, that they had started a recall of that ammo. That was about 3 or 4 years back.

Yup. It has happened. 8^\

Geno
 
A close friend of mine had a 9mm factory WWB round squib in his P226: here

It didn't "blow up," but the next round might have... following a squib.

He had to replace the barrel.
 
Blow up a barrel with "FACTORY" ammo?

Not too common because now the undercharge their loads to well below SAMMI standards. It almost takes a substandard handgun to "blow up" a gun nowadays. Or, somebody is shooting really hot loads produced at home or by their favorite reloading buddy.

I had a low powder .38 special squib I missed when I was shooting a few months ago.
It went bang pretty much like it should have but I honestly missed it with my headgear on. The second shot nearly blew the revolver out of my hands and it got my attention real fast. The first squibbed bullet was actually pushed out of the barrel from the impact of the second shot bullet.
All of the blast shock of the second shot blew out of the cylinder gap, and it was LOUD!
Cost me nearly $150 to get the revolver barrel replaced and I still haven't shot it since I got it back 2 months ago.

BTT - Nope, never had a factory load blow up a barrel. ~GQ~
 
malamuteman1 said:
http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=440776 :cuss:
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I just found this on another thread does this apply to your case?

(One major gun manufacturer actually had barrels fall off of their revolvers. An investigation ensued, and they found that the chlorinated esters used in their machining oils was causing stress cracking in barrel threads. When combined with the gun owners' use of cleaning and lube compounds containing chlorinated esters, the barrels simply sheared off at the weakest part - the threads. To this day, the company forbids any chlorine-carrying compounds on the manufacturing floor, to prevent a recurrence.)
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http://www.grantcunningham.com/lubricants101.html
 
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A good friend, I was shooting right beside him at the time. Brand-new Glock, less than 100 rounds through it yet. Brand-new factory WWB 40s, bought at Walmart on the way to the range. Didn't destory the gun, but he had to get a new barrel.

Glock reps blamed it on Winchester; Winchester reps blamed it on Glock.

In the end, my buddy had to pay a "discounted" price of $100 for a new factory barrel, or have a $500 paperweight.

Knowing that one of the two things caused the problem, and after seeing what he went through with their reps, I can't imagine myself ever buying either of them again, a Glock or WWB ammo.

But, to each their own. I'm sure there's millions of Glocks out there that run fine for a lifetime, and I'm sure there's billions of rounds of WWB ammo out there that's not busy destorying guns. But when the random unlikely events do happen, neither company would stand behind their product.
 
interesting.I had a Helwan almost completely disassemble itself on the second shot with a box of factory 9mm.I still have the scar on my thumb knuckle from where the slide blew back and up.
 
Two incidents:

(1) A friend of mine had an R.A.F. Enfield No. 2 Mk I .38 revolver (the scarce earlier pre WW II unmodified S/A and D/A version) blow up with some surplus .380-200 ammo from Singapore that was purchased from Century Arms. Blew the whole top of the cylinder off and the top strap as well. (He complained to/threatened CAI and they "graciously" replaced his scarcer gun with a more common and way less desirable No. 2 Mk I* D/A only "tanker" model.)

(2) Another friend of mine, a Federal Marshall, blew up his Daewoo .223 rifle with some fairly late (and I don't remember the exact date, but it was stuff the Feds could get and us "civvies" couldn't--well, not legally, anyway) Lake City ammo. Blew the left side of the chamber and receiver out. He sent it back to Daewoo's importer and got a brand new gun. Kinda put me off Daewoos, though.
 
At Davidson's, your satisfaction is our commitment. In fact, our commitment is so strong, that we put together the only GuaranteeDsm Lifetime Replacement Warranty available in the firearms industry.
Click to expand...

Yeah, right...:rolleyes:

Until you actually want to return something. Bring your attorney with you.
 
Back in the 1980's I saw a Smith 27 that had a jugged chamber from PMC factory .357 loads. It was brought up that several 357's in the town had been damaged from the same ammo, and the gun shop owner I knew said he knew of several .30 cal M-1 carbines that had the bolts damaged seriously from PMC ammo.

Reportedly, PMC replaced the damaged guns or paid to repair them, tho not without some foot dragging.
 
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