Don't overload!

[RidgwayCO]

First, I'm glad your neighbor did not suffer more serious injuries. IMHO, he was very, very lucky.

Out of morbid curiosity I checked his load through QuickLOAD. Assuming a Remington 240gr SJHP, 19.9gr of Unique, and a COL of 1.600", QuickLOAD computed a pressure in excess of 108,000 psi. This for a cartridge with a SAAMI maximum average pressure of 36,000 psi. 18.2gr of Unique computed out to a little more than 88,000 psi. Both loads were severely compressed.

If your neighbor mistakenly used Unique instead of 2400, then he's learned a valuable lesson about paying attention to details. However, if he intended to load 18.2gr of Unique, but got a little more in some rounds due to being sloppy, then he's a fool...

 

[trapper500]

Don't Overload

The person who fired the gun had better thank the good Lord that they are still around this is a result of not double checking everything & I double check & then check once more time before proceed with shooting .This is a good eye opener to those who don't check thier work enough BE CAREFUL PLEASE

 

[zxcvbob]

Sounds like he loaded them like he was using black powder -- fill the case to the top, then shake a little out so it's not compressed too much.

You can almost do that with 296.

 

[fatelk]

I think all new reloaders should see photos like that. I recently helped a friend set up his new reloading gear and start reloading. I stressed the importance of checking and double checking every step.

I was glad that he is starting out with one caliber, one bullet, one powder type. I think (and remind myself) that it's just as important for us more experienced reloaders to pay close attention too.

I'm obsessive about the visual check. I look at each charged case at an angle, so that the surface of the powder appears as small semi-circle relative to the case mouth. Using an LED flashlight, I look at all cases keeping the same angle of view.

I do exactly the same thing, with a powder measure and loading blocks. I know some folks refuse to use a powder measure or loading blocks, but this technique has worked very well for me. I know full well I could make a mistake, and am more careful now than when I first started reloading.

Another friend told me a story about when he was young many years ago. His dad had bought a beautiful S&W model 29, and started reloading for it. One day his dad wasn't home, so he and his buddy decided to "hot load" some rounds. More is better, right? They were too clueless to even think that it could blow up. He didn't say what kind of powder it was, just that they packed in as much as they could, compressed it with a rod, and packed in some more.

Needless to say, he and his buddy spent the rest of the summer working to earn enough money to buy dad a new gun. His description of the results sounded exactly like that photo.

 

[Olevern]

Wow! good piece of luck that that piece of cylinder that was recovered 150 ft away didn't arrive there via a route thru his skull. Probably wouldn't have slowed it down a bit. I think I'd step back and re-assess my reloading procedures. Especially the part about checking any reloading data in several published sources.

 

[918v]

He may have thought it was #2400 or H110.

In that case, she should surrender his firearms at the nearest police station.

 

[OldmanFCSA]

I take it the cylinder was rotated for the picture? With that much destruction I'm stunned it was able to be moved.

Glad no one was killed or maimed.

Something is wrong with the picture !!!
The bullet was not displaced into barrel. Unless cylinder was rotated.
The remaining cases blew IN not OUT as one should expect from this violent of an explosion.

The empty chamber was rotated away from barrel, thus gun was tampered with, resulting in possible false data of accident.

Thus only one case was exploded upon firing.


Further investigation leaves the following results:

DUMBA$$ - LUCKY HE DID NOT KILL HIMSELF OR SOMEONE NEARBY !!!

ALWAYS verify your loadings prior to seating a bullet - otherwise it is too late to verify the loading components.

Although I wonder what his muzzle velocity was for that loading >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ?

 

[gamestalker]

The first thing I would like to express is I'm glad he or anyone else was injured. It could have gone way worse!
But then there is the other variables and questions clearly in need of addressing. I think the most obvious is the powder charge being so far from the listed data. If he was using a scale to weight each charge as I do, then the likely cause was probably from inadvertantly using the wrong data. I honestly feel this was a preventable error, and it also sounds like he may be rather new to reloading.
I also wanted to take a moment to address your comprehension and understanding of how a compressed charge is used, and the effects of or purpose for using one. I noticed you presented that possibility with a fair amount of aprehension. In regard to grains of powder for the 44 magnum 19 or 20 grains isn't a very dense powder charge. But more importantly is the powder's that would be listed for a compressed charge are only going to be the slowest burning powder's. If we were loading with H110 or 296 for a 200 grain jacketed bullet the charge would be some where betwen 26.0 grs. to 28.0 grains. This would produce a very dense powder charge but not quite yet a compressed charge. The funny thing about powders and their burn rate is how opposite they react to lighter and heavier charges. A slow burning powder such as H110 will usually produce much higher than desired pressures when backing the charge off to less than listed minimum charge weights. However, in my personal experience, often times I can work up to well above the listed maximum while experiencing a noticable drop in pressures with slow burning powder's. Quite the contrary with the faster buring powder's, increase the charge and pressures will follow. Decrease the charge and pressures come down. So long story short, an applied compressed charge as listed is as safe and probably more predictable than a listed charge utilizing a faster buring powder, which is only one of the positive reasons compressed charges are considered a useful tool when tryiing to achieve velocity and accuracy with the same recipe.
It's a shame a beautiful and fine firearm was destroyed the result of a preventable error of epic porportion. Reloading for just short of 30 years has taught me to do it with respect for the elements I'm working with to the extent needed to absolutely eliminate critical error's of this magnitude by implementing fail safe steps throughout the process and never sraying from them.
* Weight every charge on a beam scale
* Double check, and tripple check if necessary to assure you that you've located the correct data for the cartridge being loaded and relative components. I also recomend comparing data with other sources as a way catch a mistaken data application you may have other wise not noticed.
* Zero out the scale properly every time it's used
* Never reload when your impaired or distracted.

 

[SilentVectorX]

I don't understand NOT using a powder measure, at all. A Lee Perfect Powder Measure costs about $20 SHIPPED from Factory Sales. Run a hopper full of your powder through it (into a dixie cup, then dump it back in the hopper), and they throw +/- 0.1 grain. For hundreds of rounds, I weighed every single charge, now that I realized how consistent it is, I just weigh every 5 rounds. I bought 2 more so that I don't have to worry about mixing up powders.