1KPerDay
Member
Here's one I personally witnessed and filmed the aftermath of
Thats a LOT LOT LOT of match shooting!It's now on it's fourth barrel. Roughly 5500 rounds per, never another problem.
A few years back I learned of a guy who was selling off his guns and reloading gear. He and his wife had retired and sold the house to buy an RV , planning to ride off into the sunset. I bought a large quantity of reloaded .38 sp. wadcutters from him (mistake #1)with his assurance that his loads had served him well in years of cowboy action competition. Nice guy , great price.
Off I went to private land with a Highway Patrolman and a bunch of wadcutters. The first few cylinder loads were as expected , mild report and practically no recoil with the big N frame. The came a round that seemed hotter than the rest ; not extreme , but noticeably louder and more recoil. I figured it was an isolated anomaly and , convinced that there was nothing to worry about since I was shooting a beefy 357 , decided to continue shooting. (mistake #2) There were a few more moderately hot rounds , no worse than the first , until I unleashed a blistering hot one that stung my hand and left my protected ears wringing. Enough already! I rolled the cylinder out , pushed the ejector rod with the heel of my hand and - it would not move. After several futile attempts to eject I emptied 5 charge holes individually and headed home to my work bench with a bad feeling in my gut. With the cylinder freed from the frame I managed to clear the expanded case with a dowel and a plastic hammer. Close inspection showed no visible damage. Reassembled , loaded snap caps , click-click-click ... all seemed ok. Selected some mild factory loads and headed out for a function check. 6 shots , all seemed normal - until I tried to eject. Time and time again the spent case stuck in the same charge hole.
How overcharged does a .38 special round have to be to stretch the a 357 magnum N frame cylinder ? My unscientific answer is : hot enough that it probable would have turned a K frame cylinder into a grenade.
I learned this:
Never ever discharge reloaded ammunition from a source that is not completely verified.
This : Unloading 700 some-odd rounds one at a time with an impact hammer isn't a lot of fun.
And this:
I have seen the enemy , and he is me.
(Apologies to Pogo ...)
It sounds like your loads were double or triple thrown of the intended amount of such fast burning powder.
enough threads like this made me decide never to shoot unknown reloads... but that doesn't mean I won't pull them for components. I recently did a bunch of .308's, case length ranged from 2.08 to 2.30.... enough to jam the brass into the rifling, and do some damage hade it gone unnoticed. Loaded with pistol primers too. Another reloader sells to a pawnshop around here that for some reason buys them, and they are scary. Lots of squibs, and a few with powder acid burns. Why anyone would shoot those I don't know. My first time shooting with a guy I pointed the acid issue out, and he stopped buying that trash. But someone else is still buying it.A few years back I learned of a guy who was selling off his guns and reloading gear. He and his wife had retired and sold the house to buy an RV , planning to ride off into the sunset. I bought a large quantity of reloaded .38 sp. wadcutters from him (mistake #1)with his assurance that his loads had served him well in years of cowboy action competition. Nice guy , great price.
Off I went to private land with a Highway Patrolman and a bunch of wadcutters. The first few cylinder loads were as expected , mild report and practically no recoil with the big N frame. The came a round that seemed hotter than the rest ; not extreme , but noticeably louder and more recoil. I figured it was an isolated anomaly and , convinced that there was nothing to worry about since I was shooting a beefy 357 , decided to continue shooting. (mistake #2) There were a few more moderately hot rounds , no worse than the first , until I unleashed a blistering hot one that stung my hand and left my protected ears wringing. Enough already! I rolled the cylinder out , pushed the ejector rod with the heel of my hand and - it would not move. After several futile attempts to eject I emptied 5 charge holes individually and headed home to my work bench with a bad feeling in my gut. With the cylinder freed from the frame I managed to clear the expanded case with a dowel and a plastic hammer. Close inspection showed no visible damage. Reassembled , loaded snap caps , click-click-click ... all seemed ok. Selected some mild factory loads and headed out for a function check. 6 shots , all seemed normal - until I tried to eject. Time and time again the spent case stuck in the same charge hole.
How overcharged does a .38 special round have to be to stretch the a 357 magnum N frame cylinder ? My unscientific answer is : hot enough that it probable would have turned a K frame cylinder into a grenade.
I learned this:
Never ever discharge reloaded ammunition from a source that is not completely verified.
This : Unloading 700 some-odd rounds one at a time with an impact hammer isn't a lot of fun.
And this:
I have seen the enemy , and he is me.
(Apologies to Pogo ...)
I agree. Even more "reputable" remanufactured stuff can be out of specification... Cough......cough......LAXammo...cough...coughenough threads like this made me decide never to shoot unknown reloads... but that doesn't mean I won't pull them for components. I recently did a bunch of .308's, case length ranged from 2.08 to 2.30.... enough to jam the brass into the rifling, and do some damage hade it gone unnoticed. Loaded with pistol primers too. Another reloader sells to a pawnshop around here that for some reason buys them, and they are scary. Lots of squibs, and a few with powder acid burns. Why anyone would shoot those I don't know. My first time shooting with a guy I pointed the acid issue out, and he stopped buying that trash. But someone else is still buying it.
No pics, I didn't bother to record any of them because there was no damage (other than the LCI) and no injuries and no mystery what happened.Pictures might help me to understand what happened with your Ruger.
Why is a loaded chamber indicator dangerous with a rimfire?
Ouch!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.
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I had the same with a Glock 20. No brass in my face but the frame was ruined and my hand hurt quite a bit. I posted about it here and took quite a bit of heat from the “perfection” crowd about how it must have been my fault.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.
I would guess it’s because the LCI rides on the rim to detect the presence of a case. If it gets stuck in position the slide slamming forward would drive it into the rim and it would act like a firing pin and detonate the priming compound.Pictures might help me to understand what happened with your Ruger.
Why is a loaded chamber indicator dangerous with a rimfire?