Magnum Research BFR Exploded. (56k beware)

[ArMa]

I work in a gun store and a customer came in today and brought me this gun and asked me to ship it back to the factory... He apparently shot a handload and it was a miss-fire (no powder charge) but he didnt check the barrel before firing again....

 

[DT Guy]

Good thing the frame and cylinder held, or his next of kin would have brought it in....


Larry

 

[tc300mag1]

What is it a 45/70 or a 500 SW? Talk about a peeled bananna

 

[gulogulo1970]

Doh!

 

[ArMa]

oop yea forgot to add.. its a 500 S&W

EDIT: and the leupold, despite a few scratches on the bottom of the maintube still works fine ... always was a leupold fan.

 

[larryw]

I'll bet he's got a flinch that will take a while to sort out...

 

[P95Carry]

500?????!! That cyl is same length as my 45-70 BFR ... so, do they use that mega long cyl then on the 500??

Amazing pics ... peeling a banana - comes to mind. Wow!

 

[esheato]

Ha....Who says you need to buy a borescope? Glad the guy is alright.

Ed

 

[JohnKSa]

Sturdy gun...

Is the frame bulged at the front of the cylinder or is that just the way the light is reflecting off the metal?

Is the cylinder jammed?

P95--the 45/70 and 500 BFRs are the same as far as I can tell by eyeballing them. Just the holes are bigger in the 500. Should clarify that I've never seen the two calibers side by side, but I have handled them in both calibers.

 

[bobby68]

how often does something like this happen with this model? How old is the design?

 

[tex_n_cal]

Wondering if they were getting their barrels from Tikka?

 

[caseydog]

how often does something like this happen with this model?

As often as someone fires a squib and doesn't check , then shoots the extra bullet clear of the barrel !

Bobby , what your'e seeing here is a revolver that has taken one of the worst possible mistakes you can subject any gun to and come out the other side looking remarkably well , the frame and cylinder are intact and the shooter is safe , albeit still flinching in his sleep most likely.

A lesser gun could have cost this guy some fingers or put shrapnel in his face, it has happened to many a gun in the past . The 2 deadlies that can open up any gun like this ,1. not clearing a squib stuck in the barrel and 2. the classic reloading goof of the wrong powder in the cartridge resulting in a massive overcharge of fast burning powder. No. 2 usually leaves the cylinder in 2 pieces rather than the barrel.

Ahh , here found a pic of one :

 

[ArMa]

The cylinder worked fine, still smooth as any SA and yes the reciever was slightly buldged.
bobby68 - rest assured this was an operator malfunction, has nothing to do with the design of the gun, infact the gunsmith said that the gun held up better than most.

 

[stv]

Countertop looks familiar... where in CA are you located?

 

[ArMa]

Redding.. its Olde West gun

 

[Redhawk1]

bobby68, this was not a defect in the gun, but a mistake by the shooter. The barrel had a bullet in it when he tried to shoot it again, call an obstruction. Like posted above, had it been a lesser gun it could of been worse.

 

[carebear]

Just chop that sucker off and make it a belly gun.

 

[JohnKSa]

If the frame is bulged then the gun is toast. Still, I'm impressed at how well it stood up to that kind of abuse.

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Was he a handloader?

That looks to be a mighty strong revolver. Usually when a revolver blows, they look something like caseydog's illustration. That is just incredible the frame and cylinder held. I wonder what the peak pressure was.

With this sort of handcannon, there's no way you can tell me that he didn't realize something was wrong when he fired that squib.

 

[Black Snowman]

First thing I thought "Glad he's all right." 2nd think I thought "Man, that's a strong frame!"

 

[Cosmoline]

Wow. That's impressive. I've had good feelings for the BFR ever since shooting one at the range, but I haven't been able to afford one. It's high on my list for hunting handguns. The performance of this one under such enormous stress is reassuring. The frame HELD, and the barrel blew out to the sides and away from the shooter. Lord knows what pressures were at work, but a lesser revolver might well have turned into a true grenade. This supports my tentative conclusion that the BFR is not a mere "fun gun."

 

[BusMaster007]

1st thing I thought was:
2nd thing I thought was: "What a MAROON!"

Seriously, I'm glad the shooter is OK.
That IS kind of a strong gun, isn't it? Wow.

Good reminder for ALL shooters to be safe ALL the time!

 

[Tony Mig]

I'm a reloader, and a dedicated wheel gun shooter, I have had only one of my loads malfunction as a squib, but I realized the situation and corrected it by unloading the remaining live rounds, took my 6" GP-100 into the armory, and cleared the stuck bullet. Then I stopped shooting that batch of reloads, took them home and pulled the bullets on the remaining rounds. After that, I went to work figuring out what went wrong, and why.

I've always believed that shooting a fire arm takes 100% of your attention and concentration......
Reloading, and shooting reloaded ammunition takes 120%.......

 

[BluesBear]

And don't forget...

That's one tough little scope there too.

 

[kidcoltoutlaw]

Scope ?

What make of scope is that.