Slow-motion video of S&W Kaboom

[9x19sig]

This is an interesting video, someone intentionally blew up a S&W revolver. It completely disconnects the topstrap where the rear sight would be and the cylinder obviously lets loose also.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d8_1174515078

 

[18DAI]

Is it just me, or does that top strap appear to be warped, above the cylinder, going back twards the hammer, prior to KB ?

 

[.45FMJoe]

I think so too. Probably messed it up with an overcharged reload and just decided to blow it up to put it out of its misery.

 

[Shear_stress]

I just wonder how the camera stayed fixed to the gun under recoil.

 

[langenc]

Why would some yahoo do that and secondly HOW??

 

[Brian Williams]

Why, to study why and how things blow up, test the metalurgy of the item. How, easy if you reload, a large amount of fast burning powder will usually do the trick.

 

[Leanwolf]

Yeah, the top strap looks warped already.

As for blowing the revolver that way, a tripple charge of Bullseye will do it every time.

L.W.

 

[roscoe]

Oh, the horror, the horror!

 

[MountainBear]

It seems to me that the clip starts split seconds after the firing pin hits the primer. That would explain why the top strap already seems bulged. Thats on of the thinner areas around the chamber of a S&W and will tear off before the cylinder will shear as it did in the video. Just my opinion of course, I am not a ballistician.

 

[Boats]

It's only a shame if it was a pre-lock model.

 

[SAWBONES]

Note the rear top strap is bowed and the faceplate already split before the "action".

 

[mbartel]

Did anyone else notice that there was not a case in the chamber under the firing pin? There was no hammer fall either. Also if you will stop frame it, you will see that the top strap is hollow. The virtual lack of recoil, indicates that no bullet was fired. This leads me to believe this was staged with a plastic revolver, using some type of explosive.

 

[Deer Hunter]

Seems a bit odd to me. I'm under the same assumption, Bartel.

 

[schmeky]

mbartel,

Precisely, you beat me to the punch. This is not a "real" explosion.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

As noted by Mountain Bear, the action has already started BEFORE the video clip. The first frame of the clip already shows light and expanding gasses. The bowing and splitting at the start of the clip are the failure already in progress when the clip starts.

 

[Claude Clay]

phony as a $3 loony
no case, hollow backstrap, yup mbartel
dudes should go back to playing w/ mentos&pepsi

 

[ATW525]

I don't know... I thought the backstrap looked hollow, too, at first but the more I look at it, the more it appears to be an optical illusion caused by the lighting. As the top strap flies further up towards the top of the screen and the end is better lit, it definitely does not look hollow.

I can also see what looks like large fragments of the casing in the debris. Note that one very large one flies out in the direction of the top right corner of the screen while a large chunk cylinder is falling below it. You can also the base of the casing still stuck back against the frame and brass sheering off of it.

 

[klover]

Plastic will not show brittle fracture

which is way characteristic of metal.

This doesn't mean it was not deliberately overcharged and staged.

A good reminder to wear safely glasses.

Makes me want to go shooting.

 

[Kurac]

Anyone see the bolt fly out after the ejector star seperated? its real, looks like a .44mag and the result is consistant with pictures of other KB's I have seen. I don't think you can get a plastic gun to mimic a steel gun when it comes to a failure like this.

 

[FieroCDSP]

I didn't see the rim of any case in the first frame. Maybe they stuffed teh cylinder.

 

[Shear_stress]

I am fairly certain this is real. You can plainy see pieces of the case flying out of the cylinder. The top strap is not hollow, it just shows crack propagation. The seemingly hollow portion is where the crack raised the stress high enough to cause the metal to yield, resulting in a smooth surface. Also, as has been noted, the video starts after the primer has already ignited.

 

[Eightball]

I don't see a rim to the case, it seems phony. If there was a back to the case, would anything really fly out of the back of the cylinder, where the hammer strikes?

Maybe it was an RG, and not a S&W? Just because it says it is, doesn't make it so.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Why is there no sign at all of recoil? The back of the revolver doesn't even move a tenth of an inch. Also, there just happened to be a high speed camera fixed directly on the revolver when this "failure" occurred...

 

[GLM]

I think it is real...

If you'll notice the web address on the bottom of the video (www.kurzzeit.com), it is company that specializes in "Ballistic measuring technique, high-speed measuring systems, light barriers, high-speed photography systems, quiet and video High speed cameras, industry PC's, services, hardware and software developments ballistic measurement", etc. Here is a link to more of their videos. The one at the top of the page shows another failure (looks similar to the original, but the camera angle is different and the revolver's barrel is longer).

http://www.bsg-dornier.de/schiessen/index.html?/schiessen/filme/filme.htm

 

[ArchAngelCD]

My point exactly, if it wasn't staged there wouldn't have been a camera there catching the event.