SP 101 Barrel blown off gun

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I've had this SP 101 since the 90's (early on), but never shot it until today. On the 5th round something hit me in my forehead. It was the barrel which broke off at the threads. I was shooting Factory W/W 110 jhp .357 magnums. I was lucky it didn't hit me in the eye. I was about 3 feet from my target which was an old sheet of plywood. It bent the ejector rod and the cylinder still turns like it should. Needless to say Ruger will be fixing it.

From now on I will be wearing shooting glasses at the range. I have been shooting for almost 60 years without a misshap.
 
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Did you buy it new, or was it used? I would also save what was left of the ammunition, as well as the fired cases. Ruger may try to claim the ammo was at fault, while Winchester will likely assume it was Ruger. I guess this is a good reason to put a few rounds through new firearms soon after purchase, in case issues arise. Tougher to deny responsibility if it was within 6 months of manufacture and the original purchaser.
 
Overpressure would ruin the cylinder and since the rest of the gun seems to be undamaged I suspect some kind of a defect in the barrel or some kind of an issue during assembly. Ruger should take care of it.
 
I had a similar occurrence in my old Redhawk. The barrel and scope just broke off and tumbled down range with a light hand load one day.

I sent it to Ruger and they fixed it without a word.

I read about it here or on TFL and someone spoke of a manufacturing flaw they had where they were using a new barrel lube and the guns that were left on the rack at the end of the shift after the barrel threads had been lubed were problems. By the next morning, the lube had dried up and when the barrels were torqued in, the steel was severely strained, so that the barrel would break off at some point.

It’s a pain, but they’ll take care of it for you. You might ask them for a shipping label so it’s not on you.

Let us know how she pans out.
 
I had a similar occurrence in my old Redhawk. The barrel and scope just broke off and tumbled down range with a light hand load one day.

I sent it to Ruger and they fixed it without a word.

I read about it here or on TFL and someone spoke of a manufacturing flaw they had where they were using a new barrel lube and the guns that were left on the rack at the end of the shift after the barrel threads had been lubed were problems. By the next morning, the lube had dried up and when the barrels were torqued in, the steel was severely strained, so that the barrel would break off at some point.

It’s a pain, but they’ll take care of it for you. You might ask them for a shipping label so it’s not on you.

Let us know how she pans out.
Ya, this was a thing in Redhawks for a time, and (so Ive read) a factor in the development of the Super Redhawk.
 
Ya, this was a thing in Redhawks for a time, and (so Ive read) a factor in the development of the Super Redhawk.
Hmm, I wonder if it'll happen again or if it really was the barrel thread issue?

It seems like they would have done a mass recall if it continued to be a problem after the first repair. Kind of like they do with the old Blackhawks, still.
 
Did it "break" off, or just unthread?

I would think that they would use a counter thread to the rifling, but who knows.

I have a S&W Model 10 2" that was a DOC trade in I got used. It had its barrel come loose while I was shooting it. Must have happened at the end, as I never noticed it until I got home and was cleaning the gun. It had a glob of some sort of brown epoxy or thread locker up near the shoulder that didnt look like it ever contacted anything. I cleaned the threads up on both the barrel and frame, put some blue Loctite on the threads and timed it back up the best I could and its been fine ever since.


And wear your glasses! This happened at about the same distance as you were from the berm, and this came back out off the berm and hit my glasses. I usually get hit with stuff a couple of times a year, especially when up close, and find all sorts of stuff that came off the berm in the grass while scrounging my brass after I shoot.

8WJYzQR_q_dc-F5BNyntOLdWDP5ZdA7LI-ODz9SWK8Z83k1LzEaj2a4hic4?cn=THISLIFE&res=medium&ts=1549820155.jpg
 
Hmm, I wonder if it'll happen again or if it really was the barrel thread issue?

It seems like they would have done a mass recall if it continued to be a problem after the first repair. Kind of like they do with the old Blackhawks, still.
Don't know if it was ever an actual recall, that was back in the 80's when .44 Redhawks were throwing barrels downrange.
My .357 has a little extra beef in the barrel extension-
i151.photobucket.com_albums_s127_ldp4570_GUNS_203_RugerRedhawk357magnum_zps9ef075a4.jpg
Hopefully, Ill be ok, lol.
 
A Redhawk in 44 mag I owned .. I traded it through a Pawnshop… a year or later the fellow that purchased it from them .. had the barrel to fly off at the range …I never had any problems with it myself ..Im not sure what the outcome was…
 
I believe I would also contact the ammo company.

One could, but it really seems to be a gun issue and not ammo related. The barrel thing is an issue that has been mentioned on gun forums many times.

From now on I will be wearing shooting glasses at the range.

Pretty basic gun safety. Lucky you did not need them for this incident.
 
Glad you're ok!

Yeah, you really can't post a thread of this type of failure and not post some pictures.

To be clear, I believe you; this is not a call out, I just really want to see it.
I will see if one of our son's can do this. I am 70 years old and just got my first smart phone about a year ago. I was at my sister's place yesterday when it happened and she took 2 pictures and forwarded them to our sons and my phone and showed me how to forward from a text msg. Pretty cool.
 
Did it "break" off, or just unthread?

I would think that they would use a counter thread to the rifling, but who knows.

I have a S&W Model 10 2" that was a DOC trade in I got used. It had its barrel come loose while I was shooting it. Must have happened at the end, as I never noticed it until I got home and was cleaning the gun. It had a glob of some sort of brown epoxy or thread locker up near the shoulder that didnt look like it ever contacted anything. I cleaned the threads up on both the barrel and frame, put some blue Loctite on the threads and timed it back up the best I could and its been fine ever since.


And wear your glasses! This happened at about the same distance as you were from the berm, and this came back out off the berm and hit my glasses. I usually get hit with stuff a couple of times a year, especially when up close, and find all sorts of stuff that came off the berm in the grass while scrounging my brass after I shoot.

View attachment 1107770
The barrel, on the 5th round sheared off at the threads. I will be wearing shooting glasses from now on. This is the first catastrophic incident I have had in 60 years of shooting. I am very lucky the barrel did not hit me in one of my eyes.
 
I'm very curious, what did the chances of seeing the damage?
I will see if one of our boy's can do this. My sister took pictures and sent them to my phone and showed me how to forward them to contacts. This is my first smart phone.
 
The barrel, on the 5th round sheared off at the threads. I will be wearing shooting glasses from now on. This is the first catastrophic incident I have had in 60 years of shooting. I am very lucky the barrel did not hit me in one of my eyes.
You are indeed fortunate.
 
Sounds horrible. And I was annoyed at cases thrown in my face by a Seacamp LWS 32. A barrel would be pretty nasty. I imagine you have a gash or black and blue area on your forehead?
Right after it happened I kept putting my hand on my forehead looking for blood. After a while I figured I was ok as there was no blood and this morning no bruising. Just a lesson learned about shooting glasses.
 
The barrel, on the 5th round sheared off at the threads
Would seen to not be an overload, like this one. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?media/albums/kaboom.24/
something hit me in my forehead. It was the barrel
That would get my attention. Glad the eyes/you escaped injury.

index.php
 
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