This Anaconda will not be a shooter any more

[sturmruger]

I did a few searches to see if anyone had posted this link before, but didn't see anything. I did email the user the owns the website to see what the rest of the story is on this gun. This must have been a scary shot! I can't even imagine what happened here. It was probably a guy that was trying some crazy new handloads.


http://iris.nyit.edu/~bithead/anaconda/


It seems like almost all of these are someone trying to squeeze that last little bit of power out of their .44 magnum.

 

[pezo]

I saved some of those pics as possible "wall paper" Although I hope the shooter by all means was ok after this happened , These pics are pretty interesting . hmmmmm anymore? anyone?

 

[sturmruger]

they would make good wallpaper they certainly have plenty of resolution. Hopefully I hear back from the guy that posted the pictures I am really interested to find out what happened.

 

[larry starling]

OMG! Some Moron ruined a perfectly good colt revolver! I hope the poor guy is ok! Man I have seen to many pictures like this! Makes me shy away from reloads and reloading! I would hate to ruin a expensive gun trying to save a few cents buying cheap reloaded ammo!

 

[Magnum88C]

Holy bird turds Batman!
That sucks.

Man I have seen to many pictures like this! Makes me shy away from reloads and reloading! I would hate to ruin a expensive gun trying to save a few cents buying cheap reloaded ammo!

Well, that's one reason I don't see how far I can push it with reloads, besides, loads below maximum are usually more accurate. Second, I won't EVER buy someone else's reloads.

 

[tc300mag1]

Boom here comes the Boom ... Either gunshow reloads or hotrodding it .. Its not a ruger Jezz they are call maxium loads for a reason

 

[absolute0]

Every once in a while I'm glad I'm not a reloader.....

 

[Standing Wolf]

Yeah, yeah, yeah! A few bent paper clips and some duct tape, and it'll be back on the line.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Classic double charge -- always, always use a loading block, and check each case with a flashlight before seating a bullet.

 

[larryw]

Double charge? I'd bet a hang fire and he already clicked through to the next cylinder when it went off (look at the bullet and crane).

This is why I reload all my own ammo: I don't trust some monkey or machine making mine.

 

[larryf1952]

Those pics are certainly food for nightmares. If I had to guess at a cause, I'd guess way too much of a powder that was too fast for a .44 Mag. But, that's no reason to fear reloads, if done with care and expertise. In 29 years of reloading, I've had one squib.

My Anaconda sleeps well within my safe, having shot only reloads.

 

[sgt127]

"Four Grains of Bullseye or four Ounces.....Oh well, we'll just see what fits..."

 

[mrhuckins]

Thats what you get when you buy a cheaply made gun.

 

[thatguy]

I don't like to use any load that can be double charged and not spill over. It's a problem with cases like the 45 Colt. I have a New Service that was double charged with 16 grains of Unique behind a 250 grain bullet. Even though the gun was made in 1917 it survived with just a bulged chamber. A replacement cylinder fixed it right up.

I wonder if the mount for the optical sight supported the top strap enough to keep it from leaving? That's what usually heppens when the top half of the cylinder blows out and this one looks like it was trying to leave.

 

[larry starling]

quote:Thats what you get when you buy a cheaply made gun. : What have you been smoking? What would make you call a Colt CHEAP? I in my 20+ years of owning and buying guns have never seen a cheap Colt! If you are in a area where colts are cheap please let us know! Of coarse opinions are like a*****e's everyone has one!

 

[mrhuckins]

I didn't say colts are cheap. I said they are cheaply made. As in J-U-N-K. Of coarse, this is just one a*****e's opinion.

 

[The Rabbi]

Kuhnhausen's revolver book on COlts shows a Python in similar repair. The owner had 3 or 4 squib loads followed up by a double-charge .357. It blew the side of the barrel out, among other damages.

 

[yorec]

The pics say he wasn't hurt - good deal! But that just means he wan't bleedin' - the loss of his gun hurt him plenty!

Does look like a squib stuck in in the barrel to me too.

 

[Bart Noir]

Wurnt no cheeply made gun!!! I mean, after that "grenade" the cylinder could still be opened.

Bart Noir

 

[P. Plainsman]

The owner had 3 or 4 squib loads followed up by a double-charge .357.

That ... is not an ideal reloading scenario.

 

[BluesBear]

I'd bet a hang fire and he already clicked through to the next cylinder when it went off (look at the bullet and crane).

You'd lose that bet.

That's a classic over pressure burst. Look at the topstrap near the breechface. You can see where the pressure vented upwards as the cylinder split.
Also the Colt cylinder turns clockwise.

Plus when's the last time you encountered a hangfire on ammo loaded within the past 20 years?

 

[sturmruger]

And now you know the rest of the story

Follw the link below for the rest of the story.


http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=1736175#post1736175

 

[klw]

Titegroup

I shot a S&W Performance Center 500 magnum for a while. The first year I used a load from the Hodgdon web site but I started at 5 grains below their recommended minimum. The recoil was absolutely horrible.

The second year I bought 8 pounds of titegroup. Set the load for the cast bullet right at the minimum recommended on the Hodgdon web site. Much less recoil.

I was using a turret press. The powder charge was weight and dispensed on the newest RCBS powder dispensing system. After the charge was put into a case the next die was a powder height checking die. Change of a double charge should have been zero.

Well the gun exploded. The cylinder blue out. The bulge was stopped by the frame. The recoil was so severe that the gun hit me in the face. The hammer completely cut through my safety glasses. Cut clean through the frame. It that hammer had been one inch higher it would have split my skull right about my left eye. Scared the shi@ out of me. Of course the gun was completely ruined.

I'm 99.99% sure that this was not a double charge. I called Hodgdon to ask them to reconsider that load. They made it ABSOLUTELY clear to me that they never made mistakes. That only reloaders made mistakes. NEVER HODGDON. Couldn't have cared less.

So was it a double charge. I don't think so. I think that it was a detonation. 500's do that. There was a very long thread on this particular explosion on the Smith site.

Oddly enough my gun had "collector" value. Sold it for what I had in it. Gun was collecting blown up 500's.

So this is interesting to me. I've long known that some believe that a small charge in a large case can detonate rather than burn. I didn't believe that until it happened to me. Now I wonder if this could be powder specific. Interesting idea.

I'm glad you weren't hurt. I know that in the few seconds it took me to realize what happen and to check to see if I still had both my eyes my accident scared the shi@ out of me.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

So was it a double charge. I don't think so. I think that it was a detonation. 500's do that. There was a very long thread on this particular explosion on the Smith site.

Do you have pictures of the gun afterwards?

"Detonation" means a chemical reaction propagated by a shock wave -- typically at several times the maximum theoretical speed of expansion of a gas. The "signature" of detonation is shattering and spalling -- if the gun detonated, you should find pieces in much their original configuration, but broken like glass. You should find where pieces broke off on the side opposite the explosion.

If you had a double charge, you should find pieces that are distorted and stretched by the pressure. They will look a lot different from those produced by a detonation.

 

[BluesBear]

I'm 99.99% sure that this was not a double charge. I called Hodgdon to ask them to reconsider that load. They made it ABSOLUTELY clear to me that they never made mistakes. That only reloaders made mistakes. NEVER HODGDON. Couldn't have cared less.

By your own admission you are not completely sure you didn't make the mistake.

You have already demonstrated questionable loading practices by admitting to using a load that was...

5 grains below their recommended minimum

People who believe in the myth of detonation think it magically happens by using charges that are too small.
Prior to your mistake, did you not believe in detonation or just that it wouldn't happen to you?

The fact is detonations just don't happen in handgun cartridges with any powder available over the counter. Not even in in a case as large as the .500S&W.


You overcharged a case and blew up your S&W. I am glad you weren't seriously injured but don't try and blame Hodgdon.