Kaboom- Handloading Oops

[hunter64]

Father-in-law's neighbor decided to reload and watch TV at the same time, well you can see the results of this adventure. Thank goodness he was not hurt but as can be seen the revolver took a hit, bent up the top strap and cracked the cylinder. The real pitty is that it is first year blackhawk 3 screw 41 Mag. Anyone need parts, LOL.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/blackhawk41004.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/blackhawk41003.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/blackhawk41002.jpg

[Uncle Grinch]

Send it back to Ruger and see what they say... all you will be out is shipping.

[Ricochet]

So, what went into it?

[fatnhappy]

It's almost sinful to damage such a beautiful piece of iron. I'm glad no one was hurt. Was he wearing safety glasses?

[STP]

That really is sad to see. I feel most fortunate that I`ve yet to do the same thing in 20 plus years of handloading, irreguardless of the cause.
Looks like the "double charge" boo-boo....

[hunter64]

He put in 19 grn of Unique in stead of 9 grn which is a bit under from the web site that says 9.3 grn max. He had the 10's on the beam scale on the 10 position instead of the 0 position so when he measured it up he thought he was fine but was more than double charging. You would think that he would have noticed the amount of powder especially when he opened up the rest of his reloads and all of them were very compressed.

[MtGun44]

Wow. :shock: The 41 mag SBh has VERY thick cyl walls and it must have
taken incredible pressure to do that!!! I'm surprised you could do it with
Unique - wouldn't have thought you could get enough in to do it.

Amazing - and sad to destroy a fine firearm like that. Apparently no
damage to the shooter?

What's the old saying "God protects idiots and little children." :roll:

Bill

[Lee]

I thought it said.."Idiots, drunks and little children"....
But then I might be wrong............Lee;-)

[floodgate]

hunter64:

that's an easy mistake (one off on the "tens" count) to make if you're not watching what you are doing, and/or the scale is not in a good light; I've come close a couple of times, which is why I ALWAYS triple-check the weight settings - or throw 5 or 10 charges and weigh them to see they are 5x or 10x the setting I thought I had.

MtGun44:

Yes, a double-charge of Unique WILL blow a gun apart; pressure rises really FAST to "high-order detonation" levels. I DELIBERATELY blew an old low-number (under 90,000) square-bolt Savage 99 with an incipient crack at the "stress-riser" point at the left rear corner of the bolt with 25 grs - essentially a double charge (done with the stripped rifle tied to a spare tire and a l - o - n - g string). Funny thing: the receiver held at the back, but it cracked the receiver ring and blew the barrel loose (aided by a couple of extra scope mount holes in the front ring). Fast powders get faster QUICK when overloaded.

floodgate

[Buckshot]

.............Too bad he wasn't shooting across a chrono. It would have been interesting to know what 19.0grs would do :-) When I blew up my old low number NRA Springfield sporter the Lyman 311284 (217grs) tripped the chrono at 3059 fps. Way lot faster then a Weatherby 300 mag. However it was just a one shot deal!

................Buckshot

[dagamore]

shame to see a hard to find gun, like the ruger 41mag get blown up. that took alot of power to do, one of the reasons why i love the 41mag so hard to hurt your self and the gun. But as the pic shows it is possible. Hope he is all right, and no-one was hurt in the incident.

but that pic is also the reason why i check my powders every now and then, on a nother (digital) scale. Not a fast scale, but it works great for double checking of loads.

[PatMarlin]

THat's scary. Fine loss, but glad he's OK.

A good reason to use a LEE safety scale, and a darn good reason to use a digital scale to check the loads after assembled fo sho.

[Cloudpeak]

Father-in-law's neighbor decided to reload and watch TV at the same time, well you can see the results of this adventure.[/IMG]

You know what the last thing is that goes through your mind when you do that?

The top strap[smilie=1:

I've got an old 3 screw, flat top 44. They're beautiful handguns. Sad to see such a nice gun destroyed. But, the sturdy ol' Ruger held together probably saving a lot of carnage. I'll bet his fingers tingled a little bit.

Cloudpeak

[mooman76]

That much Unique would have surely filled up the brass. One would think the question would have popped in his head. That's one reason I like unique because it makes it hard to double load. I quess it goes to show you why you don't try to multi task while reloading. I have a TV on in my garage while I load but I don't really watch it. It's just something to listen too like a radio or something and helps me concentrate!

[Ricochet]

I'm sure I recall reading in RUGER AND HIS GUNS: A History of the Man, the Company and Their Firearms that when the first Ruger Blackhawk .44 was introduced, it was tested with a cylinder full of 240 grain bullets loaded over a full case of Bullseye.

I also recall reading in an early '70s Guns and Ammo Annual an article about the Ruger M77 rifle that said in premarketing testing they dipped a 7mm Remington Magnum case full to the mouth with Unique, seated a 175 grain bullet, loaded it and fired it remotely. The rifle's bolt had to be beaten open with a wooden mallet. The brass case head had flowed under the extractor and into the ejector port. But they said no change in chamber or headspace measurements could be detected and the gun appeared to be in good firing order. (It was destroyed as a precaution.)

Weatherby did some similar overload testing.

Apparently they won't always withstand that kind of thing, though.

[PatMarlin]

Good thing he wasn't using something like WC820.. :shock:

[Ricochet]

Huh? I shoot compressed capacity loads of WC820 in my Super Blackhawk all the time. A serious overload wouldn't let the bullet seat to normal length.

[PatMarlin]

Oops. Sorry, I was doing to much here at the same time had 820 on the brain.

More like VN320, or well... you know what I mean.

A perfect example again of why not to be distracted when thinking powders.. :mrgreen:

[dk17hmr]

That is pretty amazing...lucky that cylinder didnt blow right up and take part of his hand off. Wonder what he thought when that revolver recoiled.

I ussally have the radio on when I reload never have even thought about taking my tv in the reloading room. Casting is a different story. I take my tv out into the garage and fire up the casting pot, cast a few hundred when watchin Family Guy or Futurama.

[Sundogg1911]

when I first got into reloading (I bought a Dillon SDB for 45 ACP) I went to the range with my first 50 reloads. I was using 230 FMJ over HS-6 I remember it was a middle of the road load. A friend of mind (Avid reloader) suggested starting off with that powder, because you couldnt double charge one without spilling powder all over the place. Anyway. I got to the range and started talking to a Guy who told me He was reloading for years and He had some other brand of Hot powder that was way better etc. He pointed His Springfield 1911 down range pulled the trigger and "wham" the mag shot out bounced off the pavement and part of it lodged in His neck. He had double charged it. they carted Him off in an ambulance. I almost quit reloading on the spot. I've seen Him since. He has a pretty nice scar. It really makes you think!

[PatMarlin]

I listen to Bible study on the net when I'm reloading or casting. Something about praising God and ammunition works well together.. :mrgreen:

Ricochet-

I've been experimenting with 820 and my .223 lately, but haven't as yet used it in my 45 colts. What kinda accuracy are you getting, and with what boolits?

[Ricochet]

The only thing I've ever used WC820 in is my .44 Magnum, with lead boolits from 240 to 270 grains, and it shoots just fine.

[dakotashooter2]

A little hammering and a new cylinder and she be good as new. LOL



:castmine:

[Sundogg1911]

i often reload with the tv on. im a news junkey and i'll put CNN on and listen to the news or music. the key is just pay attention and use common sense

[PPpastordon]

I have a 3 Screw .357 with a "wavy back-strap" kinda like that one. Mine is not anywhere as bent as that one, but it is bent. Some people who have seen it thought it had been pushed back down after its overload, but I have no idea if that could be true. Actually, I do not think pushing the back-strap down is practical. When the cylinder blew, the cylinder's length would have kept the frame in proper relationship from front to back. If one then pushed the back-strap down, the top ends of the window would be pushed out of place from each other. The barrel and cylinder would no longer be in alignment.
I bought it in a gun shop about 3 years ago. When I pointed out the bent back-strap, the owner was nice enough to sell it to me as a "non-shooter" for such an low amount it is almost embarrassing - but not enough so that I ever considered not buying it! He even asked me to sign a paper stating I was buying it, knowing that it had been blown up in the past and that he sold it as a non-shooter. I signed.
As a non-shooter, it shoots beautifully! I believe it is the most accurate 3-Screw .357 I have.
If that .41 were mine, I would shoot it as it is. I would hate to send it to Ruger and they refuse to send it back because it was "unsafe" (How? Maybe too ugly?) to safely shoot.
Just my 2 cents.

[MT Gianni]

The cylinder is cracked but a 357 cyl should not be too hard to find. I can't imagine any reliable gunsmith chambering and fitting it with the topstrap in that condition though. Gianni.