Browning Citori blew up!

[bdicki]

I would think a 16 ga shell would do it.

[Alferd Packer]

That is what a double load does!

[a danl]

isn't it amazing what a little shotgun primer can do

[1hole]

Wow.. If a loose bad wad did that, pressure must have spiked with not being able to push the train thru the tunnel... Ouch

I don't believe it was a loose wad, that would shoot out. Nor was it a double charge; the damage is too great and localized for that. There (almost) has to have been a 20 ga. stuck up there and Browning knows it but is tackfully refusing to say the shooter is one very lucky dummazz.

[rking22]

That is a 12/20 or 12/16 burst. A friend saw a Beretta 687 get disassembled just like that. Said the guy loaded, called for his pair, got a misfire. Opened the gun and nothing in one chamber. Said something about guess forgot to load, dropped another in and the gun blew up. He was not lucky and lost a lot of use of his left hand, as I hear. He had been shooting a 20 earlier and still had a few 20s in his vest. Over under barrels are not nearly as thick as 870s, and I won’t test that concept.
It is very easy to do, I dropped a black 16ga into my superposed at a shoot one day. I noticed it as it fell into the chamber! Didn’t notice the color as I wasn’t looking at the shells, noticed it didn’t feel right going in the chamber. I was shooting an additional round and got the broken box out of the trunk, must have gathered a loose 16 when I picked them up??? I shoot black Rem game loads in my early M12 but had not shot it in weeks. Not unusual for me to shoot several different gages on the same day, just gotta pat down the pockets and STAY FOCUSED! When coaching youth, I check that the pockets are empty and correct ammo. My son and I double check each other when shooting various gages. By the way, a 28 or 20 will do the same to a 16.

[Drm50]

I have seen a lot of damaged shotguns and always from barrel obstructions. Never saw anything like that. Rifles and pistols a different story. Almost always a function of overload or wrong powder.

[Blood Trail]

isn't it amazing what a little shotgun primer can do

That was a lot more than a shotgun primer. Subbing out a primer has never blown a shotgun up in the history of shotgunning.


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[harkom]

Unfortunately there is no mention of powder formulation ( ie "ball" powder, granular or flake ) nor the type of primer ( ie sealed or open/unsealed flash hole ) - such information might provide a clue as to whether a Detonation occurred in a "normal" reload rather than an obstructive type of burst.

[Petrol & Powder]

That is a 12/20 or 12/16 burst. A friend saw a Beretta 687 get disassembled just like that. Said the guy loaded, called for his pair, got a misfire. Opened the gun and nothing in one chamber. Said something about guess forgot to load, dropped another in and the gun blew up. He was not lucky and lost a lot of use of his left hand, as I hear. He had been shooting a 20 earlier and still had a few 20s in his vest. Over under barrels are not nearly as thick as 870s, and I won’t test that concept.
It is very easy to do, I dropped a black 16ga into my superposed at a shoot one day. I noticed it as it fell into the chamber! Didn’t notice the color as I wasn’t looking at the shells, noticed it didn’t feel right going in the chamber. I was shooting an additional round and got the broken box out of the trunk, must have gathered a loose 16 when I picked them up??? I shoot black Rem game loads in my early M12 but had not shot it in weeks. Not unusual for me to shoot several different gages on the same day, just gotta pat down the pockets and STAY FOCUSED! When coaching youth, I check that the pockets are empty and correct ammo. My son and I double check each other when shooting various gages. By the way, a 28 or 20 will do the same to a 16.

My thoughts exactly.

That was likely a 16 or 20 gauge shell in front of the 12 gauge in the chamber.

I'm not sure a 16 will go far enough to load a 12 behind it but a 20 gauge damn sure will.

When I was young I was taught - ONLY carry the ammunition for the gun you have with you. That wasn't just a suggestion, it was a rule. If an adult caught you with the wrong ammunition for the gun you were shooting, you would be in trouble. I knew the rules and I knew the consequences.
We still had 20 gauge shells that were not yellow. In fact, I didn't know that yellow was reserved for 20ga hulls until I was older.

We all know (or should know) the basic firearm safety rules. One of those rules pertains to knowing the ammunition is correct for the gun. I've seen this rule broken many times. Often the physical dimensions of the chamber and ammunition help to prevent disaster even if the shooter isn't paying attention. But firearm and ammunition designers cannot prevent all human error; the responsibility rests with the operator.

[longbow]

I blew up a single shot slug gun in much the same way. The whole top of the chamber blew off. No barrel split.

I've posted my experience several times to try to help others avoid it.

In my case it was a slug load using a Lyman Foster slug. The explanation is rather long but the short version is that from what was left of the barrel I could see lead streaks from the mouth of the hull through the forcing cone. I had used a short hull but otherwise Lyman load data. It wasn't double charged because there was no room in the short hull. Powder was PB under a gas seal then Lyman Foster slug with cavity filled with cornmeal.

There was no barrel obstruction because it was the first shot and the bore was clear when the loaded round was dropped in... single shot break action.

My take is that the short hull left enough room in the 3" chamber for the soft filled slug to obturate and fill the chamber then hit the forcing cone right about peak pressure curve. The result was an explosion that destroyed the gun.

I no longer use soft hollow base slugs in short hulls!

My gun wasn't nearly as expensive as that one but in the end they look the same.

Longbow

[john.k]

I made a single shot 54 using shortened 28ga shotgun plastic cases ,and decided to proof it with a case full of 296 and a 500gn bullet......the steel sheet head of the shotgun case went into a flat disc between the block and barrel.....completely flat like a large thin washer ..the plastic head disappeared,apparently down the bore ....I thought maybe pressure was more than I might have expected ......Based on that ,I would expect excessive pressure would also flatten out a 12 ga steel head.....they are very thin .....not seen here ......Incidentally ,the Starr replica was undamaged .

[toot]

it seems odd that the primer seams to show no signs of excessive pressure on it / flattening or firing pin making a hole in it / forcing it back into the hole?

[gpidaho]

I admit I haven't read each post in this thread but has anyone mentioned the possible missing wad? Gp

[Blood Trail]

it seems odd that the primer seams to show no signs of excessive pressure on it / flattening or firing pin making a hole in it / forcing it back into the hole?

Flatten primers = overpressure.

Primer flow back like pictured = excessive pressure.


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[dverna]

As in the vast majority of these incidents, user error is the cause.

Knowing why it happened would be important if that knowledge could make one error less disastrous than another. But that can lead to carelessness.

I know a 28 ga in front of a 20 ga has had at least one catastrophic result. Seems like a prudent habit not to mix shells in one’s vest.

The first hand experiences with a friend who double charged a trap load (did it twice) did not result in the shotgun coming apart. Still seems like a good idea to avoid doing so. He reported a rather stout recoil but the bird was hit.

I nearly used the wrong powder once. That is a stupid error

I nearly dumped the wrong powder back into the jug once. Another stupid error that will never happen again as my SOP is now ONLY ONE POWDER ON THE BENCH AT ANY TIME.

Whenever I see posts like this, I am drawn to them like a car accident. With firearms, a SEE may be possible, but I believe it is highly unlikely if published data is used.

In over 50 years of shooting and reloading, and 100’s of thousands of rounds, this has been a safe pastime. I have met stupid people along the way who I will not shoot with. Either on the same trap squad, at the next bench, or even the same range. I have walked off a public range a number of times.

Over those 50+ years, I have never had the need to venture outside of published loads. I am astounded how many folks do that to save a few dollars or get that extra 100 fps....seems silly to me.

I am blessed to have never seen anyone hurt.