Pistol blown up

[abunaitoo]

We had a pistol blow up on Sunday at the range.
I didn't see anything, but a friend was standing right next to it when it happened.
He had his back to the shooter when they let off the first round.
S&W revolver, 357.
He said it sounded like a really, really hot reload.
He turned to watch the second round go off.
It looked to him like a really hot reload.
It blew up on the next firing.
Friend didn't get hurt/hit at all.
Shooter didn't get hurt.
Shooter behind my friend, on the next table, didn't get hurt/hit.
Person two tables away got hurt. Something cut through the top, between thumb and forefinger, of both his hands.
Another person was hit in the cheek.
I think both went in the ambulance.
Top strap and top of cylinder hit the roof.
I don't know if any of the parts were found.
Kind of a new reloader from what I heard.
Friend is very lucky he didn't get hit.
No pictures. Didn't have a camera.

[Plate plinker]

Well that is unfortunate.

[XDROB]

New Reloader? I have talked to other new reloaders while starting my career in reloading. I found a couple of wanting to find the hottest load they could develop. I asked why? They because they liked high power shooting. When I started, I read every book I could get my hands on ,I talked to a lot of Reloaders in my club. Most or all manual say to start at the lowest point and move forward if you get up to a point where you think it's too high you do 10% less at that point.
A few years ago my son was shooting my Beretta 92fs at the range. I heard him pull the trigger as I was getting ready to pull the trigger on my 45. I heard the gun go off once and then twice and at that point the second shot sounded completely wrong I put my gun down. I turned to my left to look to see what had happened, he was standing there the gun still pointing down range looking at me with such a weird look on his face black streak across his right cheek. I told him to drop the magazine put the gun on the mat. Picked up the gun to see what had happened tried to cycle the slide, the slide was locked back so hard I could not move it, no matter what I did. The right side of his port had black spots all over it I never found the brass from that last shot. We packed up and went home. Brought gun to a smith who was part of the club had him look at it for us. He said the only reason why that would have happened is if we had a double charged round on a reload. The rounds we were shooting were reloads but from someone else, from a trusted reloader that my dad had know for 20 years. Smith took gun apart.Racked it a few times ,pulled the trigger on one round, the gun seemed to operate correctly. He said take it to the range get some commercial rounds no reloads as low-power as possible and put one in at a time and shoot the gun for the for the next 50 rounds. If the gun operates correctly then you should be ok. I have heard stories of slides blowing off a 92fs,mine came back so hard and locked up, luckily did not blow off. I still have that gun in my safe and I still do shoot it to this day but I did learn about paying more attention to how much powder I was putting in my reloads. The one thing that I learned before I even started actually putting my own rounds together, was safety, take your time, pay attention to what you're doing, no outside distractions no radio,TV, double-check everything. To this day I have not had a problem with any of my reloads I have done myself.( I am knocking on wood) as I say this.
I have also added a Powder Cop to my Hornaday LnL.

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[slownsteady22]

When I was a new reload I never got close to the max, after reading the reloading manual that I received with my new rock chucker I figured the author took time to write at least 127 times to always start at the minimum and work up slowly, that it was probably a good idea. Hope the injured party's heal quick and the new reloader learns to tell when his firearm is getting warm.

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[kingstrider]

Glad your friend was okay but have to say some people have no business reloading.

[44man]

Two kinds out there. I am the first kind---accuracy. The other is searching for velocity only.
But then some machines can dump from the measure badly so speed loading has caused more troubles. How fast can the handle move?
Then a guy loads one round at a time. Bad move. Put cases in a block to charge and inspect.
I don't load for friends but have in the past. Every load is weighed. I now teach them and stand over them to see every move. Yes even with a single stage a few think the handle needs the speed of light, I keep a Billie club handy.

[dverna]

Stupidity at work. Glad no one was hurt. I am glad the gun was destroyed. It will teach the person a lesson.

Have to disagree with some comments from 44man but each to his own. If I could not use a progressive to load pistol rounds I would not shoot much.

Don Verna

[NSB]

I find it an irritating trend now days for new shooters to get on the internet and ask what load they should use in their new gun. A lot of them don't want to be bothered to read any loading manuals at all. Their belief is that anything you need to know is available on the internet or Youtube. They have no concept of basic safety in reloading, how to use the equipment, or even doing a sanity check on some free advice from someone they never met who might be a bit whacked out himself. I strongly discourage giving out load recipes to anyone unless you can cite where the load came from and tell them to reduce it a bit if it's anywhere near the top pressure. I usually chastise them for not having a reloading manual which usually gets them mad for me telling them that. Most of the time I just tell them to get a reloading manual, read it, and my own results with a certain powder but don't tell them how much. There are WAY too many new shooters who only want to make noise with a gun. Accuracy isn't even a consideration. Sad. Our "up and coming generation"?

[shoot-n-lead]

It is not just new reloaders that blow up guns.

I have a friend that has been reloading for 40yrs. He is one of the best reloaders that I have have ever known. Has reloaded literally hundreds of thousands of rounds...blew a gun up about 7 or 8yrs ago. Never been one to load hot rounds, has always reloaded for accuracy. To this day, he does not know how he went wrong...and I believe him. Sometimes, stuff happens...

[w5pv]

I have had one KaBoom and it was from my scale being jammed and me putting too much powder in the load.If I had been more careful I would have noticed that the charge was way over.The Ruger Black Hawk held the charge,the only thing I suffered was a bump on my forehead from the revolver hitting me between the horns on my fore head.For safety sake be careful and double check your work.

[44man]

Learn the progressive and how to check each load. No problem from me.
We had SEE events in a caliber without gun damage but I figured it out and stopped it.
But even Dillon understands and does all he can with machines to prevent stupid. Some slip through cracks. I don't depend on machines.

[castalott]

Too little powder can get you in trouble too. Several of us were shooting fast at moving targets....
My 45 auto had a stovepipe.... Immediate action to clear and shot again... The gun was locked up 1/2 way back in recoil. There was a bullet in the barrel and I fired one behind it.... The best barrel I have ever owned is now a head space gauge on my bench....

Yes... speed loading on a 450 Dillon....was not the fault of the press...it was me...



You can see the 'ring' an inch in from the muzzle... Just to show you how goofy a kid can be... I had my toolbox with me out in the boonies.... Beat the gun apart ( wasn't bad) filed the buldge off the barrel with a file...and continued shooting. It didn't shoot too bad either. After thinking aboout it, I retired the barrel. It would feed empties out of the magazine....

Stupid does hurt...

[243winxb]

Stuff happens. http://s338.photobucket.com/user/joe...loading/KABOOM

[dverna]

One small suggestion 44man. Weighing every charge is not only tedious, but it can cause a problem. It happened to me when I accidently bumped the weight on a beam scale...fortunately I discovered it immediately but a new reloader might not.

For a teaching a new reloader, you may want to consider using a dipper. Beginners should not be using maximum charges and a dipper is reasonably accurate and faster. Of course, only one dipper on the bench at a time and it needs to be checked with the scale at the start of the session.

Teaching them how to make one out of a scrap case is a useful exercise.

Don Verna

[castalott]

That slideshow should have to be watched before you can buy a primer...if I may misquote Phil Sharpe

I don't know what it would take to blow some of those bolt guns apart... But WOW!

[Mr Humble]

Rule # 1 Use a powder that fills more than 50% of the case, a double charge will be obvious.
Rule # 2 See Rule # 1

[44man]

I do it with any powder that does not flow in a measure. Time means nothing at all. Just why is speed so important? I am happy with 20 loads that shoot over 500 scuds and danger. Dippers are better with BP. Not going to see me with smokeless and I do have a set of them.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

There are too many people getting into the shooting/reloading hobby without any instruction. Our club holds classes for those wishing to learn, but so many just jump into it with no guidance.

I have always used the loading block technique. Inspect the powder level before seating the bullets, and it's so easy to see if one is higher than the other. I have found, and corrected, double charges several times. For rifle cartridges I individually weigh each and every load, but for pistol cartridges use a bench mounted measure. As charged, each is placed in a loading block, and after 200 have been charged the charge from the last is poured onto a scale and weighted to double check the measure.

It's not just the double charge problem, because if your fancy runs toward top end pushing the envelope loads, then just a couple of grains more can destroy your gun, but is less easy to detect than a double charge. So there is an advantage to having them all there together in a loading block for inspection. A flashlight is a great asset also, because relying on just an overhead light will light up the interior of the charged cases from slightly different angles and make the powder levels less easy to evaluate.

I can readily see the point that a progressive operated as fast as possible could lead to irregular powder levels, perhaps by short stroking the handle.

Personally, I've never trusted the scoop method, but know those who successfully use it. The problem is that scoops don't often throw the exact charge listed on the charts and it's a matter of finding one that does, and then for most folks (not all--some are very practiced and accurate) each charge will be a bit different; whereas a scale or bench mounted powder measure will prove pretty reliable. Most powder measures, like the Lee Perfect, have a rotating drum inside that is adjusted by the operator to accept the desired charge with the powder being used. Once set, the area inside the drum can not be exceeded, so there is safety in that system. On the other hand, refilling the reservoir with a different powder and not resetting the drum capacity can lead to great problems.

All stuff that should be brought to the attention of the novice reloader, but in many cases isn't, and brings us full circle to the need for instruction.

[Electric88]

I also use the loading block technique to inspect every cartridge at every step. This way, I can inspect my brass at numerous times and inspect powder levels to prevent an overcharge. I was using a powder measure, and may still continue to do so with rifle cartridges to some extent. I forsee myself using a scale and individually weighing powder from now on though, simply as an extra step to satisfy paranoia to prevent such events.

[rr2241tx]

Dippers are every bit as accurate as mechanical powder measures. Both are volumetric measuring devices and both can be as accurate or inaccurate as technique allows. Weighed charges have again and again been proven to be no more accurate than competently thrown charges so unless you are prepared to scientifically prove with statistically significant sample sizes that your weighed charges ARE superior to thrown charges, the obviously safest way forward is to teach a beginner to use a set of Lee dippers and a powder that fills >50% of the case and to check all his filled cases for *some* powder. That's my opinion, it's worth what it cost you.