ruger redhawk barrel blew off

[bigjake]

Welder, No, he was using factory loads.

I always thought rugers were the toughest. turns out I dont think so.
I have had a S&W mod. 29 since 1981 and it has seen 20 to 30,000 rounds of all types and loads, mostly hot handloads and it still puts em down range dead center.
One thing about the 29 though; there is a bushing behind where the primer is, after this many rounds, it gets beaten in, almost like peened. It started to shave primers when opening the cylinder.
Has anyone experienced this with their mod. 29 ?

[dkwelder]

bigjake i also have two S&W mod. 29. if i am understanding you about shaving primers when you open the cylinder after shooting. your loads are to hot ! the psi is to high and pushing the primer back out of the case. this is not good if this is whats happening. what size boolits,type of powder, and how many grains are you using ?

[Lloyd Smale]

buddy bought one in the mid 80s that it happened too so im guessing it was some of the first redhawks that were the problem ones.

Does anyone know what years of manufacture are prone to having these kinds of problems?

[454PB]

Mine was made in 1983 and has probably 20K rounds through it, never any problems at all. From what I've read, this affected a relatively small run of Redhawks.

[robertbank]

Mine was made in 1983 and has probably 20K rounds through it, never any problems at all. From what I've read, this affected a relatively small run of Redhawks.

I sure hope so as I intend to buy a 4.2" Redhawk in .44Mag later this spring.

Take Care

Bob

[EchoSixMike]

As I recall, it had something to do with embrittlement due to a solvent being used during assembly. Probably a chlorine compound IIRC.

416 SS is fine, as long as the steel doesn't have sulphur issues. Sulphur makes it machine like butter, but if there's long sulphur chains in the steel, you can get serious problems. S/F.....Ken M