Some sobering pictures

[454PB]

From another forum.......please be careful out there!

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=593313

[GP100man]

WOW !!!!! had`nt been over there yet , but someone made a very serious mistake or very foolish decision to not follow manuals !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

108,000 psi does funny things to a revolver !!!!

Still glad no one was permantly injured though !!!

[mooman76]

That much extra Unique. He must have done it on purpose or was totally incompetent. That's one reason why I use Unique because it is hard to not notice an overcharge unless you are totally not paying attention.

[white eagle]

wow......

[waksupi]

Ignorance has it's own rewards.

[David LaPell]

Great, one less 4-inch 629 in the world. Now I have to look harder when I finally get around to being able to afford one.

[warf73]

Guess thats another reason why I normaly use a powder that if you double charge it, it will over flow the case. But if he might have thought he was using some other powder (who really knows) you will never be safe no matter the powder you are using.

[BCB]

I wonder why the loaded round stayed inline with the barrel?...

Did it just breach the case and cause that trouble?...

Or were all the pieces just sort of hand-placed back into the revolver?...

I must be missing something here...

BCB

[Geraldo]

Great, one less 4-inch 629 in the world. Now I have to look harder when I finally get around to being able to afford one.

And one more reason to think about buying a new and unabused one...

As for the owner of that pistol, he did do quite a job on the open top coversion.

[Geraldo]

Another thought. When the panic hit a couple of years ago all sorts of people started buying reloading equipment. I wonder if we'll see more of this or if it's just business as usual with careless people.

[songdog53]

Good news he wasn't hurt seiously but what a waste of good gun. Somehow he though if little does good a whole lot does better. BAD idea.

[Char-Gar]

This is why I don't use reloading equipment that will not let me visually inspect the powder charge before I seat the bullet.

If his equipment would allow him to visually inspect the powder charge and he didn't do it, then he is a darn fool. He is not ignorant, he is stupid. Ignorance can be cured with knowledge, stupid is a life sentence.

[98Redline]

I wonder why the loaded round stayed inline with the barrel?...

Did it just breach the case and cause that trouble?...

Or were all the pieces just sort of hand-placed back into the revolver?...

I must be missing something here...

BCB

Looks like they put things back together after the kaboom.

Normally the load the blows the top off the cylinder disappears completely.
My guess is the round that is lined up with the bore was on the left side. The actual fired case disappeared with the top strap and the rest of the cylinder.

[Chicken Thief]

As Bill Engvall said: Here's your sign!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5ZkdHImCuQ

[9.3X62AL]

Photos like this just give me the fantods. Really.

[Junior1942]

>they ranged from 18.2 to 19.9 grains [of Unique.]

Sounds to me like he loaded by the ol' that-looks-like-enough-powder technique.

I sold a friend a new S&W Model 29 a few years ago. A friend of his did the reloading. The guy had two cans of powder on his bench--2400 and Bullseye. Need I say more? The pistol looked much like the one in the thread. My lucky friend received nary a scratch . . . except to his wallet and his ego.

[mold maker]

I've held a Ruger SRH that looked the same. It was a double charge, of fast powder.
They never found but one segment of the blown off cylinder. It had gone off to the right and up through the 1x4 pine and tin roof, to land some 80' away.
Rugers are built like train engines and to see one like that will bring you to a sense of reality fast.

[376Steyr]

For years a local gunstore had a wrecked Ruger Super Blackhawk on display, with a little sign saying "This is what happens when you confuse WW296 and WW231."

[98Redline]

As they say: More grains than brains

[ColColt]

One of the many reasons this ol' boy don't use Bullseye and Titegroup...too easy to over charge or triple charge easily. I check and recheck by scale and by sight to be sure a double charge won't happen. I double check the one container of powder on the bench to be sure what I have in the measures hopper is indeed what I think I have in it.When you have half a dozen powders around and quickly grab what you think was 2400 may turn out to be Power Pistol or AA#5. You can't be too cautious.

[spqrzilla]

If that's what happened. We see a lot of photos of blown up guns, with a story about how it happened, that later turn out to be borrowed photos from other people and a made up story.

So I've become skeptical of the latest set of blown up gun photos these days.

[454PB]

I guess it doesn't really matter HOW it happened, just that it CAN happen.

I found it interesting that the still loaded rounds actually had their bullets partially pulled. That was some recoil!

[rintinglen]

Folks, Phil Sharpe had a chapter in his book that was titled something like, "and the angels sing." Written back before most of us were born,( and even the oldsters amongst us were in short pants), he recounted a bunch of stories where in reloading errors led to disaster. Don't kid yourself that it can't happen to you. There are all manner of "foolproof" schemes that I read about here. They only work if you are paying attention. Fatigue, distraction, simple error, mechanical wear or misdajustment, any of which can lead to a dangerous situation. "Eternal vigilance or eternal rest."

One in particular that bugs me is the claim made by some "that as soon as I put the powder in, I seat the bullet in the case. That way, there's no way I can get a double charge." Maybe not, but you could get a partial one that left a few grains stuck in the powder tube That dislodge when the next batch comes through. IMR stick type powders have been known to do this. Might not matter at the bottom end, but if these are redline loads, you may just have crossed over into the danger zone. I use a loading block, and visually inspect all charges before seating boolits. Any that don't look right, get dumped and rethrown. But I look at them all, side by side.
Regardless of what techniques you use, constant vigilance and care are essential to assure safe reloading. A blown up gun is costly, but not in comparison to a blown up hand or face.

[9.3X62AL]

Flashlights next to the loading bench are used to check EVERY charged case in a loading block. As alluded to above, I've caught a few "short" charges and a few "tall" charges of the IMR stick powders over the years. Some of those fuels are balky and recalcitrant, and they get scaled and trickled up. EVERY CHARGE if 4350 or 4831 is being loaded.

Different powders have issues with some powder measures. Be vigilant, and you'll stay safe. I'm a BIG fan of ball powders and their habit of getting along well with my RCBS Duo-Measure, c. 1978.

[Longwood]

Maybe not, but you could get a partial one that left a few grains stuck in the powder tube That dislodge when the next batch comes through. IMR stick type powders have been known to do this.

Those measures with the adapters with tiny little holes will do that fairly often.
My RCBS Uniflo has never done it. My Dillon has never done it.

[looseprojectile]

the original poster on that site has a responsibility to get with the "victim" and find out the particulars of the loading process he used.
The truth shall set you free.
I would be relieved to find that my system of reloading will keep that kind of thing from happening to me.
In my youth I loaded some really hot loads and got away with them. BUT I knew what they were. ABSOUTELY!!
Now I have bigger guns to load for if I need more power.

Life is good

[sniper]

Flashlights next to the loading bench are used to check EVERY charged case in a loading block.
Different powders have issues with some powder measures. Be vigilant, and you'll stay safe. I'm a BIG fan of ball powders and their habit of getting along well with my RCBS Duo-Measure, c. 1978.

Everybody should copy that and hang it over their loading bench!

[454PB]

Here's another from today:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=595480

[tek4260]

I have no need for the flashlight. I throw every charge light.... right into the pan of my RCBS 1010 then trickle the last bit. It immediately gets dumped into the case and has a boolit seated. Might be slow, but it is precise and safe.

[Longwood]

Might be slow, but it is precise and safe.

Nothing wrong with either of those.

If I am ever distracted while loading, I dump any case that is not in the block. I never sit down a case with powder in it. If I ever pick up a case that is not in my loading block I visually check for a powder charge or do a dump motion then start over from there.

On my Lee progressive, I have a small flex neck LED flashlight shining down into the case at the seating station. The light has batteries so I am getting ready to make a permanently mounted one that I can plug into 110v. I need to ground the press anyway so that is a good excuse to do the wiring.

[Char-Gar]

I have no need for the flashlight. I throw every charge light.... right into the pan of my RCBS 1010 then trickle the last bit. It immediately gets dumped into the case and has a boolit seated. Might be slow, but it is precise and safe.

You don't need a flashlight, until you get distracted and dump two charges into the same case. If you try and tell me you can't be distracted, I would think you live and load on Mt. Olympus.

[Whitworth]

As they say: More grains than brains

LOL! That's funny and sadly very true.

[tek4260]

You don't need a flashlight, until you get distracted and dump two charges into the same case. If you try and tell me you can't be distracted, I would think you live and load on Mt. Olympus.


True enough that anyone can be distracted. I started loading at around 5 or 6 with my dad at my side, and by the time I was 13, I was loading several times a week alone. Mostly 22-250 for the fish ponds along with various 30+ cal magnums. So I guess even at 32, I have about 25 years experience. I did a bit of experimenting and came to the conclusion that the best accuracy seemed to come with powders that offered 100% load density or as close to that as possible. That is all I have used ever since. In revolvers, I use H-110 almost exclusively. You cannot double H-110 in revolvers and you cannot double 4831 or 4895 in rifles. Stick with 90+ percent loading density and you will be immune to a double.

(now that I have said this, some gremlin of the reloading world is one step closer to screwing me)

[siamese4570]

Man, they over achieved! I've had a couple super blackhawks and didn't think that you could blow them up. Kind of looks like the result of loading a 45acp/230gr with 9.5 grains of ww231 instead of 5.9 grains. Ask me how I know!

Siamese4570

[Saint]

So this caught my interest as I load .44 mag with Unique, I just checked to see what 19.8 grains of powder would look like in a .44 mag case, poured through a funnel into the case from the measuring pan the powder was flush with the top of the case. Personally this sounds like his eyes and brain were not interfacing properly. I am glad nobody was hurt though.

[tek4260]

Hard to see the powder charge sitting behind a progressive press.

Come to think of it, how many of these grenaded revolvers have come from progressives? Seems every one I read about mentions that they were used in the ammo reloading. Something like "short stroked and the press didn't index so one got 2 charges"

I have never used one so I don't know how that happens exactly.

[gnoahhh]

Twenty years ago I blew up a minty pre-war Colt Police Positive .32 that ended up looking identical to the two shown here. The culprit: a $5 bagggie of reloads bought at a gun show. Pulled bullets unveiled two more of the unfired rounds had case-fulls of Bullseye, compressed charges. Of course when I tracked down the skunk who sold them to me at the next show he pretty much blew me off. No legal recourse at all. He died soon after so I guess it's moot.

That was the first, and may I say last, time I ever bought unknown reloads. Helluva way to learn a lesson!

[Char-Gar]

Beware, oh beware of Baggy brand reloads!

[Longwood]

I have no need for the flashlight.

Have you ever locked your keys in your car? :confused:

[tek4260]

Nah. Always have a spare key hidden on vehicle so Murphy is repelled 8-)

So do you not agree that by using high loading density powders and my method of loading I am safe from a double?

[405]

No looky see into the case? hmmm... a simple leap of faith I guess. I always look or check. Sometimes use a little LED light or actually use a wooden probe. For fat, shallow cases no light needed. But I always look/check after the cases are charged and the charging operation is done, powder and measure are put away and the charged cases are lined up and ready for bullet seating. No, I don't use a progressive press.

I've watched two S&W 19s have the top straps blown off by commercial ammo- won't name company. The investigation revealed double charges of Bullseye. On the Highroad threads, interesting to note in both the 29 and the SA, the overcharge took almost exactly 1/2 of the cylinder off. The two 19s I watched Kaboom, the "event" only took off the loaded chamber portion.

[Longwood]

Nah. Always have a spare key hidden on vehicle so Murphy is repelled 8-)

So do you not agree that by using high loading density powders and my method of loading I am safe from a double?

I ride a motorcycle a lot so I have seen many of those key holders.
They are laying on the roads everywhere.:kidding:

Yes,,, I agree with using a powder that we can not double charge with.

[azcruiser]

Form the picture of the gun I'm guessing the action is
locked up ? Why is the bullet still on the case ?
Looks to me that his problem could have been a high primer that ignited the case that wasn't the one lined up with the barrel and the pressure had no where to go but out .That to me would explain why the chamber or forcing cone is intact but the frame is blown away . Then again to much powder isn't good neither is to little

[454PB]

And another........

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=112820&highlight=