.44 Magnum Fail!

Feuer Frei! · 12-22-13, 07:21 AM

Rare occurrence i would assume.
Of course, there may well be a law suit that occurred with this particular incident, hence the publication.

Quote:

Smith & Wesson Model 629 .44 Magnum with 6½ inch barrel that has been the victim of a rare phenomenon known as an integral detonation. An explosion that blows the gun apart, this would have occurred when the gun was initially fired

http://www.vincelewis.net/44magboom.html

A round contains a double charge?

Ducimus · 12-22-13, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feuer Frei!

A round contains a double charge?

I suppose that's possible. Always, always, always do quality control over your reloads.

Personally, I
- always use projectiles by the same manufacturer to minimize variances in weight.
- always sort my brass by manufacturer for the same reason.
- weigh each and every round as i move it from the press bin, to a storage box. ( I hate squib loads)
- look for split cases (again) as I move finished round to above mentioned storage box. ( I hate case head separation )

Depending on brass used, your mean weight will change. For example, off the top of my head, finished 9mm cartridges with blazer brass was 184 grains or so. Winchester was 180, federal is also 180 grains. If you know your charging 4 to 4.3 grains of powder, then any deviation 4 grains below the mean average should be rejected. I like to remove rounds that are 2 grains deviation. When you've had 3 squib loads in the past, you get anal about this. Its worth nothing that some deviation in weight IS expected because not all brass, even by same manufacture is of the same eight. Some batch's are different. Also, an auto-powder measure is only accurate up to 0.3 grains or so.

Now, one thing I never checked for however, was overcharging. I'm not even sure this is possible on a progressive press. I just loaded about 370 9mm rounds yesterday. Maybe ill go back and weigh all of them again, because I know there's a couple that go 4 grains over the mean weight, but I just dismissed that as being deviation in brass weight.

Sailor Steve · 12-22-13, 08:55 AM

That's-a some-a big-a boom!

Platapus · 12-22-13, 09:57 AM

I used to work with a guy who hot loaded his own .44 rounds. As if the normal .44 round is not powerful enough.

To him, more power was everything. Unfortunately, not only did he know little about ballistics, he knew little about safe loading.

He had this very nice and expensive Dan Wesson (I think you can see where this is going)

The bad news is that he blew the barrel of his gun.
The good news is that the splinter from that barrel missed his eye by about 1/8 inch and merely dug a divit in the side of his cheek.

Another data point for "just because you can afford a piece of equipment, does not mean you should."

.44 mag hot loads.

Ducimus · 12-22-13, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

To him, more power was everything. Unfortunately, not only did he know little about ballistics, he knew little about safe loading.

That is just downright dangerous. Handloading is a detail oriented hobby. Part science, and part art.

Wolferz · 12-22-13, 10:14 AM

That weapon must belong to Tim the tool man Taylor.
MORE POWER < gorilla grunts>

Forget the "pop no kick"
That was a "boom no face"

Onkel Neal · 12-22-13, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

I used to work with a guy who hot loaded his own .44 rounds. As if the normal .44 round is not powerful enough.

To him, more power was everything. Unfortunately, not only did he know little about ballistics, he knew little about safe loading.

He had this very nice and expensive Dan Wesson (I think you can see where this is going)

The bad news is that he blew the barrel of his gun.
The good news is that the splinter from that barrel missed his eye by about 1/8 inch and merely dug a divit in the side of his cheek.

Another data point for "just because you can afford a piece of equipment, does not mean you should."

.44 mag hot loads.

That was me in the 80s. Gun magazines said the Ruger Super Blackhawk was capable of extremely hot loads, and I made it my duty to test that out. Can't remember just how many grains or percent I hotloaded, but everyone who saw the gun shoot couldn't get over the ten-foot flames coming out the barrel.

Would not do that now.

antikristuseke · 12-22-13, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolferz

That weapon must belong to Tim the tool man Taylor.
MORE POWER < gorilla grunts>

Forget the "pop no kick"
That was a "boom no face"

Errr, according to the the link in the OP these loads were not hot in any sense of the world, but I guess reading the source material before commenting is overrated.

Wolferz · 12-22-13, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by antikristuseke

Errr, according to the the link in the OP these loads were not hot in any sense of the word, but I guess reading the source material before commenting is overrated.

FYI: I did read the source material.

I was merely commenting on all the responses pertaining to hand loading your own ammo, which can cause catastrophic results if not performed in a meticulous fashion.
FWIW, anything that carries energetic materials like gunpowder can and will cause spurious results on occasion. I'd say that the gun owner in question has a legitimate beef with the manufacturer of the weapon or with the ammo producer. He should be happy he wasn't using a grenade.

There was a trainee at Fort Leonard Wood in the cycle behind us that got a bad one on the live range. Two soldiers died that day and a Supply Sergeant demonstrated just how fast you can go from E-7 to E-1 by not checking expiration dates.
I'm sure the free fall was very exciting.

Ammo is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.

Aktungbby · 12-22-13, 03:06 PM

As the loads were not all that hot for a .44 mag and he had put nine thru without a problem, I wonder if the projectile was not over crimped or mis-resized ? I only reload .45-70 for a original Trapdoor and a Sharp's carbine so boosting the propellant (black or modern powder) is a non-issue as those old 'buffler' guns were built for it. I'm amazed that the cylinder back flanges held up so well on the receiver, considering the damage to the cylinder itself; probably blocking the primer from striking the shooter!

Stealhead · 12-22-13, 04:00 PM

Back in school a friend's father made the mistake of loading a 6.5x52mm Mannlicher with the load for a .308 or .300 Mag (I forget the exact caliber).
He had been loading the larger rounds for a customer's deer rifle and then made a couple of test rounds in 6.5x52mm to test out a Carcano he had picked up which had a slight bend in the barrel which he had corrected.

Well he did not notice that he had over loaded the 6.5x52mm rounds and went to test fire the Carcano and the round blew apart the chamber these very super hot loads.Luckily he had held the rifle at the hip for the first test fire.Still some of the fragment from the cartridge and the rifle itself peppered his right upper torso.He did not suffer any serious injury the doctor in the ER said that he was very lucky to have fired the rifle the way he did if he had aimed down the sights normally the doc said that some of the fragments would most likely have penetrated his skull.

Anyway things can happen even when you are careful which is why most smart shooters wear shooting glasses might not stop everything but they will save your eyes from serious damage if something does go wrong.

12-22-13, 08:55 AM	#3
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	That's-a some-a big-a boom! __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

12-22-13, 09:57 AM	#4
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	I used to work with a guy who hot loaded his own .44 rounds. As if the normal .44 round is not powerful enough. To him, more power was everything. Unfortunately, not only did he know little about ballistics, he knew little about safe loading. He had this very nice and expensive Dan Wesson (I think you can see where this is going) The bad news is that he blew the barrel of his gun. The good news is that the splinter from that barrel missed his eye by about 1/8 inch and merely dug a divit in the side of his cheek. Another data point for "just because you can afford a piece of equipment, does not mean you should." .44 mag hot loads. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

12-22-13, 10:14 AM	#6
Wolferz Navy Seal Join Date: May 2007 Location: On a mighty quest for the Stick of Truth Posts: 5,963 Downloads: 52 Uploads: 0	That weapon must belong to Tim the tool man Taylor. MORE POWER < gorilla grunts> Forget the "pop no kick" That was a "boom no face" __________________ Tomorrow never comes

12-22-13, 03:06 PM	#10
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 29,981 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	As the loads were not all that hot for a .44 mag and he had put nine thru without a problem, I wonder if the projectile was not over crimped or mis-resized ? I only reload .45-70 for a original Trapdoor and a Sharp's carbine so boosting the propellant (black or modern powder) is a non-issue as those old 'buffler' guns were built for it. I'm amazed that the cylinder back flanges held up so well on the receiver, considering the damage to the cylinder itself; probably blocking the primer from striking the shooter! __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!!

12-22-13, 04:00 PM	#11
Stealhead Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kentucky Posts: 5,421 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	Back in school a friend's father made the mistake of loading a 6.5x52mm Mannlicher with the load for a .308 or .300 Mag (I forget the exact caliber). He had been loading the larger rounds for a customer's deer rifle and then made a couple of test rounds in 6.5x52mm to test out a Carcano he had picked up which had a slight bend in the barrel which he had corrected. Well he did not notice that he had over loaded the 6.5x52mm rounds and went to test fire the Carcano and the round blew apart the chamber these very super hot loads.Luckily he had held the rifle at the hip for the first test fire.Still some of the fragment from the cartridge and the rifle itself peppered his right upper torso.He did not suffer any serious injury the doctor in the ER said that he was very lucky to have fired the rifle the way he did if he had aimed down the sights normally the doc said that some of the fragments would most likely have penetrated his skull. Anyway things can happen even when you are careful which is why most smart shooters wear shooting glasses might not stop everything but they will save your eyes from serious damage if something does go wrong.