Wow, Ruger blew up!

[WVfishguy]

A local dealer showed me a three pieces of a destroyed cylinder of a new S&W 340 PD. The fourth piece of the cylinder could not be found.

The dealer told me the owner was using .38 Special factory ammo, purchased at the same time as the revolver.

No one was injured.

[Crosshair]

What does Ruger do when someone experiences a barrel failure? If you were to buy a used Redhawk, not overload it and the barrel snapped, will they replace the gun? They acknowledge that this was a problem on a limited number of firearms, are they still out in the wild and subject to this failure?

It's a specific type of failure and only a problem on a certain serial number range. Ruger issued a recall IIRC as it is a factory defect.

[Ozzieman]

If it's a proper firing line, everybody is supposed to be behind everybody else's muzzle. Worst that can happen is hand damage.

Wrong!
I was standing on a firing line when the man to my right, who was shooting right handed,,, this is important to see how he was holding the gun,,,
Blew up an AR 15.
When the gun blew up he was left with the pistol grip and stock in one hand and the forgrip in the other.
The T handle hit me in the face, broke my nose and destroyed a set of glasses. No, it didn’t pass through his head, it hit the wood structure of the line cover and bounced back and hit me.
There is NO safe place to stand when a stupid person does something stupid like reload a .223 "accidentally" with pistol powder.

[BlkHawk73]

Quote:
Wonder how many of he reloading idiots claimed it wasn`t their fault...

I wouldn`t go to the reloading site here on TFL and word that statement as such. All reloaders aren`t idiots.

Wasn't referring to ALL, just the idiots that manufactured the overcharged loads that caused the above pictured firearms to blow up. Being a handloader, I can say that not all are idiots.

[shortwave]

BlkHawk, didn`t figure you did. Didn`t want things mis-understood as sometimes happens. Happy loading.

[Jart]

Not to deter the thread from blowing things up, but, has anyone ever seen these types of failures from factory loaded ammo?

I don't believe I've ever gotten a factory overload but I have gotten factory squibs. Barrel obstructions can add excitement to one's day and don't need a double charge to do it.

It's my understanding (could be wrong here) that revolvers are more susceptible to squibs lodging in the barrel due to pressure escaping at the b/c gap. Thus we get BANG - BANG - BANG - poof - BLAMMO. No doubt more common with handloads but not unheard of with factory rounds.

I suspect the factory squib, together with a fleet of liability conscious lawyers, is a reason behind the revolver manual's verbose cautions on clearing misfires.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by Tom2

Guy who said a Freedom Arms has not blown up, I bet some might have been bent or loosened by the loads in those other kabooms. Maybe the reason is that people that drop that much on a SA revolver are more knowledgable and careful about loads? Might be that no one has tried hard enough to blow one up yet. There are limits to what any gun can handle at some point and someone out there is just dying to find out what those limits are, apparently. No such thing as an indestructable gun. No magic metals.

I racall when Dick Casull first came out with his eponymous revolver in .454 Casull 30 or so years ago, it was reviewed in a Gun magazine (Guns, Shooting Times or Guns & Ammo, most likely. That's what I read back then.) The authors tested their example. Here is the quote I committed to memory

We loaded up a cartridge to the top with Bullseye and then pressed a bullet on top of it. (About a triple charge). We then tied the revolver to a tire, and tied a string to the trigger. We backed off and lay down behind a log and pulled the string. Every screw in the gun was loose, but the gun was still within spec in every dimension.

Now, this was before Freedom Arms, when Dick Casull was first starting to market his guns in that cartridge.

Does anyone actually personally know of a Freeedom Arms letting go? And does anyone know if the current production is significantly different from the ones Dick Casull was building in the '70s and early '80s?

I am not challenging anyone, but just curious. The gun is (or should be) a legend, but it is not supernatural. Just a good shootin' iron.

Lost Sheep

(To the original poster) Thanks for the pictures. I own an early Redhawk 5.5" and wonder sometimes if it is one of those "Monday" guns. But I don't worry about it overmuch.

Does anyone personally know of a FA Model 83 letting go?

[Suwannee Tim]

This is impossible. Rugers can't be blown up. Tauruses either. Only Smith and Wessons blow up.

[madcratebuilder]

This is impossible. Rugers can't be blown up. Tauruses either. Only Smith and Wessons blow up.

Here, I fixed it for you Tim.

This is impossible. S&W's can't be blown up. Only Tauruses and Rugers blow up.

I would bet that 95% or more of these blow ups we see are from double charged reloads. I have been to a few "gun gatherings" for the AR or AK build. Bunch of guys at the reloading press, cranking out ammo, drinking a beer and smoking and joking.

[laytonj1]

[shortwave]

Whooooops !

[Jim March]

Definitely a fixer-upper. Looks like a New Model Blackhawk, 45LC. Blew the whole topstrap off...you really gotta "try" to pull that one off.

[Slamfire]

What word did the shooter say after "OH!".

[longranger]

Alot to be said for those reloaders who refuse to use progressive reloaders and powder measures.35 years of very careful reloading has never failed me.Visual inspection of each charged case is mandatory as constantly looking at the reloading data,right gun, right powder, right weight,right bullet.I have very few guns that have ever seen "factory ammo". I will stick with my ancient methods on a single stage press and keep my guns in one piece.

[s4s4u]

The owner of the GP100 claims it was a Winchester factory round.

He's full of it.

[ROGER4314]

I'm not even sure why we separate these blow ups by brand. I might be wrong but I don't think there is a handgun on the planet that will survive 22 grains of Bullseye or firing a hot round through an obstructed barrel.

In days past, idiots used to kill themselves off. Now we protect everyone to the point where this natural thinning out of dumb a--es has been prevented. Now we blame the problems on the gun or powder or....................

Flash

[lee n. field]

It's the same fascination as with a train wreck or car accident. Also, some fail more spectacularly than others.

[Jart]

Alot to be said for those reloaders who refuse to use progressive reloaders and powder measures.35 years of very careful reloading has never failed me.Visual inspection of each charged case is mandatory as constantly looking at the reloading data,right gun, right powder, right weight,right bullet.I have very few guns that have ever seen "factory ammo". I will stick with my ancient methods on a single stage press and keep my guns in one piece.

For those of us that started and stayed with progressives, it's not all that hard - arrange the lighting so you can peer into the case at the bullet seating station and pay attention to what you're doing.

I seriously doubt single stages lead to greater safety any more than carrying a low capacity firearm magically leads to greater accuracy. Though it is tempting to believe both.

Software, not hardware.

[Blue Grass]

Overloaded rounds and shattered guns prove an old point:


Human knowledge and wisdom are very small and limited.
Human stupidity and dumda$$ is unlimited.

[James K]

IMHO, the only people dumber than those who put together overloads are the fools who claim that this or that gun can't be blown up. With the right (or wrong) type of load, ANY gun will blow and scatter parts. The only reason the pictured Rugers didn't blow half the cylinders and top straps was that the loads weren't hot enough. Rugers are good, well made guns, but there is NO MAGIC, and they blow too, at least sometimes because a fool believed you can't blow up a Ruger and threw in 20 grains more powder.

JIm

[bamaranger]

Jim, I gotta ask?

These are coming into your shop or something right? Their like,....... not all yours.......

[longranger]

"I seriously doubt single stages lead to greater safety any more than carrying a low capacity firearm magically leads to greater accuracy. Though it is tempting to believe both."

With all of the new interest in reloading I have seen numerous "new reloaders" posting on TFL asking the most basic Q's about reloading and have purchased progressive reloaders.It is apparent to me that there is a far greater chance of something going wrong with a new reloader and a progressive press than with a single stage.It just slows down the process and allows a better chance of catching a mistake.I would bet dollars to donuts that more squib or overcharged loads come off a progressive reloader than a single stage.
The wisdom of the TFL staff to post a sticky note to new reloaders in the reloading section acknowledges that there are alot of people going where they should'nt.
Experienced progressive reloaders who understand their P/R's are exempt, you are probably one those guys.

[lee n. field]

It is apparent to me that there is a far greater chance of something going wrong with a new reloader and a progressive press than with a single stage.

There's far too much going on all at once for someone who doesn't yet know everything they should be looking at, to keep track of.

[Jart]

I'd bet it all revolves around what you're used to and whether you're easily distracted.

I wound up getting a single stage for prototyping and there's not much confidence inspiring about a block full of primed cases staring upward with nothing preventing a double charge other than one's attention - at least with an auto indexing progressive a charged case is yanked from under the powder drop - quite unlike my Redding that just lies there.

I don't for one minute doubt that you're seeing what you report in the reloading section. However, the conclusion you and others have drawn may not be a conclusion drawn by all. I spent some small amount of time in the reloading forum and tend to agree that it's a scary place - however, and no offense intended to the contributing members there, but it's also possibly got the worst signal-to-noise ratio of all of TFL. It's a hotbed of brand partisans that make S&W lock partisans look like diplomats at a Sunday ice-cream social.

Either way you're fine if you pay attention.
...and screwed if you don't.

A single stage is no panacea - I would even guess that its plodding production rate leads to some folks rushing the enterprise more than is healthy. Different conclusions: that's why God made horse races.

[Win73]

Factory ammo isn't immune from defects.

I once found a .38 special round in a box of factory loaded ammo with the primer loaded backwards.