Lets See Who Has the Best Explanation For This

[Dragline45]

Gotta say I am blown away that this actually happened. My first initial thought was it must have been squib loads with no powder. But even with magnum primers, will just the primer alone have enough force to push the first bullet that far into the barrel? I know primers can cause bullets to get lodged in the barrel, but I thought it was only an inch or two in. Could it be possible that they were firing reloads with so little powder that it was enough to force the bullets to the end of that barrel, but not enough force to blow up the gun with subsequent shots.

I don't know if I am more amazed that this actually happened and the gun was still intact, or that someone continued to keep firing rounds through that gun, proceeded to reload, and keep firing.



http://geekologie.com/2014/11/what-h...nblock-a-b.php

[KyJim]

Honorable mention for the Darwin awards.

As far as what happened, I'm guessing reloads with just primers, no powder.

[GaryED50]

I'd bet its a goof a fake

Gary

[Guv]

8 times, a M27 deserves better than this!

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by GaryED50

I'd bet its a goof a fake

I think you'd lose. I've seen that same photo before, and I believe it originated no none other than Jerry Miculek's web site.

[44 AMP]

That many bullets in the barrel is NOT an accident.

It could be a photoshop fake, I suppose, but I have seen barrels like this before, although not this particular one.

The ones I have seen before were done as part of blow up testing. I've even seen muzzleloader barrels with a dozen charged and balls loaded one on top of the other.

It's done deliberately, and after the test, the barrel is sectioned to show off what did (or did not) blow up the gun.

I count what looks like 8 bullets in that barrel, if you think someone fired a .357 magnum 8 times in a row all with ammo that didn't exit the barrel, NOT KNOWING WHAT WAS HAPPENING, I've got a couple of bridges I'd like to talk to you about.....

[Old Stony]

When I was in the business I had a guy bring in a Python in much the same condition. He was curious about rebarreling it, but the barrel was actually wiggling around and loose in the frame. He gave it to me as he didn't know what to do with it as it was never going to be shootable again. I contacted Colt to see if they wanted it for whatever reason, and they had no interest, so I destroyed it. It had one round barely sticking out the end of the 6" barrel and the last round fired was visible from the rear. The owner stated that the last round fired was a full .357 factory load.
People never cease to amaze me.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

pretty much how this one looked, before my machinist buddy removed the bullets... BTW... gun is not mine, it's another friends, & it locked up the cylinder on the 5th shot...



as far as an explanation... my buddy was attempting ( on his own ) to make some pop gun loads, & didn't understand why the load manuals started with so much powder, so he put 1/2 as much powder as the manual called for ( with a cast bullet ) & then loaded jacketed bullets, as he hates lead bullets

so perhaps the OP's pic's shooter was doing the same???

was the gun an 8 shot revolver, or did the shooter load a 2nd cylinder & start shooting that one???

[Jim Watson]

Notice that the bullets are FMJ or plated, copper on hot dry steel has a lot of drag.

I conclude that they were lightly loaded so that recoil in that heavy gun was not much even when they left the barrel and that the user was shooting at a target that did not clearly show each individual hit.

The British had problems with their 178 grain FMJ .38 S&W bullets sticking in their 5" S&Ws. I have read of but not seen cases of them counterboring the barrel to 4" of rifling to clear a bulge and reduce the length of travel. I don't know if they had the same problem with Enfields and Webleys.

The USAF had problems with 130 grain FMJ M41 bullets sticking in their 4" S&Ws. There was a developmental round, the PGU 12/B, loaded a good deal hotter, +P or so. Some say it was to try to get more "stopping power" out of their .38 revolvers, but I have also seen it said that it was loaded up to be sure of getting all bullets to the target.


I also saw a guy who wanted light target loads but no nasty old lead wadcutters, so he loaded JSPs. He finally had one stick the jacket in the barrel, the lead core pulled and actually hit the target, so he kept shooting. He only found the ring bulge in his barrel when cleaning the gun.

[wogpotter]

That is the other picture I was looking for, thanks!

[wogpotter]

My best bet:
Mousephart loads or an attempt at them. How you don't notice nothing striking the target is beyond me though.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

in my buddies case, they were fired at the end of the day, & he was rapid firing 2 revolvers at the same time ( gun fighter style ) & wasn't really looking at the target... I think he has 2 similar revolvers one in 357, & one in 38 Special... these happen to be the 38 special loads

I think he did the same thing with the 357's, but the 1/2 minimum charge of the 357's must have at least cleared the barrel on that gun...

[buck460XVR]

A few years back, Guns and Ammo T.V. did a torture test on a 686. They kept firing loads with less and less charge until they stuck a bullet. They then shot two more light loads till they had three bullets stuck in the barrel. They then fired a legitimate full pressure .357 round into the three stuck bullets. The result was not a blown up gun but just a bulged barrel with four bullets still stuck in it. Cylinder gap can work like a pressure relief valve.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

the gun I pictured, still shoots good today... no bulge in the barrel...

[mavracer]

2.8 gr of bullseye with jacketed bullets in a 8 3/8" Smith, had a guy in my league do similar except he was using zero bullets and the core separated and keyholed in the target, jacket stuck in barrel

[lee n. field]

Cylinder gap can work like a pressure relief valve.

I'm guessing side blast on this particular example would have been memorable.

[Sevens]

As a sidebar (and I would imagine many of you have also seen and may agree) that while none of us would ever find a handgun with a bulged barrel and elect to buy it, I have two different friends with two different handguns with bulged barrels and both of those guns shoot extremely well.

One is a circa-1982 Ruger Mark I pistol with a bulge you can freely feel with any somewhat tight patch in the bore and it shoots like you'd expect a Mark I to shoot. The other is a former issued duty gun, Smith & Wesson Model 10 (likely a dash-10 variant) with very standard four-inch heavy barrel and it's also got a very pronounced bulge in it and it does sincerely fine work on small group shooting.

[Skans]

...and I worry about whether any of my guns will become unserviceable during my lifetime!

Is there anything made today that will actually last longer over time than a well made steel gun? I'd bet that there will be extremely fine working examples of stainless steel handguns beyond 2000 years from now.

[zach_]

Bench grinder vs. 357.

[44 AMP]

I can see someone (moron, but that's just an opinion) firing all six without realizing none had come out, possibly, but I just can't see anyone doing that, and then reloading the gun and doing it twice more!

I suppose it is possible, the idiocy of some people never ceases to amaze me. Sad part is their vote counts the same as everyone else's....

[AK103K]

I saw this same thing posted elsewhere, and the explanation was, they were "light loaded" .38's.

I had a 4" Model 29 that had a 240 grain LSWC stuck in about the same position as the first bullet in the above barrel. The disk in my Lee 1000 progressive was hanging up, and I had caught it, and I had the problem isolated to one box, so I was on the look out for it. Im sure there was "some" powder in the case, as there was a report, although a good bit less than normal.

Ive had a few 357MAG's fire the primer and not ignite the powder charge, and still, it drove the bullet just past the forcing cone, but not much further.

I can only really see something like the above happening, if the shooter wasnt paying attention. I think if youre used to the load, youre gong to know somethings not right, and if you arent used to it, you'd be checking at the sound of the first shot.

Then again, if it is from Miculeks page, and he was shooting, maybe it took that long for his finger to slow down.

[lee n. field]

I had a 4" Model 29 that had a 240 grain LSWC stuck in about the same position as the first bullet in the above barrel. The disk in my Lee 1000 progressive was hanging up, and I had caught it, and I had the problem isolated to one box, so I was on the look out for it. Im sure there was "some" powder in the case, as there was a report, although a good bit less than normal.

My first squib was from a loading session with a Pro 1000 where I had forgotten to turn the Pro Autodisk measure to the ON position. No powder in any of 50 rounds. The bullet from the first fired cartridge stuck in the forcing cone, tying up the cylinder. It had to be driven back into the cartridge case from the muzzle end.

Now, I load on a Classic Turret and visually inspect every cartridge after the powder is metered into it.

[James K]

Saying the we should pay attention to the sound of the shot sounds good. But with most folks wearing muffs and sometimes ear plugs to boot, detecting the sound (or lack of it) on a busy range might not be so easy. I for one think hearing protection is more important; a damaged barrel is less important than damaged ears.

Jim

[AK103K]

Sound is just one aspect, function can also be another. Autos are a little more forgiving there, as they tend not to cycle with loads that stick in the barrel, not that sometimes they dont. Revolvers tend to be a little scarier there, as you can already be onto the next round, if youre not paying attention and shooting fast. Still, you notice when something isnt right, from round to round, if your attuned to it.

Not that Ive had a lot of bullets stuck in the barrel (in 55 years or so of shooting, I can count those on one hand), all were in revolvers. Ive had a couple of rounds not cycle in autos, but they all left the barrel.

I knew not to shoot the next round in each case, and heard and felt the difference when it happened, even with plugs in. If "anything" seems off, I stop and check, even when doing IAD's. Ill finish the drill, and stop just short of firing the round, and then check the gun.

[Dragline45]

Originally Posted by James K

I for one think hearing protection is more important; a damaged barrel is less important than damaged ears.

What's that? I cant hear you over the ringing in my ears.

I agree though, for those who have tinnitus from noise exposure, you don't need me to tell you it's no fun.