Blew up new Ruger 45Colt/45ACP

[MarkJD]

Damn! Sorry everyone. Obviously I don't know my own gun. It is NOT a flat top Ruger. It's not the best, but I attached a picture like it. It also has a 2 digit prefix serial number 38-xxxxx.

[mavracer]

Well in that case I'm gonna go back to wrong powder, overcharge or deep seated bullet and like I said unique isn't as forgiving at the upper end as some of the slower burning stuff. and 10+ gr of faster burning bullseye or something of that nature could easily spike pressure high enough.

[SHR970]

And for all of you out there that are still arguing flat top / vaqueros frames etc., in post 15 I stated

Speer 12 puts that .4 gr. over for a 260 gr. bullet...but again, that is still in the margins. Speer loads are held to 25k psi max.

Even the mid frame guns will withstand 25k psi. The subject of the destructive disassembly was exposed to far higher pressures. While the poster stated that he thought that he was loading 10.9 gr. he may have set the scale to 19.0 or 20.9 or even double charged; we don't know. But that damage was not caused by 10.9 gr. of Unique.

[mavracer]

I'd get the third round out somehow and measure charge

[Dufus]

Just thought I would add that Ruger uses the same proof loads for the New Vaquero as they did for the old ones.

Would they do that if the New Vaquero was weaker than the old one?

Granted, they say that it is perfectly safe with any ammunition that is manufactured for the 45 Colt. That means that the design pressure would be 18K, if I am correct?

[mavracer]

Ruger proofs all their 45 Colts to SAAMI spec, and have never condoned Ruger only loads in anything even the Redhawk manual says no +p

[Ruger45LC]

Glad you're okay, I blew up a convertible Bisley Blackhawk .45 Colt/ACP about a year ago, looked nearly identical to yours.

[10-96]

Ya'll pardon me for being mathematically deficient, but I have a question. I believe he used a Hornady electronic- right? The one I just looked up on line said it weighs in grains and grams. Is there a chance he might have had his set on grams?

[Handloader109]

Ya'll pardon me for being mathematically deficient, but I have a question. I believe he used a Hornady electronic- right? The one I just looked up on line said it weighs in grains and grams. Is there a chance he might have had his set on grams?

Ah, NO! 10.9 grains is 0.706 grams. It really sounds like either of two errors, wrong powder due to fill variance noted by OP, or overfill by scale or double charge....guess that is one of three errors possible. I think that the loose bullets should have had you stopping in your tracks and figuring that out too. High potential for something else bad to happen with that.......and I can't say that is an error, you KNEW that was wrong

[gwpercle]

OP stated the scale he used was a RCBS balance beam. When setting for 10.9 grains, getting it on the 19.0 grain setting is very easy to imagine , 19 grains will fit in a 45 Colt case and all three would be the same level.
I did the same thing, years ago, had been loading for 2-3 years, Redding #1 beam scale, set for 10.5 grain Unique for 357 Magnum load with 110 grain Super-Vel jacketed hollow points. Ruger Blackhawk held together for 5 rounds but empties had to be driven out with a rod. HOT, HOT !
Yeah, you guessed it, had the little adjustment set for 15.0 not 10.5, very easy to do and understandable. Sometimes I have moved the adjustment accidentally while weighing.
I'm thinking most likely a 19 grain charge did the deed.

MarkJD, I'm glad no injuries, guns can be replaced, things like fingers and eyes can't. About the only thing you can do is be careful and double check things...heck sometimes I triple check things involving powder.
Be careful, load safe....Gary

[F. Guffey]

Is there a chance he might have had his set on grams?

I have a 10-10 Ohaus scale, it came with two beams, one for grains the other for grams. That feature protects the reloader from the reloader.

F. Guffey

When it comes to reloading there is no substitute for discipline, there is nothing more dangerous than arrogance. And I am not the fan of reloaders getting into reloading at a dead run. And I am the fan of 'finished', a reloader that can finish the reloading session by verifying.

F. Guffey

[MarkJD]

Yes, I use an RCBS 5-0-5 scale. I have to assume I set the scale wrong. I used my check weights to verify the scale accuracy. It's good. To help prevent this from happening again I plan on setting the RCBS scale as needed, throw a charge then use the Hornady pocket scale to double check the right amount was thrown.

[A pause for the COZ]

There are in fact other things that can cause a gun to blow up other than a double charge.
I would bet that most are caused by a double charge.

Double charge is also the easy scape goat.

But it is also likely to blow up a gun with a under charge in a big case.
Instead of burning in a controlled fashion. The whole charge can go off at once causing a sever pressure spike.

Just some thing else to keep an eye on.

[Brotherbadger]

Glad to hear you are ok. That can be pretty scary.

[Hunter Customs]

There are in fact other things that can cause a gun to blow up other than a double charge.
I would bet that most are caused by a double charge.

Double charge is also the easy scape goat.

But it is also likely to blow up a gun with a under charge in a big case.

I agree with the above, as for the under charge it's called detonation.
Elmer Keith wrote about it from his and a barber friends experience loading light (almost squib loads) in a 45 Colt.

I know a shooter that experienced it in a S&W 686, this shooter happened to be loading Unique too.
It shattered the top half of the cylinder like the OPs plus it folded the top strap of the frame forward

He's a serious competition shooter with many years and many rounds of loading experience.
He was loading full load 357s, the case would not hold a double charge plus he was loading on a Dillion 650 progressive press, so a double charge was highly unlikely if not impossible.

He figured the powder bridged in the powder measure, dropped a small partial charge making it a light charge and that's what caused the detonation problem.

[griz]

Glad you weren't hurt.

I'm not claiming any expertise and have no training, but that pic of the recovered case looks like it was very much overpressure. I've never seen a popped case where the base looks as if the sides were almost torn away. If you ever get the third round out of the cylinder it would be handy to know if it was Unique.

[snuffy]

I'm not claiming any expertise and have no training, but that pic of the recovered case looks like it was very much overpressure. I've never seen a popped case where the base looks as if the sides were almost torn away. If you ever get the third round out of the cylinder it would be handy to know if it was Unique.

That is what was left of a 44 mag case that had a double charge of blu-dot in it. And what it did to my cherished super blackhawk.







300 grain lee boolit 11.3 G blu-dot became 22.3 grains. No, I was not hurt, minor powder burn on cheek, minor scratch on my plastic lens glasses.

[TimSr]

But that damage was not caused by 10.9 gr. of Unique.

Sorry for the OPs guns but this about the only thing that has been said that I can concretely agree with. Every other theory as to what did happen is wild guess from strangers who don't know the OP, and are unfamiliar with his setup, storage and methods.

[Gunplummer]

I read most of the posts. I always do when something bad happens. I don't want to repeat the action. Years back i used to leave a couple cans of powder on my bench at a time. One night I poured a dish of powder back in the wrong can. I realized it when I was putting the lid on the can. It was almost a full can but I trashed it. I never had more than one can on the bench again when loading. Stuff happens when you get too comfortable working with dangerous things. I bet I am not the only guy on this thread that has sawed the cord off a power tool.

[Slamfire]

Think of it this way. If all that pressure escapes in all directions when the chamber comes apart, but there is a still enough of it directed through the barrel to move it at 973 fps, imagine how fast that bullet would be traveling if the chamber had stayed together and directed 100% of it through the barrel like its supposed to.

If the OP had not put in the bullet velocity, I would be in the camp that this was a propellant overcharge. I would say 90 + % percent of blowups is due to an overcharge of powder, but here, the velocity is low.

If the pressure was sufficient to blow the cylinder, that same pressure is available to move the bullet. We know pressures were high enough to blow the cylinder, but were they overpressure? I don't know. Assumptions that a burst cylinder will reduce bullet velocity is just as untested as my assumption that it won't. Pressure drop in revolvers is quick as pressure vents out in the cylinder gap, I have seen Speer data on this. I doubt there are many blowup tests where the velocity of the bullet was measured at the time of blowup.

What we don't know is how many over pressure rounds were fired through this gun before the cylinder ruptured. Since the OP has not replied, I don't know how many rounds have been fired through this revolver and whether they were overpressure or not. But, given enough overpressure rounds, cylinders will fail through metal fatigue and they will rupture right through that cylinder notch. The cylinder notch is the weak point in cylinders.

[Master Blaster]

Detonation of a "Small volume charge in a Large volume case" has been tested by the powder manufacturers and its BS. The small charge may cause a squibb. Then the gun blows then a subsequent round is fired into the stuck bullet caused by the squibb.

The OP had a double charge to blow the gun up like that.

Call Ruger they may give you a deal on a replacement gun.

[TimSr]

Assumptions that a burst cylinder will reduce bullet velocity is just as untested as my assumption that it won't.

Hardly an untested theory. Many tests have been done concerning the dangers (or lack thereof) of live ammo in a fire. You don't understand the concept that the force must be directed an contained behind the bullet in order to propel it? All of the pressure that is vented out before your bullet leaves the barrel is lost energy that is not propelling your bullet. Had the pressure stayed behind the bullet vented with the bullet exiting the barrel, the cylinder would not have given way.

[Tinbucket]

Overcharges are one thing I fear.
I've made a few but so consequencies.
I have used a single stage RCBS Rock Chucker, about 50 years old.
I have small maple dowel for most cases to check if the tray of 100 charged cases has any overcharges.
The new Dillon comes with a powder checker. It still isn't set up yet.
Consistency is the thing.
Do every charge the same way including a little bump of the handle of the powder measure.
I start to get diverted or a little tired I knock off for a while.
I've encountered mixed bullets, loading .44 magnum.
A 300 grain bullet for an intended 180 grain or 240 grain bullet makes a real impression when you fire it.
I've got a box of 240 grain loads I know are way over charged, sitting there, for over twenty years I need to pull down or throw a way.
Crimp is so heavy on the lead bullets I'll probably just toss them. A waste of a lot of money.

[Sport45]

Originally Posted by MarkJD

I assumed before I shot this time the barrel was clear. Last it was used the number of shots and holes in the target matched.

Was it fired just before the blowup? Or was that the last time you were at the range?

I wouldn't rule out an obstructed barrel just yet. Depending on what you are loading it's possible to have a jacket stuck in the bore and the holes in the target will still match the number of shots. If you cleaned the gun a patch may have been left in.

[Ozzieman]

The scale counter weight in the notches has me thinking too. It's possible the 10s counter weight wasn't fully in the notch but hanging on the edge giving a couple more grains?
That is one reason when I set up a new load I always dump 10 charges into the pan then measure the weight and divide by 10.