I was at the range shooting my 9 mm handgun when a guys .45 Colt revolver exploded. It blew the entire top of the cylinder off but the guy was not injured. The guy had owned the gun for only about 4 years and said he had fired probably only about 200 rounds through it.
Guys .45 Colt revolver exploded!
- Thread starter Mystic
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possible squib load?
That's always a scary scene. My mother had a 1911 self-destruct -- the slide went flying off, and my BiL had a jennings .25 completely self-destruct (no big surprise there); I was with him that time.
All three were lucky not to get seriously injured.
That's always a scary scene. My mother had a 1911 self-destruct -- the slide went flying off, and my BiL had a jennings .25 completely self-destruct (no big surprise there); I was with him that time.
All three were lucky not to get seriously injured.
Sub-inch calibers can be awe inspiring but nuthin' compares to 16-inch naval rifles. RIFLES!!!!!! ye lowly landlubbers. Not "guns." RIFLES!!!!!!!!!
Arrrrrrrrr....... shiver me timbers. etc.
USS Iowa north of Puerto Rico. Not-so-young folks hereabouts may recall the live footage on the TV news.
Navy tried to blame a crewman but ultimately determined the explosion was likely cause by improperly packed powder bags or perhaps age of powder used. No final 100-percent determination made. Not surprising......600 pounds of explosive powder does not leave much evidence behind.
600 pounds.... enough force to propel a 2,700 pound projectile across 22 miles at the speed of a hand-held rifle bullet.
Take that ye scurvy dogs!!!!!!
Arrrrrrrrr....... shiver me timbers. etc.
USS Iowa north of Puerto Rico. Not-so-young folks hereabouts may recall the live footage on the TV news.
Navy tried to blame a crewman but ultimately determined the explosion was likely cause by improperly packed powder bags or perhaps age of powder used. No final 100-percent determination made. Not surprising......600 pounds of explosive powder does not leave much evidence behind.
600 pounds.... enough force to propel a 2,700 pound projectile across 22 miles at the speed of a hand-held rifle bullet.
Take that ye scurvy dogs!!!!!!
Indeed, or a slightly hot reload.
Lots of posibilities there. There are 45 Colts out there over 100 years old, originally designed for black powder. Slightly more modern gus that are still not up to full power modern loads. Modern junk iron (usually foreign made), and the eat anything you feed it examples like Ruger's Blackhawk, Super Blackhawk, and Redhawks. Plus modern carbines and rifles fully capable of handling loads that'll blow up almost any handgun. Factor in one of the older guns with modern higher pressure ammo, or a more modern gun where an underpowered (squib) load leaves a bullet hung in the barrel and someone not paying attention squeezes of another round, or an otherwise proficient reloader loads for both his moderate strength handgun and a Marlin lever gun. Then gets a few mis-boxed.
Few calibers are as accident prone as the good old Colt 45! Not a gun for beginners.
Bob
Few calibers are as accident prone as the good old Colt 45! Not a gun for beginners.
Bob
When we went back to the range some people had found the missing parts of the .45. They had thought that somebody for sure had been injured when the gun blew up. But nobody was injured by some miracle.
The .45 the guy had been using was a copy of the old Colt .45 single action revolver. The gun was only about 4 years old and probably only about 200 rounds had been fired in the gun. I don't know anything about the ammunition that had been used in the gun. The guy had let me fire 6 rounds in the gun and then he reloaded and fired the gun himself and the gun exploded. I am glad it didn't explode when I was shooting it.
The .45 the guy had been using was a copy of the old Colt .45 single action revolver. The gun was only about 4 years old and probably only about 200 rounds had been fired in the gun. I don't know anything about the ammunition that had been used in the gun. The guy had let me fire 6 rounds in the gun and then he reloaded and fired the gun himself and the gun exploded. I am glad it didn't explode when I was shooting it.
During a large bore pistol shoot one day a guy a few stations over had one round make a small pop, and he just pulled the hammer back to fire another round ! The guy next to him quickly reached over and placed his hand around the cyclinder, preventing it from cycling and firing. Looking at what had happened he had handload with no powder, the not uncommon 'Ah watches teebee whiles makun lots ah ammo wit my pro gressive press', and the bullet had lodged in the barrel.
I've also heard 'bang, bang, BOOOM' during a shoot, where the guy evidently had two charges of powder for a target load. Still not as intimidating as someone's M1A going full auto on the range :^)
I've also heard 'bang, bang, BOOOM' during a shoot, where the guy evidently had two charges of powder for a target load. Still not as intimidating as someone's M1A going full auto on the range :^)
Probably handloaded his ammo and double charged a case. If it was factory amo I am certain he would have been complaining about it!
Originally Posted By: obbop
Sub-inch calibers can be awe inspiring but nuthin' compares to 16-inch naval rifles. RIFLES!!!!!! ye lowly landlubbers. Not "guns." RIFLES!!!!!!!!!
Arrrrrrrrr....... shiver me timbers. etc.
USS Iowa north of Puerto Rico. Not-so-young folks hereabouts may recall the live footage on the TV news.
Navy tried to blame a crewman but ultimately determined the explosion was likely cause by improperly packed powder bags or perhaps age of powder used. No final 100-percent determination made. Not surprising......600 pounds of explosive powder does not leave much evidence behind.
600 pounds.... enough force to propel a 2,700 pound projectile across 22 miles at the speed of a hand-held rifle bullet.
Take that ye scurvy dogs!!!!!!
Only a Navy gunners mate would call those big guns rifles. Even the title says GUNNERS MATE, guns matey aaaarrrrggggghhh.
Sub-inch calibers can be awe inspiring but nuthin' compares to 16-inch naval rifles. RIFLES!!!!!! ye lowly landlubbers. Not "guns." RIFLES!!!!!!!!!
Arrrrrrrrr....... shiver me timbers. etc.
USS Iowa north of Puerto Rico. Not-so-young folks hereabouts may recall the live footage on the TV news.
Navy tried to blame a crewman but ultimately determined the explosion was likely cause by improperly packed powder bags or perhaps age of powder used. No final 100-percent determination made. Not surprising......600 pounds of explosive powder does not leave much evidence behind.
600 pounds.... enough force to propel a 2,700 pound projectile across 22 miles at the speed of a hand-held rifle bullet.
Take that ye scurvy dogs!!!!!!
Only a Navy gunners mate would call those big guns rifles. Even the title says GUNNERS MATE, guns matey aaaarrrrggggghhh.
Originally Posted By: Mystic
I was at the range shooting my 9 mm handgun when a guys .45 Colt revolver exploded. It blew the entire top of the cylinder off but the guy was not injured.
Over the years I've only seen two reasons for this to happen. The first is reloads. The second is an obstructed barrel.
I suppose there might be another reason, but I've never actually seen anything else.
I was at the range shooting my 9 mm handgun when a guys .45 Colt revolver exploded. It blew the entire top of the cylinder off but the guy was not injured.
Over the years I've only seen two reasons for this to happen. The first is reloads. The second is an obstructed barrel.
I suppose there might be another reason, but I've never actually seen anything else.
I used to shoot at a nice indoor range located in a city to the south of where I live but after I found a closer outdoor range I stopped going. The guy who owned the range showed me a photograph he had taken of a guy's 1911 .45 that had blown up at that indoor range. A large piece of metal had been blown off of the top of the gun. The guy did not get injured and the range owner helped the guy get a new guy from the manufacturer with the photo. It was an expensive .45 but I can't remember what make.
If the shooter was a hand loader, a double charge is a real concern. Something like a Colt SAA or one of the various clones of same gun are not super strong. The 45 Colt is a huge cartridge case and a standard pressure (~15000 PSI) load only occupies a small portion of the case unless the reloader is using something like IMR Trailboss.
Problems can also result if the reloader is loading for same caliber in guns of different strength. I have a Ruger Bisley .45 LC and a Uberti SAA clone of same caliber. To obviate problems of sticking a Ruger load in the Uberti, I only use lead bullet standard pressure loads in the Uberti and use Jacketed slugs in the enhanced power Ruger loads. I can quickly tell at a glance which load goes with which gun.
Problems can also result if the reloader is loading for same caliber in guns of different strength. I have a Ruger Bisley .45 LC and a Uberti SAA clone of same caliber. To obviate problems of sticking a Ruger load in the Uberti, I only use lead bullet standard pressure loads in the Uberti and use Jacketed slugs in the enhanced power Ruger loads. I can quickly tell at a glance which load goes with which gun.
Another possible cause is a light charge blow up. When using really light loads in a somewhat large capacity case with a powder like Bullseye or 231, detenation can occur with devestating results. I witnessed a S&W 27 blow up with light target loads in this way. There was no squib load or barrel obstruction. The first shot blew the top strap and 2 chambers completely off the gun. It was 2.7grs of Bullseye and a 148gr HBWC 38sp target load that was designed for a S&W model 52. Thank goodness no was hurt.
After that happened, I did some research and found a number of situations where really light loads with fast powder did this. After seeing this, I now use a somewhat slower burning powder that fills the case a little more for my target loads.
After that happened, I did some research and found a number of situations where really light loads with fast powder did this. After seeing this, I now use a somewhat slower burning powder that fills the case a little more for my target loads.
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