Skip to main content
Thank you for your patience as we work through our high volume of requests. If you need assistance with 2FA, please provide the correct phone number in your ticket request so we can assist quicker.
Help Center Community Shop

Please Be Careful When Handloading Ammo

David Nunn
Posted at the request of a member who doesn't know how to post pictures. It may have been posted before, but it never hurts to be reminded. Message and pictures follow:

Subject: Fwd: Model 629 Blowup


One should enjoy handloading. Just DON'T exceed the recommended loads, unless of course you like holding bombs in your hand...

Received these pictures from a police officer who works for RENTON PD.

Wow! I guess the factory MAGNUM loads just dont kick enough!

For those of you who load your own ammunition......

A guy came into our department the other day to ask a favor. He had a Smith & Wesson Model 629 that he wanted to dispose of after a mishap at the range. He said there was a loud bang when he tested his new load and the gun smacked him in the forehead, leaving a nice gash.

When the tweety birds cleared, this is what he saw.....


cid_311BB1EE496A4157B645DB8631FDC42.jpg

cid_38431744572644F78B39C167A53F0CB.jpg

cid_53725D89000A489DB02A5357E3E66DF.jpg

cid_A3957515B05A4B559E9D423D2284112.jpg
0

Comments

17 comments

Date Votes
  • Tailgunner1954
    The photos were posted on GD a week or 2 back.
    Double charge in the top chamber, blowing off the upper 1/3 of the cylinder and distroying the 2 rounds on either side.

    Also, in that type of blowup, the gun would tend to recoil DOWN, not up (for the bit about getting wacked in the head). Think about it, the direction of the recoil is at 180^ to the direction of of the force. When the cyl let go, the force released was UP.
    0
  • XXCross
    The revelations here also make for a good argument to use powders and
    charges that take up most of the case capacity....especially when
    loading to the upper end of things.
    0
  • skyfish
    Scary, don't know what else to say.
    0
  • blackmesarifleco
    Nice pics. I have got a Colt .38 that looks just like that. a customer brought it in asking me to repair it. He was stunned when I said make it a wall hanger of what not to do.
    0
  • gunprofit
    I have seen dozens of blown up guns. Most involved reloads, although I have seen factory ammo blow-ups as well. Also, the majority of the guns were large caliber. Mostly 44's and 45's. I always assumed that the reason was a double charge of fast burning powder easily fits in the larger cartridges without being noticed. When I reflect on the most common damage that I have seen, it would be bulged barrels. This is caused by having a squib load, where the bullet is lodged in the barrel and then another cartridge fired into it, bulging the barrel but not blowing it up. With a revolver, this is an easy thing to do. Especially when shooting rapidly.

    The most common major damage to semi-autos that I have seen is cracked slides, on a varity of pistol manufacturers. And, lots of locking lug failures on Beretta 92's.
    0
  • RCrosby
    Weren't some of the early Colt b.p revolvers open topped like that? Just never saw it in a .44 magnum.[:D][:D][:D][:D]
    0
  • FrancF
    Thanks David! made it a sticky. Its a very good reminder!!!![^]
    0
  • GUNFUNCO
    There are still a few good parts in that gun.[:D]
    0
  • v35
    Right. All parts minus frame and including the barrel are probably useable.
    From the brittle failure it looks like detonation of multiple chambers.
    S&W forges their frames. An overcharge would likely cause bending.
    0
  • Southern_Wolf
    Originally posted by Southern_Wolf
    Originally posted by Southern_Wolf
    The first thing I noticed was the misalignment between the cylinder/chamber and the barrel. It is possible that the alignment was off causing the round to create enough back-pressure to blow the chamber along with the two opposing chambers. It's not unheard of. But of course anytime something goes wrong with a product the first assumption is it operator error and with good reason. Then again without having the blown-up firearm in hand the tremendous pressures and explosion could have created the misalignment after or during the explosion. Personally I think someone with a little common sense, mechanical abilities and some munitions background should have examined the piece before blaming the reloader unless of course the reloader admitted to using the wrong powder, overcharging the round or even both. This looks like a S&W 629-6" which comes in 41 & 44 mag, 45 Colt & I think in 45 ACP as well. If the Cylinder/Chamber failed to align (especially) in 41 or 44 magnum configuration it could have created enough pressure to create this scenario. If the round or adjacent round was not seated properly or deep enough it may have lodged or locked up the cylinder keeping it from aligning properly as well - again most likely a manufacturing or reloading problem.
    0
  • dcs shooters
    S W, you have never seen a revolver in person, have you [?] Things bend very fast. When three 44mags. go off at once, it suprises me the 629 doesn't look worse than it is.
    I was at the range when a model 19 blew using 38 wad cutters. The guy double charged at least one [B)]
    0
  • Kate Sudarkina
    The IWA show is the primary sport-shooting show in Europe. Our first booth at IWA was in 2006, the year CED and DAA introduced the CED7000 timer to the shooting community. Since we were a late registration, we could only get a very small, narrow-front booth in hall 3. But we made the best of it, having a great show and receiving an overwhelming response to our new timer and other projects. it was clear to us that IWA would be a "must-do" event in our annual calender.
    IPSC shooting,
    IPSC
    0
  • Kate Sudarkina
    The IWA show is the primary sport-shooting show in Europe. Our first booth at IWA was in 2006, the year CED and DAA introduced the CED7000 timer to the shooting community. Since we were a late registration, we could only get a very small, narrow-front booth in hall 3. But we made the best of it, having a great show and receiving an overwhelming response to our new timer and other projects. it was clear to us that IWA would be a "must-do" event in our annual calender.
    http://www.doublealpha.biz/
    0
  • CryptoChief
    If you all have not done so already, check out the article in the 2010 Gun Digest about the reloading boo boo with a load of HS-6 in a 30-06 case.

    Cheers,

    CC
    0
  • Riomouse911
    With regards to the recoil force going down and the guy saying he was whacked in the head, I'm thinkin' that the sight, topstrap or parts of the cylinder smacked him on the noggin as it was heading for orbit...at least he lived with little or no damage to his hands or head.
    0
  • Pistollero1050
    Blue Dot is a poular powder in these kind of hand guns, If you use the old data you can get results like this, I have used Blue Dot in my .41 mag for 30 years and had to pull and reload to a minimum load chart rating just to keep it from being to hot. So be sure to use current data you'll see it is alot more conservative today than in the past.
    0
  • maillemaker
    The pictures no longer show in this article.
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity

Didn’t find what you’re looking for?