Ever had a kaboom or other catastrophic failure with a firearm?

[arakboss]

Yep. Glock 21 with after market barrel. Was rather dramatic and had to do the ER thing. Some laceration and nerve damage to the support hand, not pleasant but a lesson learned (it was my reloads that I questioned along with the no-name barrel). Sorry that I turned the W231 into fertilizer. But I did rebuild the Dillon 550 and added LED lights to better check the powder level. Just glad it was 45ACP and not 10mm! Oh yeah the Glock receiver was trashed but the slide was good to go with an OEM barrel.

What was wrong with w231?

 

[pharmseller]

Not yet.

 

[Sparky315]

Had a .308 case head split in an M1A- blew out the bottom of the mag and split the sides, and the extractor partway off the bolt. No permanent damage to the rifle.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Not me personally, but I came close, a .243 down the tube in a .308, and a buddy who shall remain nameless did a .308 down the tube of a .30/06! Back when I was in my teens, saw the aftermath of a hunter who blew the guts out of his beautiful custom built Mauser, I think it was a .416 Rigby, anyway supposedly got a little ice in the barrel and when he fired, she blew the barrel, pealed it back in three equal pieces all curved the same. It cut his face and left hand pretty badly, knocked the scope off and into his face/head and dumped the remaining shells on the ground at his feet! That rifle is now the worlds most expensive table lamp!

 

[drstrangelove]

I bulged a 38 barrel from an unrecognized squib, and got that barrel replaced. Pretty benign deal compared to what could have been.

 

[WAW44]

Out of battery M1 Garand. Stock and my wallet were the only casualties.

 

[gmerkt]

Nothing catastrophic.

1. While shooting a Colt 1911 .45 ACP, cartridge case ruptured, blew the bottom of the magazine out and all remaining cartridges. Didn't find parts of the magazine or the suspect cart. case. When it went off, there was no sensation beyond the normal. Accordingly, that's why I suspect failed case that had been reloaded a few times. No damage beyond the magazine.

2. Stuck a bullet then fired another in an old beater Smith & Wesson .38 Special, ruined the barrel. I sent it back to the factory for repair.

3. Due to overcharge, blew a case head partly off in an FN Mod. 24/30 Mauser in 7mm, no damage.

 

[Tlock]

We had a suppressor blow up like a pipe bomb on a 22 mag. Caused permit hearing loss and tore a whole in the seat of the pickup

 

[Caveman Jim]

We had a suppressor blow up like a pipe bomb on a 22 mag. Caused permit hearing loss and tore a whole in the seat of the pickup

And we'd love to hear "the rest of this story."

 

[Tlock]

We where shooting coyotes on the edge of a golf course my supervisor had the 22 mag with the thunder trap suppressor. On his 4th shot he had a squib load and we both watched the bullet hit way low of the dog (had already killed the female and some pups) he didn't rack another round and the suppressor started to whistle like a piccolo Pete! As he was in the process setting it down it completely exploded sending shrapnel every direction! We sent the firearm and what was left of the suppressor back to the manufacturer. They sent us a new setup and basically claimed it never happened they had no answer for what took place.

 

[clanhanson]

I've had two ruptured cases in .308 and a 9mm squib. The squib would've been catastrophic had I pulled the trigger again, but I noticed something sounded "off" so I inspected the bore.

 

[P7M13]

Yep, documented it in the link below.
On analysis, determined bullet set-back into the case was root cause

Reasons were human error:​

1. Did not properly set my crimp
2. Did not test crimp integrity

I have since changed presses and dies used, and now when starting a batch of loading, I will waste three to five bullets perfecting the case crimp.
The gun appeared to be unscathed (aside from the magazine being destroyed). However, I suspect the barrel chamber is wow-ied so I keep it as a parts donor.

Link to Kaboom Today thread : https://www.northwestfirearms.com/threads/kaboom-today.295334/post-2218059

 

[clanhanson]

Out of battery M1 Garand. Stock and my wallet were the only casualties.

View attachment 1180175

Check your headspace. That's happened to me with a Garand as well, but no damage other than powder burns.

 

[bionic knees]

50 ish years ago, 3 of us driving from central Central Oregon to Portland. drinking and other things. I opened the glove box to find a .22 revolver, driver starts to say "don't cock it and let the hammer go. BANG, too late, bullet hits the dash and bounces off "63 chevy" 2 door. the driver explains that for some reason the hammer won't latch in the cocked position. down the road a ways we come upon CJ'S chevron, don't remember exactly what time it was but it was dark, we pull in and ask the jocky if we could trade said revolver for some gas, jocky says sure, a deal was struck, we got some gas and pulled out. on the way out the driveway the driver hollers out "BE CAREFUL WITH THAT "BANG"!! thing. that is all I know about that deal.

 

[Ben B.]

We where shooting coyotes on the edge of a golf course my supervisor had the 22 mag with the thunder trap suppressor. On his 4th shot he had a squib load and we both watched the bullet hit way low of the dog (had already killed the female and some pups) he didn't rack another round and the suppressor started to whistle like a piccolo Pete! As he was in the process setting it down it completely exploded sending shrapnel every direction! We sent the firearm and what was left of the suppressor back to the manufacturer. They sent us a new setup and basically claimed it never happened they had no answer for what took place.

That is the strangest silencer story I've ever heard. I've no idea what explanation could work with that description.

 

[CountryGent]

Well it wasn't a firearm. But this one time in old Tijuana had an incident after loading up some questionable green chili soft tacos. No permanent damage done.

Ah ... Tijuana Tap Water: Nature's Laxative! (Warning: Not a gentle one.)

 

[sobo]

That rifle is now the worlds most expensive table lamp!

Do ya think you could get a pic of that lamp to post here, without incriminating your buddy?

 

[Tlock]

That is the strangest silencer story I've ever heard. I've no idea what explanation could work with that description.

I found a couple pics. I had to take a pic of the pic cause I'm not smart enough to send it to myself

 

[whiskeybill]

Personally, no. Seen a few failures though. Vintage Ballard single shot in 45-70, the guy should have been shooting Black Powder, but he just had to load it with smokeless. It came apart in his hands, and he needed extensive reconstructive surgery. S&W 629 Mountain Gun had come apart, probably loads meant to shoot in a carbine. Hatched the cylinder and blew the top of the frame apart. Pedersolli 45-110 '74 Sharps, guy did a duplex load with around 20 grains of Red Dot. Blew the barrel right off the action. He had plenty of walnut splinters in his hand.

 

[CLT65]

Nope, never one that damaged a gun. I've had some close calls though:

1. Case head split in an FAL, using the notorious TZ80 Israeli ammo. I didn't know it was "known bad" back then. No damage to the rifle.

2. Case head separation in an H&R break-open 45-70 rifle. This was over 20 years ago too, foolishly shooting other-people's-reloads. Turns out it was black powder in a weak semi-balloon case. Case head came off like a button, and I got a blast right in the face. No permanent damage to either the rifle or my face.

3. Last but not least (big lesson from this one)- 30+ years ago I got my first shotshell loading setup, used from an old timer. Amongst the odds and ends was a full can of "vintage" Alcan powder. I looked up a recipe in the book, loaded up several rounds with increasing charges, and took them outside to shoot them into the ground.

First one- Boom! Felt heavier than expected, by a lot. Next one- BOOM! Really heavy kick, hull came out with the crimp mostly ironed out.

Yeah, I was young and stupid back then (older now) and didn't take the hint. I had the powder right, the recipe right, everything should be right, right?

I fired the next one. BOOM!!! The bolt unlocked and came back some on it's own, the hull was misshapen and completely ironed out, and it felt like a bomb went off. I finally got the hint and didn't fire the last one.

I went in and looked over the manual and recipe. Yep, everything was right. I checked my scale and charge bar, all good. I looked at the powder. There was something written on the lid, but faded badly. Finally I turned it over and noticed "Green Dot" written clearly on the bottom of the can. I looked at the manual. My loads were severely overcharged for Green Dot powder.

It's a testament to the strength of the old Mossberg 500 that it survived undamaged (I still have it), but I have a suspicion that it would have been different if I'd fired that last one.