Ruger LCR kaboom

[jordanvraptor]

Saw this over at The Firearm Blog...

.38+P ammo fired with cylinder slightly out of alignment apparently. Shooter was not hurt thankfully.

Read More

 

[nick425]

Ouch.

 

[MEP1000]

WOW

 

[Ian1816]

Do you know how many rounds were fired through this gun before the failure? I am just curious if it was off from the factory or if it became off over time.

 

[Riot]

Do you know how many rounds were fired through this gun before the failure? I am just curious if it was off from the factory or if it became off over time.

Ruger LCR Kaboom | The Firearm Blog

Less than 100 rounds...

 

[soberups]

I think it might have been cheap ammo that had a primer in it but no powder. The primer went off and had enough energy to drive the bullet out of the casing, where it got stuck in the barrel. A second round was then fired and the resulting overpressure caused the failure. If the shell casings in the photo were the ones removed from the gun it could not have been an out-of-battery problem because the primers are both hit dead center.

 

[Throckmorton]

yep,looks like a squib hit by a live round to me too.

 

[novamind]

Possibly a bad moulding in the support polymer?, Squibb theory is very possible and primers are on center. Is that a bulge in the barrel ? Maybe the limits of ploymer have been found. One more pull on that trigger would have been ugly.

 

[novamind]

Polymer or aluminum housing?

 

[tlfreek]

i can weld that to new - just picked up a mig welder at harbor freight

 

[soberups]

Possibly a bad moulding in the support polymer?, Squibb theory is very possible and primers are on center. Is that a bulge in the barrel ? Maybe the limits of ploymer have been found. One more pull on that trigger would have been ugly.

The grip frame is polymer, but the cylinder and barrel are high-grade steel and those are the parts that take the pressure.

The more I look at that barrel, the more I see a bulge in it and the more convinced I am that a squib load blocked it and a subsequent round blew it up.

The original post on the Firearm Blog states that the shooter was a novice and that the gun locked up after the shot that ruptured the barrel, so "one more pull" was, fortunately, impossible.

Full disclosure; I own an LCR and I like it a lot. I am also a big fan of the airweight 38+P as a pocket pistol and I feel that they are far better choices for concealed carry than the little .380's due to reliability and superior ballistics.

There are enough LCR's out there that if there were an inherent flaw or weakness in the design we would be hearing about more such incidents, and the gun would likely have been recalled by now.

 

[SKIPPER99]

damn that sucks

 

[orygun]

I think it might have been cheap ammo that had a primer in it but no powder. The primer went off and had enough energy to drive the bullet out of the casing, where it got stuck in the barrel. A second round was then fired and the resulting overpressure caused the failure. If the shell casings in the photo were the ones removed from the gun it could not have been an out-of-battery problem because the primers are both hit dead center.

If those two casings are from the gun when the "problem" occurred, the finding of the "out of time cylinder" is a load of BS. I also agree with the squib load, then a live round down the barrel after that.
Be careful what you read and believe on the internet, Kids.

 

[tlfreek]

i can weld that to new - just picked up a mig welder at harbor freight

HA HA HA HA your a frikkin idiot dood. You cant weld that.

get a clue

that's what I would expected from you guys. Man I lobbed a softball expecting some hammer time, but nothin'.

OK.

 

[JUSTIficatioN]

i can weld that to new - just picked up a mig welder at harbor freight

What an idiot... he bought something from harbor freight

 

[lucky guy]

What an idiot... he bought something from harbor freight

Apparently the humor was a little to subtle for you geniuses! eace:

 

[tlfreek]

What an idiot... he bought something from harbor freight

HA HA HA - have to get a tool that matches the skill of the one using it - hence I have no welding skill - just a welder and a trash talkin mouth

 

[JohnWayne]

I'm hoping this really isn't a problem. I just picked one of these up yesterday

 

[usmc]

yeah, someone should have checked it when they heard the pop and see nothing happen.glad no one got hurt, but WOW what a close call.