a serious reminder for saftey

R

reloader28

New member
I dont know if this is the right place, but EVERYONE especially noobes should check this out.

I posted this on castboolits in "our town" under the title "gun blew up".
I dont know how to do links so your on your own finding it, but its worth a look.

It has pictures of what my hand and rifle look like now after a kaboom. I dont know if it was a double charge or a weak spot on the gun, but make sure that you check your loads VERY close. This didnt feel that good when it happened Thursday night and I dont want anyone, especially innocent wifes or kids going thru this. Probly the most painful thing I've been thru. Compare it to holding onto a stick of dynomite. Luckily I was alone at the bench.

Check your guns and loads CAREFULLY.
 
I still have a piece of shrapnel in my arm from a kaboom like that. Mine was from shooting suspect ammo in a gun that i had not sufficiently safety checked.
 
Posting an internet address is easy and posting a link is just as easy (being just the address with a stock pair of markers around the address).

The address of your posting on Castboolits is

castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?275002-gun-blew-up

which you can find at the top of your browser when you are at that location

and if you put http:// in front of the address, this site will put the markers around the address automatically

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?275002-gun-blew-up

The markers are [ u r l ] in the front and [ / u r l ] in the rear (without the spaces)

Another choice is to go to the top of your posting screen where there is a double row of icons. The icon of a globe will let you paste the address and a link will be created in your post automatically.

Good luck and good healing. Thanks for sharing.

Lost Sheep
 
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Sorry to hear of your incident.

I was loading up different lots of test rounds for my 41 magnum yesterday and one minor distraction and I dumped close to 30 rounds right back into the powder measure. I don't know what the distraction even was, but I was dumping powder and decided to throw one on the scale and it wasn't what it should have been, for the powder I was pouring.

I don't think it would have resulted in anything close to what you experienced, but it certainly wouldn't have been what I was expecting.

Wishing you a speedy and good recovery.
 
Wow. That's ugly.

A couple of years ago I pulled the trigger on what I know was a double charge of WW 231 in my .45 Auto. 9.8 grains instead of 4.9. I was using a new press and got out of my zone.

Fortunately, other than a stinging hand, a trashed magazine, and a few flakes of lead embedded in my skin, both I and the gun were OK.

I got off light.

Glad that you're going to be OK.

Did you have any tendon or joint damage? Hard to tell exactly from that photo how involved the injuries are.
 
2 rounds just fine and on the third it blew in half.
Click to expand...

Could have been the first, but it will always be the last.

I dont know if it was a double charge or a weak spot on the gun, but make sure that you check your loads VERY close.
Click to expand...

Given the amount of kabooms we see with reload versus factory ammo, I am guessing that "weak spot on the gun" is the very least likely of possibilities.
 
I dont know if it was a double charge or a weak spot on the gun,
Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear you are going to be OK.

As for a double charge or weak spot on the gun, we are always quick to assume this, I'm betting on neither one.

I advise anyone reading this thread to read everything you can find on detonation and fully understand the consequences of light charges of fast burning powder in large volume cases.

Elmer Keith wrote a very good article on it after it happened to him and a Barber friend that were loading light powder charges of fast burning powder in 45 Colt cases.

Everything I've read on detonation all say the pressure in a case will quadruple and this is the reason for the violent rupturing of the guns it happens in.

reloader28, I wish you a speedy recovery and I hope others learn from your terrible experience.
 
Reminds me. Years ago a foreign company did research, because they were foreigners we did not take them serious. They said it can happen, because the foreigners could not make it happen every time we decided it was pre ignition, or two flame fronts colliding or compression, they moved on and we are still stuck with not knowing what is going to happen when we pull the trigger.

Reloader 28, I am sincerely glad your injuries were not worst and thank you for sharing.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=341348

F. Guffey
 
Eghads.
Very glad you survived the experience.
A fellow right next to me at the range had something like that happen.
Fortunately for both of us, most of the havoc went straight up for some reason, and we escaped mostly unscathed.
Scary stuff.
Can't ever get complacent and let our guard down.
 
Im always a bit nervous when shooting reloads. Thanks for the reminder.
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I might be a bit off, but I think this is the message here. Not so much being nervous while shooting, but to not get complacent while loading.

I have been dumping powder for most of my life. I have been distracted and it only takes one tiny thing, and luckily I caught it on my next inspection.

I have grabbed the wrong bullets for the load I was loading and something just seemed off but I caught it.

Complacency will catch up with you eventually whether you realize, or want it too or not. Staying on your toes at all times while loading is the only way around it.
 
I had a gunbuilder friend look at it and after taking some measurement he said it was probably an overpressured load even though some Marlins were flawed. He has blown up many guns for testing purposes so I figure he knows.

As far as a double charge or too light of a charge I would have to go with a double, but we'll never know.

As long as everyone thinks about this when they are reloading maybe it will keep it from happening to someone else by being more careful.
 
Glad it wasn't much worse, and sorry about the loss of the rifle. Even if your carefull there are still lots of opportunities to get bit. I hope I can retain the information you supplied from your experience and avoid a tragic error myself.
 
Reloader28: Thanks for this thread. Though I've been lucky for many years and not had a blow up, I do realize it has more to do with luck than anything else, nobody's perfect, and all it takes is one bad cartridge.

So I came out okay today, so what. There's always tomorrow to screw up bad enough to get hurt! I'm well acquainted with being hurt. When I was 24 I was blown though a skylight and hit a concrete floor 14' below....was airlifted to the hospital .... crushed 2 vertebrae and broke just about everything else .... then 10 years ago I went through a double heart bypass....that was 10 times worse...the day after I would have preferred to die. So looking at your pictures does scare the ...... out of me! I flinch every time I see them in my mind! I'm fine today....you will be fine pretty soon too.

:o It's even more scary when you get older and you KNOW you are more forgetful than ever before. We all are very sorry for your terrible experience.....but thanks for sharing the reality check!

Maybe some of us old farts ought to find a safer hobby while we're ahead and still in one piece..............uh.........ah.....well....maybe next year.:rolleyes:

In the mean time I'll keep my insurance payments up to date......and I'll do my darndest to check powder in every case....even in my progressive.

I for one bought my Pro 2000 not to speed things up.....I bought it to stoke the handle 4 times less per round....so I can get my tired frame though a session easier. I have plenty of time to check powder.....so I'd best do it, huh!

I think about some progressive loaders trying to produce 400 rounds per hour and I get the heabie jeabies!
 
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