bad day at the range

Just out of curiosity is the model 19 a K frame? I own a 686 and my friend has a 19 and when I compared them to each other, the frames looked the same size to me.
 
The Mod. 19 is a K frame and the Mod. 686 is (I believe) an L frame. The 686 has the same grip size as the 19 but everything else is built beefier to better handle a steady diet of .357 magnum.
 
I shoot indoor, but have seen some people who come in with little or no gun handling knowledge.
When the range is crowded, I just don't go, too much can happen.
Our range allows shotguns, :eek: so I hate getting hit by flying spent shells.
I try to get in the middle, don't know if that really helps or not though.
 
wow, that is terrifying. I would lose it if I got hit by a bullet fragment or something (at least until I was sure that I wasn't actually shot).
that has never happened to me and I really hope it never does.
 
Lead spatter on a number of occasions at falling plate competitions, and I've only been doing this since September. Nothing painful . . . a bit surprising the first time, but I've come to expect it now.
 
Never been hit with an actual bullet, though I did take a pellet right smack in the middle of the forehead once. Didn't hurt much, but it was a bit of a shock. :)

I once watched a .50 cal tracer go downrange, ricochet near straight up, then seemingly hit something else and change course back towards the firing line before the phosphor burned out. That was a sight to see...
 
I shoot almost only at indoor ranges. Only once have I had anything comeback and hit me. It was probably lead splatter like others have said. It hit my shin and I never saw what it was afterward. I was more surprised than anything. Ni big bruise to speak of or anything. Just a little one like you get from bumping into a coffee table at night. The are usually the result of people hitting the roof, sidewall, ground or target carrier. Wear your glasses and you'll be fine.
 
If you are target shooting with a Mod. 19 , feed it .38 spls. or it ain''t long for this world . They don't hold up to full house .357 ammo , I've seen it a bunch of times .
 
Smith has a great service department that goes out of its way to please its customers. They'll certainly lend you a sympathetic ear. But, your problem is that Smith is very likely to tell you that it no longer has replacement barrels in stock. The 19 was discontinued a couple of decades ago and, in fact, Smith stopped making K frame magnums altogether earlier this decade. I'm not sure what Smith will be able to do for you in light of that.
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Sadly, S&W ran out of replacement barrels many years ago, and no more are being manufactured.

Your only real option is to scrounge for a used barrel off an otherwise junk gun. And not to be too pestimistic, but they are very tough to find and if you do, you may have to settle for a different barrel length (which may also mean a shorter or longer ejector rod, depending on your existing barrel length). Check with Numrich, and maybe some big name gunsmiths. And every now and then a barrel might pop up on Gunbroker. It's a long shot, but a 19 is worth it.

OTH, barrels by themselves are so rare that I bet they cost almost as much as a new to you 19.

S&W is now cutting off their warranty work as of guns manufactured on or after either '86, '87 or '89. I don't recall the exact year.

Hopefully, your 19 was made after the cutoff date. I do recall reading a post on THR about a guy who's K Frame .357 cracked the forcing cone and S&W, unable to repair his gun under warranty, offered him a choice of a NIB .357 L Frame (619, 620, x81, x86).

Cracked forcing cones can be a crap shoot. A range down the road from me rents various .357 Mags, including S&W K and L Frames, Ruger GP100s and a Taurus or two. All the guns are 20+ years old, and you are required to shoot their factory ammo when renting. The only one to ever have a problem was the "indestructible" GP100, which blew a huge chunk out of its forcing cone at the 6:00 position. The K-Frames were doing just fine.

Go figure.
 
Well, I'm going to give S&W a call Monday. I realize that this is an out-of-production model but I am the original owner and it had only had a few hundred rounds of american factory loaded ammo (mostly .38, NEVER any 125 gr. 357) through it before it failed catastrophically. This is a gun that I was actually using for home defense not too long ago. I would expect better performance from a Raven, let alone S&W. So we'll see......
 
Any bullets coming back to the firing line is evidence of poor range design and setup. Any thing hard enough to return a bullet (steel plates, target hangers, frames etc.) absolutely needs to be angled in such a way so that a bullet that will be directed down or to one side and not straight back at the firing line. I used to do steel matches and RO duty for years and we never had anyone hit by a returned bullet simply because we angled every plate to deflect down into the ground (usually not practical at an indoor range) or off to one side that was roped off and no one was allowed to be in. This is just one reason I have never like to shoot on indoor ranges. I have seen a shooter hit in the face by a bullet that came straight back to the shooter. This was from a swinging plate that was swinging wildly enough to bat a bullet right back to him. Fortunately he was not seriously injured but it was a big wake up call to the range operations. If you're shooting at a range and bullets are coming back to the line leave immediately and inform the management. If they just shrug then you don't want to be at that range. Always wear eye protection on any range.
 
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Back when bowling pin shoots were the thing to do bullets were coming back toward the spectators 25 yards away at ankle level. The club had to set up a 2 x 10. Then there was the time we were shooting out in the woods where evryone went to shoot. There was an empty beer keg and I found out what happens with a .32 auto. It came back off the beer keg and hit me in the left shoulder. I saw it coming but couldn't even begin to move. Left a big red spot.
 
Sorry to hear about your M19. Assuming your gun is new enough to still be within the S&W's lifetime warranty, I'm guessing that they'll probably offer to replace your gun with an equivalent L-Frame Model (probably either a 686 or 620). As has been stated, S&W no longer makes K-Frame Magnums (the M66 was discontinued in 2005 and the M19 in 1999 if memory serves) and no longer makes barrels nor do they have any left in inventory. I remember another poster here a few years ago that had a discontinued S&W revolver that cracked it's frame (it was a lightweight J-Frame of some persuasion, I don't remember the model number) and S&W replaced it with the closest current production model available. Likewise, I seem to remember someone else that irrepairably damaged a M28 and S&W replaced it with a 627.

With regards as to why the forcing cone cracked, as another said it's really kind of a crapshoot. I've read reports of it happening not only to K-Frames, but also J, L, and N frames, Rugers, and Colts. The ammo used ranges from 125grn Magnums to 158grn Magnums and even .38's.
 
I get hit at the local indoor public range regularly. I'd venture the guess that 95% of gun owners are complete and utter morons. :mad:

Splatter is nasty! It stings and burns at the same time.
 
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I haven't shot at an indoor range since I got my CHL five years ago and took the test at one. I've never seen anybody hit by fragments at the outdoor range I frequent, tho getting hit by ejected cases is pretty common despite the netting they use between booths.

I did once have my feelings hurt.
 
I once had a fragment of a bullet jacket hit me in the neck. It was off of a steel plate at an IDPA match. I thought I had been stung by a bee.
 
My first question: is it that common to be hit by bullets at indoor ranges?
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I'm not sure how common it is, but I've been hit by my own bullet (.45) bouncing back at me. Probably 15-25 yards. It was 1993, so I forget exactly. It hurt, but left no marks.
 
My first question: is it that common to be hit by bullets at indoor ranges?
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Yes, it's somewhat common. Yes, it hurts like heck - but, as long as you are wearing eye protection, I've never seen or heard of a bullet fragment causing any permenant injury. The first time this happened to me, I remember thinking I'd been shot....just left a red mark and a bit of a welt. I actually found the fragment and recall pondering on how small it actually was, considering it felt like a mule kick to my chest.
 
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