Blew up my Sig P229

One told me he was vacuum packing all his ammo with a food saver, but you had to be careful not to leave the vacuum on until it went all the way. He had some where the vacuum set the bullets back. Factory 9mm I believe.
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Having some decades of experience with various pressure vessels, I cannot visualize a situation where packing ammo in a vacuum freezer bag would cause bullet setback. And certainly not with any factory ammo.

Your friend is either mistaken about what happened, is deliberately pulling your leg, OR is simply using the wrong terms.

LOADING ammo IN A VACUUM, MIGHT produce bullet setback, once the rounds are exposed to regular air pressure, but I doubt it. Not if the rounds are correctly made in the first place.

Air pressure is approx. 15psi (14.7? at sea level). Normally loaded ammo will have that pressure inside it. Put that ammo in a vacuum, and you get 15psi pushing OUT, which, even if it WAS enough to move the bullet (9mm or ANY caliber) the pressure inside the case would be pushing in the OPPOSITE direction from "bullet setback." Absent a detailed explanation of what happened, and how, I'm gonna call "BS" on vacuum causing bullet setback.

Now a word about SAAMI pressure specs. From what some people write, I get the impression they think SAAMI limits are "drop dead, go no further, you gun will turn into a grenade" limits. They aren't. They are an industry agreed upon general working pressure/max pressure limits, safe to use in all properly made guns in each caliber. They include a generous safety margin, well short of the failure point of ALL well made arms.

Now, to be precise, ANY load above the SAAMI pressure standard is a "+P" load. It could be 1%, 10%, 50% or 100%, its a "+P" load.

There is a SAAMI standard for +p loads in certain calibers. But ONLY in certain calibers. Lack of a SAAMI +p standard does NOT mean the loads are not +p, only that there is no SAAMI standard. Likewise "+p+", can only be applied where there IS a SAAMI +p standard. +P+ is everything that exceeds the recognized +P standard, by either a little, or a lot.

SAAMI limits are more like the edge of the map, and the last lines drawn there. Stay there, and you know where you are. Go beyond, and you don't, you're in the blank space on the map with the warning "here be dragons"...
 
As a guy with a hobby of photography I am saying the pics are not clear enough to show anything of interest.
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Okay, I am just trying to rectify how it is that you have a gun with "damage was considerable" and that "looks bad" but can't seem to get any photographs clear enough to show this.

It is really a shame you didn't look for the Federal Hydra Shok case. It should have been the nickel case with a lot of damage to it that would have looked very different from the others.

What sort of magazine damage was there?

While I suppose it happens, I can't think of the last time somebody reported a gun kabooming and the case extracting and ejecting.
 
Well it did fire, blew a hole in the target, ejected the case, damaged the barrel, and forced something back into the grip causing it to crack.
 
When the ammo was purchased, what kind of "box" was it in? A factory ammunition cardboard box or just some "box"?
What kind of damage to the barrel? How is it possible to not get any pics of the gun?
There is a wealth of knowledge on this website, but just stating the gun is damaged and the ammo was from a box is just going to raise more questions than any hope for a reasonable assessment of what happened.
 
Well it did fire, blew a hole in the target, ejected the case, damaged the barrel, and forced something back into the grip causing it to crack.
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Did it? Let's see some pics. If you can see it with the naked eye, then it can be photographed. Photography is a hobby of yours, after all.
 
It's disturbing that companies want to falsely use terminology from an industry safety organization to sell over pressure ammunition to people
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The +p designation pre-dates SAAMMI adopting the terminology. SAAMI doesn't beat the industry to anything. They react to what products are already being manufactured.

, I cannot visualize a situation where packing ammo in a vacuum freezer bag would cause bullet setback. And certainly not with any factory ammo.
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I racked my head on that one myself. He said he measured them with calipers when they were visible changed. Is it possible they were that way before he vacuum sealed them? I guess. I think he had repeated the phenomenon though. The only thing I can figure is that the negative pressure pulling on the plastic bag causes the bag to exert enough pressure on the wedge shape of the bullet to drive it back into the case while also exerting force to the flat primer end of the case. A food saver only generates 20 inHG or about 10PSI,which makes it all the stranger. Calculating the force exerted on the bullet is probably within my abilities, but far beyond my interest. I was told factory ammo and he does not reload, but, as has been discussed already, there are some people buying re-manufactured ammunition thinking it is factory. Considering it was for a cache, a bulk buy of cheap re-manufactured ammo is possible, especially considering he didn't seem to know exactly what ammunition exhibited the problems. I have read reports of light crimp and short OAL due to deep seating in WWB, also a favorite of those caching supplies. I have even had a few rounds myself a couple years ago.

I tried to get as much info as I could politely as this was just an acquaintance. I am not interested in spending my own money to further investigate something I would not do even if it were proven safe. If purchase a food saver in the future I might reconsider, but it isn't worth buying one before I have a deer and can't run one down from a friend or running one down just for the test. I will mention the story anytime people are discussing long-term storage issues until proven wrong. Better safe than sorry. I would enjoy reading a post by anyone who wanted to test it out.
 
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I still do not understand how the OP is absolutely certain it was Federal Hydrashok or any other round for that matter. Which Hydrashok? Frankly, years old ammo stored in a "plastic box" that was "bought from years ago from a dealer" could be anything. Factory new. Factory reman. Private reload. Foreign. Domestic. Republican. Democrat. Unless a strict "chain of custody" is maintained on rounds of ammo, after they leave a factory box without going directly to a magazine and then fired immediately, they become unknown mystery rounds to be shot at one's own risk.
 
Squib followed by a full power round will do that. My guess is that the squib bullet would be lodged in the barrel, however. Another good percentage chance is a reload with an over charge of nonsuitable powder. I've never seen an overcharged factory round. I have seen factory squibs however. Rod
 
Without reading back thru all the posts, was there any mention of 1) the age and 2) the condition of the SIG 229 in question? Any signs of corrosion or pitting on the barrel, slide, and/or frame? Might these defects combined with an overcharged round result in the damage OP reports?
 
^+1. There's really not much info here. Ammo bought at some point in the past that we think was factory, initially not sure of the brand but now we think it's Federal Hydashok (wouldn't the hollowpoints have been a clue?), no pictures because despite a cracked grip and locked up firearm there isn't anything that can be seen visually, from what I can read it sounds like it was probably a used gun, etc. A lot of variables.
 
I'm certainly not a kaboom forensic expert.

I understand your brain fog after the incident,but 100 cases" I'd find it.

Generally,I believe in a gun wrecking blow up,the extractor rips through the rim,and the brass remains in the chamber. If the primer pocket opens up,it indicates very high pressure.
This might be accompanied by a case blow out,releasing gas.
An intact primer pocket with a blown case might indicate defective brass,or brass that had a "Glock Goose egg" that was reformed and reused,with structural weakness.

No personal attack intended,but something does not seem right.
If you are certain they are factory loaded Hydra Shoks,I suggest you review Federal's information on recalls.If a batch of ammo had issues,you might have a factory load problem.Maybe.

Sometimes we are adamantly certain about something that is not true.The "long time ago" accompanied by lack of original packaging is a break in the chain.

Generally,the original box stays with factory loads until they are used up.
Generally,a plastic ammo box is used for reloads....Or maybe reboxing ammo that is loose.
But loose ammo is less than one box,don't Hydra-shoks come in a pkg of 25?

Who buys a plastic ammo box for a < 25 round lot of loose rounds?

Seems to be a vague,evasive dance around pics,too.

No offense intended,thats how I read the sign.
 
I'm starting to get a little suspicious of this whole story now too....
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Why can't the gun be taken apart to see what kind of damage has been done to the barrel ??
The OP says the gun cycled....but he couldn't find the case ...but if it was HydraShok ammo it would be a nickel case and pretty easy to find...even in a pile of cases..

Pictures would be nice ..of the barrel and the slide ...and the frame and the grips.../ condition of the bore...

Age of the gun / was it purchased new ? He said 100 rds thru the gun ...
What year were these rounds purchased ?
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Imagine the kinds of questions Sig will ask ...if all of us, who have no stake in this, are asking these logical questions...

I don't know what to think anymore...unless he can answer all of these questions with some logic ...then maybe we can help him come to a reasonable conclusion as to what might have happened.
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In most parts of the country there are a lot of qualified Sig Armorers around ...who could certainly evaluate the gun and order parts and fix it...I don't think I would send it back to Sig.
 
I guess there is always a first time for being called a liar but you guys are down right stupid. Why on earth would I make up a story like that. I tell you what I'll produce the gun and you pay me 10k if it's not damaged as I say. It's going to Shooters Express in Belmont, NC on Thursday for their gunsmith to look at and hopefully repair. If he can't do it I'll have to send it to Sig Sauer. I'll make a copy of the repair bill for you two guys who don't believe me.

My apologies to the rest of the guys who have been very nice and helpful.

I've been on forums since the early days of the internet and this is the first time I have ever been subjected to this kind of abuse.
 
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I guess there is always a first time for being called a liar but you guys are down right stupid. Why on earth would I make up a story like that. I tell you what I'll produce the gun and you pay me 10k if it's not damaged as I say. It's going to Shooters Express in Belmont, NC on Thursday for their gunsmith to look at and hopefully repair. If he can't do it I'll have to send it to Sig Sauer. I'll make a copy of the repair bill for you two guys who don't believe me.

My apologies to the rest of the guys who have been very nice and helpful.

I've been on forums since the early days of the internet and this is the first time I have ever been subjected to this kind of abuse.
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My goodness.I never called you a liar. I'm suggesting over time,the accuracy of recall is subject to error. I have no reason to doubt you believe they are factory loads.

I wonder about the excessive drama in your response.It might seem a distraction . Oh well.
Do have a nice day.
 
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Oh, my. Please play nice. I will assume that what HughScot has reported is true; calling someone names without cause is never a good approach.

HughScot says that he is going to have the pistol examined by a gunsmith and then send it to the manufacturer. Let's see how that comes out. I will reserve my own idea as to what happened pending more information.

Jim
 
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