To each their own. I don't see the necessity of wasting S&W's time. A fellow shooter destroyed his M&P 40 S&W. he double charged the case and knew exactly when he did it (after the fact). I was with him when this happened Blew the magazine out of the gun cracked and bulged the frame beyond repair. barrel and slide held with no visible damage to the naked eye. On a polymer gun what good does sending the gun in for metallurgical issues accomplish???
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destroyed Shield
- Thread starter javadog60
- Start date
To each their own. I don't see the necessity of wasting S&W's time. A fellow shooter destroyed his M&P 40 S&W. he double charged the case and knew exactly when he did it (after the fact). I was with him when this happened Blew the magazine out of the gun cracked and bulged the frame beyond repair. barrel and slide held with no visible damage to the naked eye. On a polymer gun what good does sending the gun in for metallurgical issues accomplish???
I do not know what the charge in the OP's load was.
It may have been perfect.No argument.
Having said that,it is not unusual for someone who has blown up a centerfire bolt rifle or AR to adamantly claim there was no problem with their flawless handloads.
People do not intentionally blow up their guns.But usually,there is a flaw in their process.Like having a canister of pistol powder and a canister of rifle powder on the bench.Or a double charge in a handgun case.
After the kaboom,they seldom say "Darn,I double charged" Darn,I put 65 gr of Bullseye in my 7mm Rem.
I give respect to the OP for owning that he does not know what went wrong.We don't either.
The S+W design is robust.I very seriously doubt this is a S+W failure.
I agree with giving S+W the honest story to work with.From there,they have an interest in the failure,whatever it is.Relentlessly pursue...
As you were using handloads,per the warranty,S+W owes nothing.They may choose to take care of a customer.That is their call.
If it is a cartridge case failure,there is no warranty that says fired brass is full strength and suitable to re-use.
The Op said it was a moderate load.I believe him.Which means he was not pushing for some 1400 fps major power +P+ load.
Double charge? Pretty maybe.Bad brass? another maybe.Defective gun???Hmmmm.Not quite likely
Bad brass is unfortunate,but its not S+W's problem.It would not be in the gun if you were not shooting handloads.
And FWIW,I very seldom shoot factory loads.But I own my reloads.
It may have been perfect.No argument.
Having said that,it is not unusual for someone who has blown up a centerfire bolt rifle or AR to adamantly claim there was no problem with their flawless handloads.
People do not intentionally blow up their guns.But usually,there is a flaw in their process.Like having a canister of pistol powder and a canister of rifle powder on the bench.Or a double charge in a handgun case.
After the kaboom,they seldom say "Darn,I double charged" Darn,I put 65 gr of Bullseye in my 7mm Rem.
I give respect to the OP for owning that he does not know what went wrong.We don't either.
The S+W design is robust.I very seriously doubt this is a S+W failure.
I agree with giving S+W the honest story to work with.From there,they have an interest in the failure,whatever it is.Relentlessly pursue...
As you were using handloads,per the warranty,S+W owes nothing.They may choose to take care of a customer.That is their call.
If it is a cartridge case failure,there is no warranty that says fired brass is full strength and suitable to re-use.
The Op said it was a moderate load.I believe him.Which means he was not pushing for some 1400 fps major power +P+ load.
Double charge? Pretty maybe.Bad brass? another maybe.Defective gun???Hmmmm.Not quite likely
Bad brass is unfortunate,but its not S+W's problem.It would not be in the gun if you were not shooting handloads.
And FWIW,I very seldom shoot factory loads.But I own my reloads.
Don p, you and your entire post are out of line.
Do you load 9mm? I do, and I'm pretty sure that there are very few powders that you can double charge. The ones I use spill over or fill it so high that you can't get a bullet in. God, it almost sounds like you're calling him stupid.
Defective brass? Are you joking? Okay, maybe you've never seen it, but does that prove anything? No, it doesn't
So you saw a .40 blow up? Sure, pack a bigger load of powder into that bigger case and send about half again as much energy into th a plastic frame, what do you expect?
Several times I have read that a nine is more is likely to survive a blowout because the amount of gas vented is much lower.
I don't know why so many people on this board make the choice to blame him, and ignore the obvious.
Maybe it isn't his fault. Maybe it was something wrong with the gun, the brass, the barrel, who knows, but once again, it's really easy to say that the only possible answer is that it's his fault, and that he double charged.
Do you load 9mm? I do, and I'm pretty sure that there are very few powders that you can double charge. The ones I use spill over or fill it so high that you can't get a bullet in. God, it almost sounds like you're calling him stupid.
Defective brass? Are you joking? Okay, maybe you've never seen it, but does that prove anything? No, it doesn't
So you saw a .40 blow up? Sure, pack a bigger load of powder into that bigger case and send about half again as much energy into th a plastic frame, what do you expect?
Several times I have read that a nine is more is likely to survive a blowout because the amount of gas vented is much lower.
I don't know why so many people on this board make the choice to blame him, and ignore the obvious.
Maybe it isn't his fault. Maybe it was something wrong with the gun, the brass, the barrel, who knows, but once again, it's really easy to say that the only possible answer is that it's his fault, and that he double charged.
Fullclip610
New member
"Ignore the obvious"? Lol. I think it's pretty obvious what happened. It's just the opposite of what you loudly proclaim. A pistol with a fantastic reputation for durability / reliability from an A+ company or a guy who questioned his own loading. The OP sounds like a good guy and not one of those customers employees roll their eyes at when they call and lie to get free stuff.
i stand by that 100 percent. You folks have not a clue that the gun itself wasnt faulty. you don't expect to find a dry roasted rat bone in a can of mixed nuts, especially a top brand by planters, but i did. I actually had to look over bio charts because it looked like a finger bone.
I'ts irresponsible to lay into him, stating that without a shadow of doubt, he screwed up and blew up his new gun. There are recalls in every industry from ice cream to vaccines, and gee, even guns. we've gone over the point that final inspections are limited, and I don't believe that every firearm is proof tested anymore.
I give up, just keep stomping on him that he did something stupid, and stomping on me because I don't acept that there is no other explanation except he did something stupid.
This isn't a complicated process. very careful work makes the process safe and simple.
No more wasted posts from me.
I'ts irresponsible to lay into him, stating that without a shadow of doubt, he screwed up and blew up his new gun. There are recalls in every industry from ice cream to vaccines, and gee, even guns. we've gone over the point that final inspections are limited, and I don't believe that every firearm is proof tested anymore.
I give up, just keep stomping on him that he did something stupid, and stomping on me because I don't acept that there is no other explanation except he did something stupid.
This isn't a complicated process. very careful work makes the process safe and simple.
No more wasted posts from me.
Don p, you and your entire post are out of line.
Do you load 9mm? I do, and I'm pretty sure that there are very few powders that you can double charge. The ones I use spill over or fill it so high that you can't get a bullet in. God, it almost sounds like you're calling him stupid.
My post and I are NOT out of line, sir. My opinion neither right or wrong, just my opinion. By the way YOU called the OP stupid
For your info, I re-load the following calibers, 380 acp, 9 mm, 38 spl, 357 mag, 40 s&w, and 45 acp. The powder I use is Titegroup. Any of the finer looking powders can easily be double charged. Accurate#2,5 come to mind
Now onto better things. how about some pictures of the said disaster. What powder does he use? Did the barrel, slide receive substantial damage?
maybe you should broaden your horizon with regards to powders and see there are more than a few that can easily be double charged. So therefore YOU AND YOUR POST ARE OUT OF LINE
Justice06RR
New member
I read every reply and I'm glad there were very few negative.
I don't know the exact load as all my stuff is in my shed and I'm watching Law and Order with my wife. I do know that it was a light to moderate load with CFE powder and a 147 grain plated bullet.
After much thought and reflection I've come to the conclusion that it was either the gun firing out of battery or, more probable, I let a bad case slip by.
I probably will get another shield because for me, it is the perfect pistol for IWB. I shot it well and it never malfunctioned until the Kboom. I imagine I had about 1000 rounds through it and I kept it clean. I use a turret press so I don't believe it was a double charge.
I will keep reloading but will inspect my brass closer. I really thought I was being careful but maybe I let that "one bad one" slip through. I enjoy reloading almost as much as shooting.
Thanks for all the replies. If I decide to send the pistol the S&W I will let you know the outcome. At this point, I'm inclined to bite the bullet myself and attribute it to operator error. That would be me.
Did you read this Brian?
You are quick to call others wrong and think you are 100% right. Please do not get this thread locked.
We are not blaming the user or holding S&W not responsible. We just have to look at all the facts. I applaud the OP for being honest on this one, but you should still send it in for inspection.
cougar gt-e
New member
Double or simply over filled loads occur. Sadly, they occur more among reloaders than in factories. But even the highly automated factory reloaded ammo can be overloaded. A friend is a USPSA grand master shooter that was using a well known factory reloaded 9mm practice ammo. He blew up 3 guns in 2 days shooting ammo from the same batch. Overloaded? Probably as three different guns (two sigs and a glock) all blew. He had fired over 60,000 rounds of that companies ammo prior.