Ejected Hang fire effects

[TXAZ]

If a hang fire is ejected after not firing then goes off on the ground, what's the likely effect?
Has anyone here actually seen that happen?

 

[g.willikers]

Thought a squib load was an underpowered one that could stick a bullet in the barrel.
Are you referring to a hang fire round that can maybe go off well after the primer is struck with no seemingly effect?
If so, from the demonstrations of rounds going off out of the gun, they seem to mostly rupture the case and spit out the bullet a short distance.
Similar to if they are tossed in a fire.
Check out the youtube videos on it.

 

[ghbucky01]

I'm assuming as above you are referring to a hang fire round.

I've never seen it happen, but I've read (via the Lee reloading manual) that a round going off outside of a chamber has a real danger of the primer being ejected from the case at high velocity.

 

[wogpotter]

I've had a long, slow hang-fire with Pakistani .303 British.
Pull trigger *click*
Beat
2
3
4
nothing.
Count to 30 slowly, eject round, stand round base down waiting to pull bullet & dispose of later.
beat
6
7
8
9
*fizz* (bulleted case starts shimmying.)
*POP* bullet jumps about 18" into the air & falls down spinning slowly.

[Insert roman candle firework pyro f/x here.]

Horrible smell case turns red hot & falls off bench.

Pretty much it as everybody stares at it waiting for the next F/X

 

[TXAZ]

Yes hang fire is correct. Will update the question above.

 

[Hawg]

The only one I ever had outside the gun was a .45 ACP. The bullet stayed put and the case flew about three feet.

 

[243winxb]

Not a hang fire, but kaboom.

See info and photos here http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=572186

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Start watching this video at the 2:00 minute mark. They have your answer.

 

[TXAZ]

Thanks Brian and 243.

 

[Art Eatman]

Somewhen about seventy years back, mas o menos, the folks at the old Frankford Arsenal got curious and set up an experiment with a Mk 2 Ball cartridge.

Electrical hookup so resistance heating would ignite the primer.

The cartridge was set on a piece of cloth, on top of a bar of soap. All this inside a cardboard box.

Close circuit. Finally, "Pop!"

Examination showed a slightly scorched cloth and a very shallow dent in the soap. Unburned powder. Nothing exited the box or even made much of a dent.

Basically, the bullet leaves the case before the powder's burning can build up any notable amount of pressure.

 

[HawkeyeNRAlifer]

I've wondered the same thing, also with some old .303 from 1942, although not Pakistani. A lot of hang fires, about 2-3 seconds to fire. Seems like years when you're shooting. A couple never went bang so the 20-30 second wait before opening the breech. I was more concerned about it finally igniting while in the open breech than after it was ejected. Still have a couple hundred rounds of that stuff left. I won't shoot it again until I'm out of the good stuff.

 

[wogpotter]

The hangfire was almost certainly poorly stored primers, but the "fireworks show" was probably a different problem, the *gunpowder* used.
I've seen images of freshly pulled down ammo from there with mixed ball & stick powder in the same case! & even worse one lot was filled with the old nitrate film from Bollywoood movies ground up.

When I pulled a couple of the rounds from my hangfire lot whatever had once been powder was a sticky black mess before firing. The common thought was that it used a mysterious, mythical Indian continent ingredient called FUNG instead of cordite or nitrocellulose.