Is this a hangfire?

Machineguntony

New member
A few hours ago, I bought a G43 and immediately took it to the range. I decided to make a video of the G43 so that I could write a small review.

First shot resulted in what I think was a hangfire. Is this a hangfire? What caused it? I'm thinking either I was overzealous in my case lube application, and it clumped the powder, or a piece of tumbling media blocked the primer hole.

https://vimeo.com/125530742
 
Definitely seems to be a slight delay or 'hang' from what I can tell.

Curious, why are you using case lube for handgun cases? Did you get any inside?
 
12,000+ posts. Holy Moly. Are you the most senior member on this site, Chris? Congrats.

I use lube on my pistol brass because it makes the reloading super smooth and easy. I have a huge supply of 99% alcohol and a bigger supply of liquid lanolin, so I have about enough line to last 100+ years. I've never had a problem with the lube, and I've shot about 100,000 rounds of 9mm without a problem. Im not saying it's the lube that caused this. It could have been anything. I don't know.
 
It's really difficult to see anything prior to the discharge, other than the barrel dipping.

And, since there are other shooters on the line, I can't really pick the striker fall up in the noise, either.

Click
...
...
...
Boom!?


Here's a video of a fairly common hangfire: 8x57 surplus in a Yugo Mauser.
3rd shot has a very slight hang.
4th and 5th are quite obvious. (And about 1,000 times more obvious if you're the actual shooter.)
 
Hang-Fire

My SWAG on this, is that it is definitely a hang-fire. There are a number of reasons that might have caused it but for the most part, who know ??? Did it continue to happen on any following rounds?? I'm guessing that it cleared up after this initial round. .... :confused:

Be Safe !!!
 
What powder and primer did you use? Are your cases almost full with the powder? Seating depth of the primer ok? I assume loaded progressively. How do you like the 43 so far? I'll get one unless it turns out to have the 42 issues.
 
A few hours ago, I bought a G43 and immediately took it to the range.

First shot resulted in what I think was a hangfire. Is this a hangfire? What caused it? I'm thinking either I was overzealous in my case lube application, and it clumped the powder, or a piece of tumbling media blocked the primer hole.

I'm thinking either I was overzealous

You did all that in a few hours? I believe you were in too big of a hurry from the start. hang fire starts with a click then a bank. You had two bangs, sounded to me like bad timing.

Reminds me of Amos and Andy when Catfish was told to get the whoa in front of the bang.

F. Guffey
 
$5Cdn says these guys have no idea who Amos and Andy were. snicker.
A hang fire is when you pull the trigger and nothing happens for a few seconds. Then the firearm goes BANG!
Your pistol locked open. Possibly due to a squib load. That is not a hang fire.
"...immediately took it to the range..." You at least clean it first? ALL new firearms require cleaning before shooting. They come with rust preventatives in and on 'em.
 
Could be several things. If the first sound was the primer going bang, then the barrel bobbed down and then the gun fired, that could have been a hangfire.
Or it could have been a reaction to a shot from an adjacent shooter, OP bobbing the pistol then firing the shot. What bothers me is in the relative few hangfires I have experienced, it usually a click/bang although there was one that took about 15 seconds before the gun fired. That was on a rifle IIRC. I never heard the primer make a loud bang.
Paul B.
 
Install primers, seat bullets, no powder. Chamber cases and pull the trigger, no bang, just a click. If the question ever comes up about 'the most powerful primers' use different primers.

The reason for using different primers is to determine which primer drives the bullet further into the forcing cone.

Again, a reloader wanted me to check 5 fail to fire cases. They had been struck 5 different times with 3 different rifle. (long story). I removed the primers and reinstalled them then chambered the cases with the primers in one of my killer firing pined rifles, all 5 primers fired.

It was magic, the 5 failed to fire 30/06 cases did not shorten when hit with the firing pins of 3 other rifles and the case die not shorten when hit with my killer firing pin. In my opinion the case should have shortened between the shoulder and case head for a different reason.

I checked the cases with store bought gages and home made gages and chambers that came with barrels. But? things like that do not drive me to the curb.

F. Guffey
 
I can't tell. The first bang sounds exactly like the third bang from an adjacent firing point. I can't see the trigger finger or anything else move. The only person who would know was the OP who would have felt the striker fall, followed by the bang.

The gun dropping looks like typical heeling, where the hand tries to fight recoil by pushing the gun down. It tends to start just before the shot goes off, causing low impacts. The target certainly has those strung vertically, which is the result heeling causes, so it's probably something the OP would benefit from working on eliminating by focusing on follow-through. But whether it got going mostly before or after trigger press in this case, without seeing the trigger finger, I can't tell.

If the gun was new and never stripped and cleaned, old lube certainly could cause a light primer strike which certainly could lead to a hang fire. It's not high probability, but it's within the realm of the possible. The fact the shot fired and ejected normally suggests the powder was working OK. Contaminated powder usually produces a weak shot, but I suppose it's also not beyond the realm of possibility for a minority contaminated portion that happens to be over the flash hole to delay ignition of the rest. Again, just not very likely.

I would tumble cases in dry corncob (or in a solvent I allowed to dry off completely) after sizing and before continuing the loading process if I were lubing the cases inside and out.
 
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Oh wow, I suck. I didn't even notice the dipping of the pistol. I need to work on my pistol shooting. Last year, I shot around 100,000 rounds, of which maybe 1000 was pistol.

The was a very noticeable delay in the initial bang, followed by a second bigger bang. The first bang was strange in that it felt like a primer "bang", but just a little bigger. The second bang felt weaker than a normal discharge. It's like the powder charge decided to discharge in two stages.

I bought this gun at the range, and then immediately, upon buying it, sprayed it down with gun oil, and then shot it right away with ammo that I brought with me to the range. I did not strip it down and clean it. I just added oil. My 9mm loads are all the same, SMG or pistol. I just use them interchangeably.

The shot I captured was the third or fourth shot from this gun. The first few shots went off without a hitch.

I'll be working on my pistol shooting.
 
A few hours ago, I bought a G43 and immediately took it to the range.

You purchased the pistol and then took it to the range and then you purchased it at the range?

I bought this gun at the range, and then immediately

I have been around failure to fire ammo, it is click first and then bang.

F. Guffey
 
The range has a gun sales department. I purchased the G43 at the gun sales department. Then I took it to their range, and immediately shot it.
 
Amos, Andy , the Kingfish and Calhoon......some of us remember!
I guess that show is so politically incorrect now I would be run out of town for remembering it and smiling.
 
Whoa in front of the bang and bad timing. A case with primer and bullet and no powder does not make a bang. Then there is the millisecond thing. By the time the first bang goes silent the bullet is gone. There is no explanation for the second bang unless we have synchronized shooters. And that is the reason I said "bad timing".

F. Guffey

On the radio there was an attempt at parking a cab between two autos, seems Kingfish could not get the 'whoa in front of the bang'.

F. Guffey
 
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