Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt Ka-Boom!

A

Al Thompson

Staff Alumnus
Friend of mine just Ka-Boomed a .45. The culprit was a double charged case of HS-6 or 7.

Lesson here is that while Ruger builds strong revolvers, always check your powder level prior to seating the bullet. Frankly, I like bulky powder that fills more than half the case. That makes double charges much eaiser to detect.

No injuries, just wet pants. Top half of the cylinder disappeared, top strap was so bent that you couldn't visually align the sights. Impressive destruction........

Giz
 
Nasty, I'm glad your friend is Ok.

Have any pictures of the ruined Blackhawk you'd like to post/share?
 
How can this be??? I thought only the Drastic Plastic (Glock) KB'd. You mean to tell me other guns can be blown up too! Who'd a thunk it!
 
Probably Glocks on either side of him at the range...just the mere reasonance from such a Glock syzygy could cause otherwise strong guns to fail:D
 
That's why I always recommend 44 Magnum over 45LC for those that want to push their velocities. The cylinder walls of every 45LC I have seen just looks too thin to support a mistake.
 
John, I looked at the gun as he was putting in the box to send to Ruger. I sold it to him 8 or 9 years ago. :eek:

Now that I think about it, wish I had gotten a picture..

Giz
 
One should always take pictures before sending one back to it's parents. Pictures of all parts, edges, fractures etc. There is always the chance that somebody might loose it. Or part of it.

Sam
 
WHEN LOADED CORRECTLY

You (I) can bend ANY gun. Just gotta load right.

(Bent a 44 Redhawk, but Ruger fixed it. Factory ammo, natch. Hahahahahahahaha! BOOM!)
 
Amazingly enough, said friend got a nice letter from Ruger offering to replace the gun. They figured out the cause was a hot loaded (doubled) reload.. :rolleyes:

He turned them down of course........ :eek:

Not. Should get the new one soon...

Giz
 
A friend in NC KaBoomed an SBH several years ago, with some humungous load of BULLSEYE, for pete's sake. No injuries, just a huge reluctance on his part to talk about it. Seems he got the load from another "friend'. He still had another SBH - the pair had been a gift from his wife. I think he still has the wife, last I heard:D
 
Double charging a case does not constitute a KaBoom. It is a simple overload.
 
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Unfortunately, a double charge of HS-6 or HS-7 will "disassemble" just about any revolver. Even a .44 magnum Blackhawk, or Redhawk for that matter.

PreserveFreedom said:

"That's why I always recommend 44 Magnum over 45LC for those that want to push their velocities. The cylinder walls of every 45LC I have seen just looks too thin to support a mistake."

This kind of mistake would have taken the gun out even if the weapon was chambered in .44 magnum...
 
Wow...I always thought that blowing up a Blackhawk was close to impossible. I am about to get my first reloading kit, and I'm already mindful of double charges.
 
First Ruger I saw blown was due to a "triplex" load of three different kinds of powders, something that was getting a lot of space in the gunzines at the time. I don't think anyone knows how many guns that nonsense blew up, but of course the writers didn't pay for any of them. AFAIK, there were no serious injuries.

Jim
 
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