Super BlackHawk Failed - Opinion/Advice?

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MrMopar

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I blew up my Super BlackHawk - Opinion/Advice?

My son was shooting my Super Blackhawk in .44 mag this weekend. Two shots fired fine. Third was very loud, my son said he felt a pressure wave across his face.

Result was the cylinder split and the top strap bent.

I do reload and I am cautious. But, I could have made a mistake.

I need an opinion, is this:
1. Case failure?
2. Hot reload?
3. Cylinder failed on gun?
4. Something else I do not know about?

I included a shot of the case. It is split neck down on each side directly opposite each other.
 

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I do reload and I am cautious. But, I could have made a mistake.
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I reload and I can not afford to make a mistake. Hornady accused me of making too many mistakes they claimed their cam lock bullet puller could not stand up the work load. I went to visit them.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=341348

Nothing like making an excuse, I load on progressive and single stage presses. I do not get into mortal combat with reloading. I will take the time to weight components then total the weight. After loading I weight the loaded ammo and compare the weight with the weight of the components.

Not knowing what is going to happen when I pull the trigger is not exciting.

F. Guffey
 
I would rule out 1&3, even though I don't know what your reloading recipe was I would have to go with 2&4.

The cause appears to be from severe over pressure but that does not necessarily translate to an over charged round.
 
Almost 50 years of reloading, range officer, and sponsored shooter: my opinion is double charged load, and I'd suspect they were pretty hot to begin with. If you're loading on a progressive, use a powder that will fill the case over half full. If on a single stage or turret, check each cartridge before seating bullet.
 
Hmmmmmmmmm - Over changed load.
I have been abusing Ruger 44 mag firearms for years and have pushed well past the safe limit of loading with 2400 and IMR 4227 powders and never blown a Ruger up. A S&W model 29 yes, twice but not a Ruger SBH or RH.
If just the cyl was split I would say a defect to the cyl but the top strap tells the tell.
You may not have had a double charge but had a very hot charge that was compressed and that can be a very bad thing.
 
I appreciate the responses. I am on a firewall so I can only respond certain times.

1. I weigh all my magnum loads after they are complete.
2. I must have missed one.
3. Yes, I did indeed thank God for Bill Ruger. My son was shooting. I could not have handled the guilt.
4. All loads are now being gone through again.

What I usually load is 9 grains Titegroup behind a 240 grain bullet. I need to check which bullet. I do not know off top of my head if we were shooting jacketed or lead. Titegroup can be double charged.
 
One of the drawbacks of reloading is your pals who don't reload wanting you to do it for them.
If you have friends like that, just show them the picture.
That oughta' cure the problem.
 
Hmmmmmmmmm - Over changed load.
I have been abusing Ruger 44 mag firearms for years and have pushed well past the safe limit of loading with 2400 and IMR 4227 powders and never blown a Ruger up.
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Can you fit a double charge of either into a 44mag case ( I don't know if you can or not)? Your comment about pushing "well past the safe limit" says a lot . If it's no longer safe, it's not safe or smart to do it.
 
MrMopar, glad your son is OK!! Lessons the hard way are not forgotten. I don't think you are not smart, on the contrary, I think you are smarter!!

NoSecondBest, just think, if that dummy Elmer Keith hadn't pushed the limits with the special, we wouldn't have the great .44 mag. Thanks Mr. Keith.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
 
NoSecondBest, just think, if that dummy Elmer Keith hadn't pushed the limits with the special, we wouldn't have the great .44 mag. Thanks Mr. Keith.
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I don't disagree with the Elmer Keith comment but you have to know when to quit. We have a lot of data now days Elmer didn't have. Hopefully we've learned from both Elmer and the manufacturers of the loading manuals available today that Elmer didn't have. We've come a long way since then and it would be foolish to not learn from it.
 
What I usually load is 9 grains Titegroup behind a 240 grain bullet. I need to check which bullet. I do not know off top of my head if we were shooting jacketed or lead. Titegroup can be double charged.
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3X that amount of Titegroup can fit in a .44 mag case.
 
OK, weighed the last 25 loads I had complete. 23.3 to 23.7 GRAMs. That ain't right.

So I took apart the 6 of them that were over 23.5 grams.

The cases do not weigh the same. They vary by .5 GRAMS. WTH. I have 4 different case manufacturers.

Checked powder weight on 2. One was 13 GRAINS. One was 6 GRAINS.

I guess I need to group cases by manufacturer, weigh each charge and figure out WTH is going on.

Hornady LNL. Maybe powder is not dropping correctly. I am now going to disassemble the other 20 or so cartridges and weigh the powder. Strange stuff happening.

What am I not seeing. I have been reloading for three years. .38, .45 colt, .357mag, 44 mag and now 454 Casull. Never a problem. Til now.

A bit discouraged. Thought I was very careful. I guess I have to weigh each powder drop? Why have a progressive?
 
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