Wow, Ruger blew up!

I'm not even sure why we separate these blow ups by brand. I might be wrong but I don't think there is a handgun on the planet that will survive 22 grains of Bullseye or firing a hot round through an obstructed barrel.

In days past, idiots used to kill themselves off. Now we protect everyone to the point where this natural thinning out of dumb a--es has been prevented. Now we blame the problems on the gun or powder or....................

Flash
 
Alot to be said for those reloaders who refuse to use progressive reloaders and powder measures.35 years of very careful reloading has never failed me.Visual inspection of each charged case is mandatory as constantly looking at the reloading data,right gun, right powder, right weight,right bullet.I have very few guns that have ever seen "factory ammo". I will stick with my ancient methods on a single stage press and keep my guns in one piece.
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For those of us that started and stayed with progressives, it's not all that hard - arrange the lighting so you can peer into the case at the bullet seating station and pay attention to what you're doing.

I seriously doubt single stages lead to greater safety any more than carrying a low capacity firearm magically leads to greater accuracy. Though it is tempting to believe both.

Software, not hardware.
 
Overloaded rounds and shattered guns prove an old point:


Human knowledge and wisdom are very small and limited.
Human stupidity and dumda$$ is unlimited.:rolleyes:
 
IMHO, the only people dumber than those who put together overloads are the fools who claim that this or that gun can't be blown up. With the right (or wrong) type of load, ANY gun will blow and scatter parts. The only reason the pictured Rugers didn't blow half the cylinders and top straps was that the loads weren't hot enough. Rugers are good, well made guns, but there is NO MAGIC, and they blow too, at least sometimes because a fool believed you can't blow up a Ruger and threw in 20 grains more powder.

JIm
 
??????????

Jim, I gotta ask?

These are coming into your shop or something right? Their like,....... not all yours.......
 
"I seriously doubt single stages lead to greater safety any more than carrying a low capacity firearm magically leads to greater accuracy. Though it is tempting to believe both."

With all of the new interest in reloading I have seen numerous "new reloaders" posting on TFL asking the most basic Q's about reloading and have purchased progressive reloaders.It is apparent to me that there is a far greater chance of something going wrong with a new reloader and a progressive press than with a single stage.It just slows down the process and allows a better chance of catching a mistake.I would bet dollars to donuts that more squib or overcharged loads come off a progressive reloader than a single stage.
The wisdom of the TFL staff to post a sticky note to new reloaders in the reloading section acknowledges that there are alot of people going where they should'nt.
Experienced progressive reloaders who understand their P/R's are exempt, you are probably one those guys.
 
It is apparent to me that there is a far greater chance of something going wrong with a new reloader and a progressive press than with a single stage.
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There's far too much going on all at once for someone who doesn't yet know everything they should be looking at, to keep track of.
 
I'd bet it all revolves around what you're used to and whether you're easily distracted.

I wound up getting a single stage for prototyping and there's not much confidence inspiring about a block full of primed cases staring upward with nothing preventing a double charge other than one's attention - at least with an auto indexing progressive a charged case is yanked from under the powder drop - quite unlike my Redding that just lies there.

I don't for one minute doubt that you're seeing what you report in the reloading section. However, the conclusion you and others have drawn may not be a conclusion drawn by all. I spent some small amount of time in the reloading forum and tend to agree that it's a scary place - however, and no offense intended to the contributing members there, but it's also possibly got the worst signal-to-noise ratio of all of TFL. It's a hotbed of brand partisans that make S&W lock partisans look like diplomats at a Sunday ice-cream social.

Either way you're fine if you pay attention.
...and screwed if you don't.

A single stage is no panacea - I would even guess that its plodding production rate leads to some folks rushing the enterprise more than is healthy. Different conclusions: that's why God made horse races.
;)
 
Jim, I gotta ask?

These are coming into your shop or something right? Their like,....... not all yours.......
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No. Not my guns. I've never blown one up. And if I did, by my own fault, I would not post it on the internet for the world to see.

Jim
 
HOLY CRAP!!! must have been one of those idiot hillbilly handloaders that thinks oh I can make my 357 shoot with the power of a 44mag just fill the case all the way up with uniuqe I once overheard someone say those exact words in sportsman's warehouse a few years back yeah I told him to go right on ahead and blow yourself up idiot. I taught myself how to reload and I have been doing it for over 6 years now without a single mishap. God its called reading the book all the way through and listening to all the warnings people. gp 100 factory load YFR when pigs fly oh s@#$ swin flu hahaha
 
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A friend blew the topstrap off a Taurus .44 with PMC ammunition. Taurus replaced the revolver and PMC gave him a whole case of ammo in exchange for what was left of the box he'd been shooting from.

He never heard back from the companies, and it wasn't readily apparent whether the gun had failed or the ammo was out of spec.

I don't blame either manufacturer for acting swiftly to avoid a lawsuit, but it would have been nice to know where the problem was.
 
I don't blame either manufacturer for acting swiftly to avoid a lawsuit, but it would have been nice to know where the problem was.
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When a topstrap is blown off and / or cylinder grenades it is almost certainly from an overloaded round.

Jim
 
Not a kaboom but a disturbing Colt story.They were bringing out the magnum carry and member at our range was testing one for an article.Not one to pass up a free chance to shoot, myself,my wife,and a friend all took turns.I shot six only got two on the paper and noticed that as i opened the cylinder it was binding. I attributed the 2 out of 6 to the front sight being cocked to one side.Wife and friend did worse and as firearm instructors i started questioning their shooting abilities.Couldnt get the cylinder open after the last six,so after looking at it i said i found the problem.I handed it back to the writer,revolver in right hand barrel in left hand.As we were shooting the barrel was unscrewing and you could take it apart by finger pressure.As much as i wanted one i passed on the magnum carry and havent bought a Colt since.
I think my 1909,1917's,and Official Police Positives must have been made in better times.
 
+1 on the pmc ammo

I bought some 44 pmc ammo and it was the wickedest hardest kicking stuff i ever shot, this was before i got into handloading, but i was suspicious since the jacketed hollow points were expanding immensly and the cartidges were sticking
 
Customer brought this one in . He figured Ruger should give him a new one . They did offer to sell him one below wholesale .

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You called for a Colt.
This is a Norwegian Kongsberg Colt 1911 in 45 ACP:





A new barrel and it shoots just fine ;-)
I think a double charge but could be bullet set back, we'll never know.
 
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