Will this cause a revolver to explode?

[sgt.rock]

I just had a dumbass question, but I am gonna be taking possession of a centerfire revolver in about a months time.
Anyhow, I talked to my cousin who own's a .357 revolver, and he told me about a hangfire he had yesterday. He heard a PFFFF when he pulled the trigger, then about 2 seconds later the round went off.
NOW the question, IF this happened before the last round, and you were "rapid firing 6 rounds" , if you advance the next round before you can stop yourself, would a round going off out of sync with the barrel (I.E. the cylinder rotating one position then the hangfire round going off) would this cause extreme danger/damage. I assume it would, but I never thought about the possibility of this until he mentioned his hangfire. It was the last round of 6 so I guess that was lucky.

 

[richardoldfield]

Handguns are easy/fun to shoot fast so reacting quickly to a squib load is difficult. In my case I split the barrel on my TZ75; TZ75 semiautomatic pistols are very strong but I still feel lucky. Regards, Richard

 

[colinjw]

When you get the revolver, have a look at where that cylinder would be when the bullets decides to come out. It will hit part of the front frame and who knows what may happen. A lot depends on if they are hot loads or not.

At minimum you will have lead going in different directions. Sideways, backwards and upwards.
I assume that you always wear safety glasses when you shoot.

 

[eclam]

Hangfire are really rare with modern ammo. I haven't ever experienced
one, but I can tell you about squibs.

Often, a squib load will dislodge the bullet part way into the forcing
cone of the revolver. The remaining back of the bullet will jam the
cylinder from rotating which will prevent the firing of the subsequent
live round.

You can try the experiment yourself. Load a squib and fire it
from your revolver. Make sure, as always, to have a brass rod and
hammer to dislodge the stuck projectile. This exercise also
teaches you the sound and feel of squib, making detection quicker.

With a bull barrel revolver and lead target loads, I have seen the
gun survive with a round fired into a plugged barrel. The barrel
was subsequently drilled out to remove the 2 logged projectiles.

I don't think a normal barrel with +P or magnum ammo would
survive this kind of mishap.

I have experimented with loads which are so under powered that
they just barely leave the barrel. Some times the bullet gets
80% out of the muzzel, but back portion is still stuck in the
barrel. Be mindful and check blockage if you are even the
slightest bit suspicious.

Live to shoot that gun again on another day.

There was a series of pictures which showed the aftermath
of a Colt Python (.44spl) with the cylinder blown in 3 parts
and top strap peeled back. There was an ignition into a
plugged barrel, follow by an ignition in the adjacent cylinder
which hit the crane and cause enough pressure to blow part
of the cylinder off the gun.

 

[PeteL]

Most, if not all modern revolvers have a weak point built into the frame at the top of the frame front of the cylinder so in the case of an out-of-sync firing the frame will split(with the barrel/front end), flying down and forward to minimize harm to the shooter.

 

[joe-nwt]

Most, if not all modern revolvers have a weak point built into the frame at the top of the frame front of the cylinder so in the case of an out-of-sync firing the frame will split(with the barrel/front end), flying down and forward to minimize harm to the shooter.

Do you have a link to this info? Thanks.

 

[capp325]

I just had a dumbass question, but I am gonna be taking possession of a centerfire revolver in about a months time.
Anyhow, I talked to my cousin who own's a .357 revolver, and he told me about a hangfire he had yesterday. He heard a PFFFF when he pulled the trigger, then about 2 seconds later the round went off.
NOW the question, IF this happened before the last round, and you were "rapid firing 6 rounds" , if you advance the next round before you can stop yourself, would a round going off out of sync with the barrel (I.E. the cylinder rotating one position then the hangfire round going off) would this cause extreme danger/damage. I assume it would, but I never thought about the possibility of this until he mentioned his hangfire. It was the last round of 6 so I guess that was lucky.

If the chamber with the squib is in the 6 or 12 o'clock position, the gun will get mangled, possibly along with your hand.