Blowing Up Guns

I forgot my bushnell,laser bore sight was still in the end of the barrel.
Fired a round and didn't even notice,until I was packing up.

No bore sighter to be found anywhere,and my SU 16 had a split in the flashhider and also the muzzle end of the barrel ,had a small crack as well
 
About ten years ago I was going to use up some old factory 45 Colt in my 7.5 inch SAA. The very first round was a squib which I didn't notice quickly enough as I only ever shot heavy handloads. I was already shooting the second round while the thought was forming that the first one was too light. The barrel split along both sides of the front sight groove , sending the front sight past my ear. My gun is now a 5.5 inch model with a more modern ramp sight. Live and learn.
 
big boar said:
Wish I could remember the source but it was about trying to blow up one of the Japanese Arisaka WW2 rifles. It took MANY attempts and if I remember, it was near impossible with severe overloads, to blow the thing apart.
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Ackley failed.
 
As long as we're back on the topic, I took this pic at a friend's house. He's a gun smith, and had just installed this .308 barrel (not in this condition, obviously! ) for a customer. I'm told that the owner left a bore sight device in the muzzle when he fired the first shot. The pic speaks to the results.
YGCrgG6.jpg
 
In an old Speer reloading manual I remember seeing a Dan Wesson revolver with either 9 or 13 .357 bullets lodged in the barrel one after the other after a squib blocked it and the rest were fired full power behind it.No damage to the gun!
 
I was offered a S&W M10 the other day to try. I shot 6 shots that seemed to be loud, but there was little recoil. No hits were noted on the 20 yards target.

The owner then carried on, but after a shot or two, the cylinder would not open. The last (of many) bullet was stuck in the barrel and protruding into the cylinder.

The barrel was plugged with many bullets. He was able to drill out the center of them all and then dissolve the jackets with ammonia. No real damage to the barrel.
 
Ganderite

Did you ever shoot some old click.................................................................bang Pakistani .303 British ammo?

The mad minute shooter below opened his Enfield bolt after the click but not before the "bang".

53ye2jY.jpg
 
Two for me. .303 with home loads. One with no powder (I was 15 years old) followed by one with a normal load; assuming a miss-fire on the the first, but not looking at it. Blew the rifle in to two pieces; front half and back half held together by the scope. I still suffer from the hearing damage.

The second was an Ithaca 37; got snow in the barrel. blew the first 4 " almost off.
 
Meroh said:
Two for me. .303 with home loads. One with no powder (I was 15 years old) followed by one with a normal load; assuming a miss-fire on the the first, but not looking at it. Blew the rifle in to two pieces; front half and back half held together by the scope. I still suffer from the hearing damage.

The second was an Ithaca 37; got snow in the barrel. blew the first 4 " almost off.
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I did some tests at one time to see how guns responded to barrel obstructions. This is 60 years ago and I don't have that notebook. But I recall that a patch in the barrel is a big problem if it is more than half way down the barrel, but if it is near the chamber, nothing might happen.

So shooting with a bore sighter in the muzzle is bad, but shooting with a cleaning rod in the barrel might be ok. (But I have seen this split a barrel, too.)
 
It sure sounds like you had an interesting job back in the day. Thats the best way to learn about what really happens in different scenarios.
 
The only thing that I saw that up blowed right up was a Taurus 38 special. The cylinder detached, the backstrap folded back and the revolver went flying through the air with the greatest of ease while the new owner stumbled backward, luckily with very slight injuries. He had just acquired that firearm that day. Consensus was that he put a 357 load into it which he denied.
 
Ganderite said:
My boss used to lecture me on the difference between what I believed and what I knew.

We only knew what we had done and could repeat at will.

That was before the Internet.
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And if you did not write it down it didn't happen was a saying I learned from my guy.. good lessons for life
 
I would say I learned two important life lessons while working in ammo R & D.

1. Murphy's Law is for real.

2. Don't accept other people's beliefs as fact. Facts are things you have seen and measured.
 
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