I had a .40 Kaboom

C

Casper

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Essex County, ON
Shooting my Jericho 941 in .40 the other night, then bang, didn't sound any different. But blew the mag out the bottom into 5 pieces, blew the slide release out the side.(yes these were reloads) I got a few pieces of brass shrapnel in the face, one piece actually imbedded in the lens of my safety glasses and a cut on my hand.
after stripping and inspecting, the gun is fine and the mag snapped all back together, after a search for all the pieces.
So all is fine.
But would like to know what was the cause of this ?
I'm sure it wasn't a over charge, I load with a progressive press. (and i'm not new to reloading)
Not even a heavily charged load 185 gr jacketed bullet, 4 gr of wst.
Looking at the case, it looks as if it fired not fully in the chamber ?



 
I saw a similar thing happen with a double powder charge in a reload. That area just tends to be where failures in the brass happen under extreme pressure. My guess would just be a double charge in your reloads. These things happen. Glad your alright. This is why glasses are important.
 
Casper said:
Shooting my Jericho 941 in .40 the other night, then bang, didn't sound any different. But blew the mag out the bottom into 5 pieces, blew the slide release out the side.(yes these were reloads) I got a few pieces of brass shrapnel in the face, one piece actually imbedded in the lens of my safety glasses and a cut on my hand.
after stripping and inspecting, the gun is fine and the mag snapped all back together, after a search for all the pieces.
So all is fine.
But would like to know what was the cause of this ?
I'm sure it wasn't a over charge, I load with a progressive press. (and i'm not new to reloading)
Not even a heavily charged load 185 gr jacketed bullet, 4 gr of wst.
Looking at the case, it looks as if it fired not fully in the chamber ?
Click to expand...

You're lucky it was a Jericho, if was a polymer gun (glock) you'd be out $800 for a new gun.
 
Yikes. Glad to hear you weren't seriously injured. Does WST meter well in your powder thrower? Then again, the worst you'd get would a hot load not a double charge me thinks.
 
Casing most likely reloaded a few times and the bulge side was facing down for a few firings.
Another possibility is that you had a bullet (undersized bullet)get pushed into the case during the feed cycle which could cause a pressure spike so the brass let go at the unsupported side.
What component bullets were you using?
 
09outlander said:
You're lucky it was a Jericho, if was a polymer gun (glock) you'd be out $800 for a new gun.
Click to expand...

while mine wasn't a double charge, it blew out the same way and shot the mag out of my glock, i shot it 15 minutes later!
i was new to reloading and went from w231 to tightgroup with i believe the same powder charge, i had to pull 99 rounds.

IMG_20110625_130237_zps0a9f8e7d.jpg



as to the OP, if it wasn't a double charge, i could see it being an out of battery like antoine suggested. assuming the jericho can fire out of battery.
 
Looks like a double charge. It could also be an out of battery ignition, an over-stressed case per Mrclean's comment above, or it could be bullet set-back due to improper crimp. Also, your chamber may not really be fully supported, and a weak piece of brass together with a high pressure load and you have a perfect storm of conditions for this. Does your brass normally show a bulge after firing?
 
To answer a few questions, there is no primer bulge, the bullet fired and the case was ejected. this case is bulged all the way around the bottom about 1/8".
The case blew out at the feed ramp, if I put the case in the chamber it sticks out a good 1/8" more than it should (because of the bulge) I will try to get pics of this tomorrow. I don't think it was all the way in the chamber when it fired, and possibly brass that was loaded 3 or 4 times (how many times can I safely reload .40 brass) I usually load them till I notice bulges or small cracks, then pitch them.
I'm glad this was a steel gun.

P.S.
I just picked a small piece of brass out of my face.
 
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To many unknowns to state a reason...
-Where was your brass from (range brass from a Glock)?
-Was there a bulge prior to firing it?
-How supported is a 941 chamber?
-What type of progressive are you using?
-How crimped are your bullets? With 4 grains there's a lot of room for set back...


I'm leaning towards a few of the above working together; possibly a few I haven't thought of.
 
I'd bet you accidently picked up a "glock case" at the range and it may have "head spaced " off the bulge then blew out violently ...

The Jericho uses a fully supported chamber right?

On a side note, that nickle plated brass is awful, any I have had splits after 2 loads
 
WestIslandRifle said:
Well it's good you where wearing your safety glasses I've seen lots of people who refuse to wear any form of eye protection at the range
Glad your okay and your gun too
Click to expand...

People who refuse to wear eye protection are just really really stupid. If you get caught at our range not wearing eye protection you go home. If you get caught twice you probably stay home for some time.

Glad you weren't hurt.

Graydog
 
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