me go boom.

I

ipsc1

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Cool, fun match today and gun explodes in hand. Burn mark on trigger finger, small scar on lip, when I got hit in the face I didn't know what had come off the gun, probably was part of case. After we took gun apart and beat the case out of the barrel and a big chunk out from under extractor, gun went back together just fine. Clean and inspect tomorrow and then back to range to test fire. Here are two pictures of remains of case. 147 gr frontier and 3.4 grains titegroup. Brass was range brass, maybe was previously used for 9mm major, or may have been foriegn object lodged in case. Practice ammo, so less care in pre-load inspection.
bcase1.jpg

bcase1a.jpg
 
Any chance it was a double.?

3 of 4 blow ups I've personally witnessed were with Tightgroup. It's dark and very dense...so you hardly see it in the case. Doubling the charge and not noticing is not hard to do.

As it so happens...Mr Clean was also there for one of these blows ups...and had the best line of the day (after he walked up to the owner of the gun...with an outstreteched hand and an innocent look on his face and anounces..."I found some more" :p Then proceed to pour some tiny plastic bits into the owners hand (it was a Glock...and he was a very experienced shooter)

Glad you're OK...
 
I am going to go out here on a limb and say that that was 7.2 grains of tightgroup............

Hint.....I have a similar looking case but in .45 on my loading bench as a momento!
 
This is not acceptable, I think you should fall back and regroup, change your focus, check and sort brass by manu. and possibly by weight, inspect cases. Check out your bullets for dia. and consistancy, primer seating should be a tight fit or throw out the case. If you are using a progressive machine you are going to try to find a way to eliminate any chance of a double charge, what happens if you double or short stroke your press? If you think i'm being a #### that's fine, it's your eyes and face. In over 40 years of reloading and experimenting I have never had this happen and if I did I'd like to think I would follow my own advise.
 
I seen a smaller blow up a guy had on his (i think) xd40, guy was selling ammo out of a 5 gal bucket at a gun show, ended up blowing the frame in half, let me see if I can find the link.



EDIT:

OK it was a USP: thegunzone.com/glock/hk-kb.html
 
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glad everyone was o.k. given the amount of ammo fired (20,000 +) rounds per year, and the safety practices followed by a competent, and experienced reloader, what is the accepted rate of ammo failure. to say zero seems optimistic.
 
40 and titegroup

I just got my progressive press going and I am reloading 40 and I bought 4 lbs of titegroup to start but now I am thinking I would like to switch to another powder so if I double charge I will notice it.

Any suggestions for 40 and 180 grainers?
 
albertacoyotecaller said:
I just got my progressive press going and I am reloading 40 and I bought 4 lbs of titegroup to start but now I am thinking I would like to switch to another powder so if I double charge I will notice it.

Any suggestions for 40 and 180 grainers?
Click to expand...

What are you planning on shooting? i.e. if it is IPSC, Standard or Production? If you are shooting Production I personally used Winchester 231 in my Glock.
 
####, forgot to mention that I was glad you're ok. probably just a double charge somehow, or possibly even a bridged lower charge. they are often worse than double charges.
 
ipsc1, glad you're OK, I remember back a few years my dad had the same thing happen in .45, but parts actually came off the gun, I know you have read it, it seems to happen more with titegroup than other powders. Short stroking, I could really see someone double charging with a 550. I mounted a small flex head light on the side of my press that shines down into the brass and I visually inspect each charge. I bulged a few 9mm cases years ago but I think I was using AA2 at the time which is pretty dense too.
 
IPSC1 load on 1050'ss, he is a very experience reloader and it's probably one of my old 9mm Major case that he found on the range....

Ron unless thing's have change significantly since I move out of NS Ipsc1 doesn't practice that much ;)
 
albertacoyotecaller said:
I just got my progressive press going and I am reloading 40 and I bought 4 lbs of titegroup to start but now I am thinking I would like to switch to another powder so if I double charge I will notice it.

Any suggestions for 40 and 180 grainers?
Click to expand...


Don't change powder, thats a poor excuse for being sloppy. Just pay attention to what your doing. Install a good light on your bench, a reading light works great. That way you can see into each case. When your reloading on a progressive press, you need to develop a routine. Follow the routine, and you'll never have a problem. If you have a good routine for a progressive press you cant double charge i.e. on my 550 I would be trying to seat a bullet on a case that already has a bullet on it, even if I didnt try to seat another bullet the downstroke would feel different since the case had already been sized. I have a different routine for my 1050, I would have to seriously try on purpose to double charge on that press.

ipsc1, glad your OK.
 
Lesson #2. Make sure you use a high quality fully supported chamber. Image if that had been a Glock. Pieces would be everywhere.... (JK. Nothing against glocks)

Could have been anything from a double charge to tumbling media left over in the case causing reduced volume.

Glad you are OK. Checked for hairline fractures and barrel fit and other such stuff on the firearm after I assume?
 
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