Hangfires

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Risky

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I just saw in another thread someone stated with some affirmation that, "hangfires can and do happen." But do they really? With modern ammunition and primer composition, is it really worth worrying about an ejected failure-to-fire round becoming a hangfire and detonating out of battery? I've never encountered one... nor have I every heard of any first hand accounts of one. It just seems like advising someone that encounters a FTF on the range to wait 30 seconds with the gun pointed down range is just plain out-dated procedure.
 
I had a ten and a fifteen second hang fire with .30-06 reloads with ball powder. They do happen and I almost caught a facefull of hot brass because the rounds discharged right before I was going to open the chamber.

I no longer use that combination of components. Win 748 and Win LR primers.

They are real and they happen.

J.
 
Not modern ammunition, but my friend was with me shooting his .303 enfield with some surplus ammunition, cartridges must've been a bit compromised though, because for a few rounds you'd pull the trigger, hear a click, and have a noticeable gap between the click and the sudden boom.

(Needless to say, we stopped shooting those after the 2nd or 3rd cartridge that did that, and pulled the bullets, turned out to be cordite packed shells too.)

So yes, they DO happen. All it takes is a compromised casing, maybe a poor primer, REALLY badly stored shells, badly seated bullet...any number of things. And if you really think modern manufacturing is all that, well...you must be living a really comfortable life since you must never have had to replace a fuse, or have work done on your car or computer...nor ever had anything you've bought had to be returned for warranty due to a defect in it's manufacturing...

Crap happens, mass production leads to mistakes and flaws, and safety procedures in case those flaws happen are never outdated.
 
I dont hear about very many sealed round hang fires, muzzleloading ones all the time!
 
My gun shop back in the day, sold reloads out of a jar. I was a youngster and just starting out. I only bought six rounds, probably all I could afford. Four rounds fired ok. Two of them, the hammer dropped, nothing. Then, a "sizzle." Then the round went off.

I have no idea what components were used or how old the reloads were.
 
Not modern ammunition, but my friend was with me shooting his .303 enfield with some surplus ammunition, cartridges must've been a bit compromised though, because for a few rounds you'd pull the trigger, hear a click, and have a noticeable gap between the click and the sudden boom.

Same here, Sportsman's Guide sold 1942 headstamped .303 that did this about 1 in every 6 shots.
 
I have encountered hangfires with some of my handloaded rifle ammo. Only a couple with large bottle neck cases and minimum powder charges. I don't do that anymore more and have not repeated the hangfires. With that said mistakes can happen while loading ammo. Even the big commercial ammo makers have mistakes. When a round don't go bang its always a good idea to wait before ejecting it.

KeithET
 
With .303 Mark VII ammo (cordite), it's pretty common, and then often only a fraction of a second, which seems like a long time after pulling the trigger expecting an instantaneous BANG. With modern components, I have to wonder, regarding multiple second hangs, the possibility of gummed up firing pins and the like. Even so, I'm a believer in the usual rules - keep aimed down range, give it some time, and keeping ones face away, when you decide to open the action, assuming you felt a 'click' when you pulled the trigger in the first place. An exposed striker should also be noted as to whether if it remained in the cocked or fired position.
 
I had some 8mm surplus that was only consistent in one way. Hangfires, sometimes half a second sometimes 20, but the whole 400 or so rounds were hangfires. I cannot remember their country of orgin.
 
I have had one almost 30 second hangfire in some Federal 9mm. I counted out the 30 went to clear it and right as I put my hand on the slide of my XD it went off and the top of the slide coming back in combination of the hot gas took the very tip of my pinky off and burned my ring finger...
 
I had several in one day while hunting pronghorns years ago (cost me a really nice buck too). It happened with my reloads and two brands of factory loads.

The rifle was a 1903 Springfield I built with my gunsmith, in 25-06. Turned out that the wood on the stock swelled just enough in the heat to catch the cocking knob and hold it for a second or two.
 
Not modern ammunition, but my friend was with me shooting his .303 enfield with some surplus ammunition, cartridges must've been a bit compromised though, because for a few rounds you'd pull the trigger, hear a click, and have a noticeable gap between the click and the sudden boom.

(Needless to say, we stopped shooting those after the 2nd or 3rd cartridge that did that, and pulled the bullets, turned out to be cordite packed shells too.)

So yes, they DO happen. All it takes is a compromised casing, maybe a poor primer, REALLY badly stored shells, badly seated bullet...any number of things. And if you really think modern manufacturing is all that, well...you must be living a really comfortable life since you must never have had to replace a fuse, or have work done on your car or computer...nor ever had anything you've bought had to be returned for warranty due to a defect in it's manufacturing...

Crap happens, mass production leads to mistakes and flaws, and safety procedures in case those flaws happen are never outdated.
I don't come to THR to be berated over anyone's perception of my circumstances for asking a legitimate question. It was my understanding that hangfires were mostly something antiquated from the days of cordite charges and mercuric primers. I was looking for firsthand accounts to the contrary... and I got them... I'll never understand how seeking opinions and anecdotes on a web forum always draws out those folks with chips on their shoulders that want to talk down to people. I guess it's the nature of anonymous internet.
 
I think that the moderators are asleep, like sensible folks. That was a little harsh, and unnecessary on his part.

I have had a time of hang fires in various muzzleloaders. I've run across a lot of dead rounds that just never went off from perfectly reputable manufacturing companies. I want to say that I have had some hang fire issues, but all of the thousands of rounds down range and duds kind of run together. That, and friends not remembering how to take the safeties off their weird European surplus guns.
 
Several years ago my son was shooting a 22 LR. He pulled the trigger and nothing happen. He turn and looked at me and at that point the gun went off. This is the only hang fire I have ever had or seen.
 
Risky said:
I don't come to THR to be berated over anyone's perception of my circumstances for asking a legitimate question. It was my understanding that hangfires were mostly something antiquated from the days of cordite charges and mercuric primers. I was looking for firsthand accounts to the contrary... and I got them... I'll never understand how seeking opinions and anecdotes on a web forum always draws out those folks with chips on their shoulders that want to talk down to people. I guess it's the nature of anonymous internet.

I'm assuming you were referring to the third paragraph? Well, I apologize, it was actually meant as a bit of humorous sarcasm by pointing out the massive amount of examples of modern manufacturing that still lead to flawed parts. Combined with the internet not transferring that well (I have to remember most people AREN'T familiar to how I talk and the types of tones I use) and the fact I work third and had just gotten home from a long night, I can definitely see how that could come off wrong.

Like I said though, wasn't meant to be antagonistic, and I'm sorry that that's how it came off, trust me, no chip on these shoulders! (At least not with you)
 
I've never had nor witnessed a hangfire.

That being said, gun safety is a gravely serious matter. I can afford to wait 30 seconds.
 
Yes, they do happen. I witnessed one a couple of years ago with a fresh, factory loaded shotgun shell. Delay of about 2 seconds.
 
I have pulling triggers since I was 5. Hundreds of ranges literally as I put myself through college shooting small bore and 25 years as an Army officer.

I have seen M16 hang fires ranging from 1/2 second to 10 plus seconds. That was during my basic training days as an XO.

I have personally had 30-06 hang fires from 1950s surplus and from 1940s surplus.

We had a bad lot of competition 22LR ammo that produced hang fires typically 1 to 3 seconds. Eley replaced plus provided a bunch of free samples!

one 45ACP hang fire.

Modern components or old components. My strong recommendation is to wait the 30 seconds. When you do clear turn it down away from your face and away from you body.
 
I ordered 400 rounds of Iranian 8mm in February, and just finished the rifle. every single round I tried yesterday(about 20) FTF. My Remington ammo worked fine(In fact a very impressive group....) .I'm not going to bad mouth the outfit I ordered from, they are replacing it with absolutely no hassles.
I did disassemble 20 rounds,and tried to fire the primers , 2 out of 20 went bang,12, "fizzle", the rest nothing at all.
This is 1950's Iranian surplus,198 gr.,Berdan primed,brass case,according to their web site. I did ask if i was just going to receive 400 more defective rounds, and they replied "no, we will check them before shipping".
FTF and hangfires are not how i like to spend my day at the range! Loose packed surplus, what do you think the chances are I'll get decent ammo back?...............:banghead:
 
I've often wondered if a revolver were to have a hangfire, cylinder rotates and fires the next round then the hangfire goes off after the cylinder has rotated a position or two. Seems like it wouldn't be a pleasant experience!
 
I have had it happen with 300 win mag reloads. I know everyone says start at the bottom of the charge weight and work up , but in my experience with loading that round its better to start in the middle and work up if not closer to the max charge. They are a little unnerving to say the least.
 
I have a large lot of Wolf small rifle mag primers that like to "hangfire" and FTF. The hangfires that I experience produces like a micro second delay. I definitely know when it happens and target results show. So yes, hangfires are possible.
 
Failure to Fire

I bought a new GP-100 a couple of years ago and I have had an occasional FTF in my reloaded ammo with CCI Small Pistol primers. I have never had any such problems before with any of my other firearms. I wonder if I need a new hammer spring or if I got some hard or deficient primers.

I don't know that you can adjust the hammer fall on the GP-100 like you can some of the old revolvers. Oh well, I'll figure it out some day.
 
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