Almost a KABOOM! Beware!

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

strange246

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2005
Messages
124
Location
Merrimack, NH
Was at the range today with my wife and son having a blast, my wife was shooting my 1911 and came over saying it was jammed up, the slide was about 1/4" from seated, removed the mag, ejected the live round and looked in the chamber, and saw something that made my stomach sink, the back end of a .45acp slug just into the rifling of the barrel! Ammo was 230gr Tula steel case, which I normally avoid but due to limited selection of ammo and a bad leg from a motorcycle accident making it difficult for me to chase brass to reload, I figured I'd give it a shot, here's a couple pics...I'm just glad it didn't make it far enough down the barrel to allow the next round to chamber and fire, things could have gotten ugly QUICKLY
1452244_10201050388521256_2123841217_n.jpg


1017502_10201050389321276_1397087905_n.jpg
 
Both, thankfully she knew enough to stop and ask...She said it barely made a pop and then the slide was back 1/4" and stuck
 
I got it out with a hammer and a brass punch...I don't think I'll be buying more Tula, and I'll very cautiously shoot the rest that I have, but realistically I've heard of squibs with Winchester etc...
 
I have shot thousands of rounds of Tula ammo in just about every firearm I own though I don't recall having any in .45. I have never had any problem with any of it as far as I can recall. 380 and 9mm in the Brassmax for sure as well as at least three rifle cartridges. I shot a box of 9mm today and three boxes of 7.62x39 in an SKS.

I'm glad nobody was hurt.
 
strange246 said:
Both, thankfully she knew enough to stop and ask...She said it barely made a pop and then the slide was back 1/4" and stuck
Click to expand...

That is what I would worry about the most with an inexperienced shooter.

Most responsible people once given a thorough safety briefing will be pretty safe with handling practices. Telling about squib loads and to be mindful of light recoil and barely audible report should be part of that safety training.
 
HOOfan 1, she's got plenty of experience, owns a couple of her own guns and shoots regularly, and when something's amiss she knows to stop everything and see why, and she'd rather hand it off to me to investigate..
 
It wouldn't have blown up.

Nothing would have happened beyond a light hiss as the gas escaped around the breech. If the second bullet had traveled an inch before impacting the first one, the barrel would have bulged and locked the gun up...but that's about it.

With both bullets touching, it may have damaged the barrel...or not...but a catastrophic unwrapping of the gun wouldn't have happened.
 
I had that happen to me once with a 7.62x39 round from wolf, it can be nerve racking. I am glad no one was hurt.
 
I had that happen with some 357 mag pmc brass awhile back, I'm glad I knew what it was when I pulled the trigger because if I didn't the next round would have fired just fine.
 
I've probably shot 500 rounds of Tula 45 this year, of course most all of it was 2 or 3 years old. I think I'm down to 2 boxes now, I'll keep an eye out...
 
Did you back it out toward the chamber, or did you tap it all the way through the barrel out the end of the muzzle ?
 
C0untZer0 said:
Did you back it out toward the chamber, or did you tap it all the way through the barrel out the end of the muzzle ?
Click to expand...
Pushing it through to the muzzle is just inviting disaster IMO. I have pushed out several squibs with no problems and all were pushed back from where they started.
 
If you're using a revolver, it's back-from-whence-it-came. Done it twice so far, no ill effects.

I'm not sure if I understand WHY you can't push it back down towards the breech...so long as you're using a dowel that fills most of the barrel made from a material that won't gather contaminants to scratch the crown or rifling.

Granted, if I'm using a semi that allows me to push from the breech end, I'll just do it that way...but until I find that semi... :p
 
Honestly, I go the shortest distance I can, either forward or backwards just because the more time spent tapping (or hammering) is the more time to bugger something I'd rather not bugger. Saying that, it'd be tempting to go ahead and tap it on out to the end if nothing else to measure the actual bore dimensions from the slug.
 
OilyPablo said:
Please explain why this would be such a hard rule.

Of course possible muzzle damage would be a reason. What else?
Click to expand...
Pushing bullet out from chamber end makes no sense when it's lodged just ahead of it. I had shotgun patches stuck in barrels few times and it was much easier to push out in direction of shortest distance to travel with application of oil or lubricant of course. Muzzle
damage should be easy to avid using common sense techniques.
 
Glad no real harm was done ,I have used several caliber's of Tula with no real issues ,but I have found that the .45 doesn't feed as well in my Sig 1911 im sure it was just the round ...the two times it happened seemed to be a case issue.
 
but realistically I've heard of squibs with Winchester etc...
Click to expand...

It happens, rare, but it happens. That is why you need to be alert for any abnormal report or "light" recoil.

Of course possible muzzle damage would be a reason.
Click to expand...
That is why you use a brass rod. I can't imagine a good reason to go the "long way" If its almost at the muzzle (the kind that usually cause KaBooms as the next round might chamber) pound it out from the back.
 
Saw something similar at a match a couple of weeks ago, though the ammo being used was handloads and in .38 super, rather than .45. Next round wouldn't chamber, so no kaboom. Guy was lucky (and appropriately grateful) not to have blown up his tricked-out open-class racegun.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
  • Locked
Glock G30 Kaboom
2 3 4
Replies
87
Views
6K
Ivy Mike
Ivy Mike
bullseyebob47
  • Locked
tula steel case 9mm has any kind of coating?
Replies
19
Views
3K
Bama Drifter
Bama Drifter
D
  • Locked
1911 jams... could it be the magazine?
Replies
8
Views
1K
standingbear
S
Cump
  • Locked
Weak ejection when clearing live rounds
Replies
9
Views
1K
Jim K
J
B
  • Locked
Cold failures to feed with Tula .223
Replies
8
Views
977
briansmithwins
B
Back
Top