Ruger revolver kabooms?

JStacy · Jun 14, 2017

Fellow in Tyler Texas wanted a 44 mag and wanted to reload for it. He got a Lee loader , hand type with the powder dippers. He did not have any 2400, which the dipper called for but he did have Unique . He loaded 18 grains of unique behind a 240 JHP and off to the range with the Mod 29 and a Ruger SBH. The first or second shot bulged the Mod 29 cylinder where it would not turn so he started shooting the Ruger SBH.18 rounds later the top half of the cylinder and top strap on the SBH . Some people just should not own gun and reloading equipment at the same time.

Hondo44 · Jun 15, 2017

A pre-requisite for buying reloading components should be: "Learn to read."

An old reloading axiom: "Never mix alcohol and gun powder, it won't shoot and tastes like hell."

The very fortunate thing about almost all handgun 'kabooms' is the shooter seldom sustains injuries with. No so with rifles.

I see many more injuries to handgun shooters from:

fingers in front of the barrel/cyl gap on revolvers,
fingers over barrel compensator ports on semi autos,
and fingers in front of muzzles on derringers.

AJGUNNER · Jun 15, 2017

Hondo44 said:
I see many more injuries to handgun shooters from:

fingers in front of the barrel/cyl gap on revolvers,
fingers over barrel compensator ports on semi autos,
and fingers in front of muzzles on derringers.

You forgot about the thumb and web of the thumb while shooting bottom feeders. :wink:

Prescut · Jun 16, 2017

CAS did a great job with those pics.
His first pic is my Ruger Super Blackhawk 357 Maximum. Here are two links. The first one has the story. The second link has more pics. David Bradshaw helped in both with the autopsy.

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=239550

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=239551

Prescut
I will never be quite the same.

cas6969 · Jun 16, 2017

I just grab em whenever I see em.

I just checked the folder and I have a little over 500 pictures of blow-ed up guns.

zoner · Jun 17, 2017

it amazes me how many folks are reloading without an understanding of powder burn rates etc. Just the other day i was reading about a guy who was having "trouble" with his reloads and come to find out he was trying to download 38 special ammo with h110 or 296, something you are NOT supposed to do. I read about loads people are using all the time on the internet but don't try any of that stuff before i check load data with the powder manufacturer

Hondo44 · Jun 17, 2017

Trouble yes, but not as bad as uploading with Bullseye........

cas6969 · Jun 17, 2017

Trent1001 · Jun 24, 2017

gunman42782 said:
I used to work at a range, seen a guy buy a brand new Ruger Redhawk in .45 Colt, take it out to the range, and blew the thing to pieces with his first shot! I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it. He swore up and down it "was not my reloads", but honestly, what else could it have been? The Redhawk is one of the strongest revolvers made, and Ruger fires proof loads through EACH chamber before it leaves the factory. I can't imagine what the dude had loaded up to cause the damage it did, but he's lucky to still have his hand!

And, Kudos to Ruger, they wouldn't replace the gun (which I don't blame them one bit!), but they offered to sell him another one at cost. I can't remember if the guy took them up on it or not.

I have a Bowen Super Redhawk in 500 Linebaugh. I have fired the meanest custom loads through that gun and lent it out to friends who fired some wicked hand loads and that gun is still perfect. I've never heard of any program revolver coming apart from any type of load. Ruger's metallurgy, Quality assurance and manufacturing superb.

Trent1001 · Jun 24, 2017

Freuderlocks said:
Kabooms happen weekly, sometimes more at my range. Unfortunately it's A) usually a Glock (boring) and B) I don't always take pictures. I'll do a better job in the future. Also C) It's almost never a revolver (a guy stacked bullets in a vintage colt and the barrel finally blew out behind the bullets but in front of the forcing cone). A few rifles also explode each year as well as a few shotguns in the trap range.also over the last decade a few people have rented guns and poked their lights out on the firing line. I'm CRSO, never happened on !y watch or with my crew but yeah, it happens.

I'll get pictures when I can.

Freuderlocks[/quote

Glocks don't go kaboom. They just work with perfection. You won't find a more durable semi automatic pistol than a Glock.

Don Lovel · Jun 24, 2017

sacrifices to the Gods of high pressure reloads

Tom W · Jun 24, 2017

Me? Never. And in my early years of handloading I had no one to ask, just had to read.
A LOT!
Now I still read and check every time I load, including bullet type, weight, and recommended powder charges out of the book.

Chuck 100 yd · Jun 24, 2017

I have been a shooter and an officer/ member of our gun club ( 300 + members)
Since 1971. I have not seen or heard of a single Kaboom that happened at our club.
There has been an accident or two. One guy accidentally ignited a box of Pyrodex pellets because he was loading at the shooting bench (against common cense as well as the club rules), his arm was pretty badly burned.
Another guy fried a .243 round in his .308. There was no damage done to the shooter or rifle.
It sounds like some people need some basic training before they get into this hobby.

buckeyeshooter · Jun 24, 2017

gunman42782 said:
I used to work at a range, seen a guy buy a brand new Ruger Redhawk in .45 Colt, take it out to the range, and blew the thing to pieces with his first shot! I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it. He swore up and down it "was not my reloads", but honestly, what else could it have been? The Redhawk is one of the strongest revolvers made, and Ruger fires proof loads through EACH chamber before it leaves the factory. I can't imagine what the dude had loaded up to cause the damage it did, but he's lucky to still have his hand!

And, Kudos to Ruger, they wouldn't replace the gun (which I don't blame them one bit!), but they offered to sell him another one at cost. I can't remember if the guy took them up on it or not.

One can only imagine the handload to do that.The Redhawk is about as tough as it gets.þ

Trent1001 · Jun 25, 2017

ProfessorWes said:
One amusing gun shop story I heard some years ago was of the incompetent handloader who - after destroying two S&W M-29s with his homebrew .44 Magnum hot loads - bought a Ruger Super Blackhawk because he figured it was stronger.

After destroying the Ruger on its inaugural trip to the range, he decided to give up handloading to the disappointment of his local gun dealer, and the relief of everybody else. :lol:

Nothing is idiot proof, alas.

.

Most of those "shop tales" are just that: second hand myth-like stories that can't be verified. It's usually at a slow shop with a bunch of guys who have nothing else to do but talk.

ditto1958 · Jul 4, 2017

At the range where I shoot, and also volunteer as a range officer, our kabooms get documented with pictures on the wall in the clubhouse. No Ruger revolvers yet.

cas6969 · Jul 5, 2017

I worked weekends for a handful of years at a very busy public range. The only kaboom I ever saw was the aftermath of a guy firing a rifle with a laser bore sighter in the barrel.

ditto1958 · Jul 5, 2017

cas said:
I worked weekends for a handful of years at a very busy public range. The only kaboom I ever saw was the aftermath of a guy firing a rifle with a laser bore sighter in the barrel.

Last fall we had a deer hunter there sighting in his muzzle loader. Somehow, he left the ramrod in the barrel. When he fired the rifle, Newton's Laws Of Physics kicked in. His scope hit him in the face, fractured his nose, and required a trip to the ER and surgery.

From talking to people following the incident, it seems that doing that is relatively common. Apparently when it happens out in the deer woods, it's very disconcerting to take a shot at a trophy buck, only to see the ramrod fly out about 25 yards and fall harmlessly to the ground. Bye bye buck.

JStacy · Jul 12, 2017

Seeing some of those beautiful custom Rugers is truly sad !! I guess it was a lot worse for the guns that saw their big buck custom go up in smoke !!

nn · Jul 12, 2017

You can barely see the crack and hole in the cylinder index slot and the dents in the top strap.
The cylinder would not turn beyond the point where the two meet, take the cylinder out and reset it and
it would index to that point.

I did not notice the issue until I tried to make the next shot.

Ammo was reload by a start up company and sold in a LGS.

Between the manufacture and mostly Ruger I was taken care of to my satisfaction.

Ruger revolver kabooms?

Help Support Ruger Forum:

Blackhawk

Hawkeye

Hunter

Single-Sixer

Buckeye

Bearcat

Hawkeye

Buckeye

Bearcat

Bearcat

Hunter

Blackhawk

Hunter

Blackhawk

Bearcat

Blackhawk

Buckeye

Blackhawk

Blackhawk

Single-Sixer

Similar threads