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Livermore, California, May 12, a man was injured and taken to the hospital when his shotgun reportedly "exploded" while he was shooting trap.

The man had just learned how to reload ammunition at the club, a police spokesman said.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-new ... ck_check=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oopsie. Grains, grams, drams, whatever.

I hate when stuff like this happens. I am an officer of a shooting club. I like to tell people that it is safer to be at the range than to drive to and from it. Then something like this comes along.

- Jim

Yeah I was at ASC when a guy blew up his rifle....not good.

Forgive an ignorant question, but this primarily happens with reloads rather than name brand ammo or am I wrong?
In the experience of our forum members, what are the most likely ways a person could manage to "blow up" his or her firearm? Incorrectly loaded ammo, or a defect in the gun? Inquiring minds want to know

TexasGal wrote:Forgive an ignorant question, but this primarily happens with reloads rather than name brand ammo or am I wrong?
In the experience of our forum members, what are the most likely ways a person could manage to "blow up" his or her firearm? Incorrectly loaded ammo, or a defect in the gun? Inquiring minds want to know

Way more common in reloads IMO. Factory ammo is extremely unlikely to do that. If it does, go buy a powerball ticket.

TexasGal wrote:Forgive an ignorant question, but this primarily happens with reloads rather than name brand ammo or am I wrong?
In the experience of our forum members, what are the most likely ways a person could manage to "blow up" his or her firearm? Incorrectly loaded ammo, or a defect in the gun? Inquiring minds want to know

Not ignorant. A good question.

The most likely way to "blow up a gun" is not a defective gun or reloads. It is an obstructed barrel.

If his barrel was not clear a perfectly good reload or factory would have done the same thing.
I have been reloading since 1971 & so far my record w/ reloads is:
2 primers did not ignite & one squib. Squibs are dangerous.

I have had more trouble over the yrs w/ factory ammo than reloads.
Last Tuesday I was instructing a new shooter & a Winchester White Box 9mm primer failed to ignite. How prevalent is factory ammo failure. I had a box of .32acp (Remington I think but dont remember for sure) a couple of yrs ago that some were evidently lighter than normal. Barely cycle the slide. After the third I retired the box. Pulled several bullets when I got home. Several of those were very light on powder charge. I just desposed the rest.
Other than that one box, in 50+ yrs of shooting, I have seen only occasional factory failures while shooting or training others. I have not kept count but a dozen would be a good guess. How many thousand rounds have I shot in my 50 yrs of . Bunch. So that is not a bad record.

I have seen several shotguns destroyed w/ factory ammo due to obstruction in the barrel. I was present at only one. The barrel does not have to be plugged tight, just not clear.

I know of a few occasions but have never personally seen a gun destroyed due only to reloads. I have seen a few guys confess they were pushing the pressure limits & swelled a barrel. Foolish is the most polite word I know for that practice.

Bottom line is:
The #1 reason for guns "exploding" is barrel obstruction, not defect or reloads.
LT

The "classic" shotgun mistake is dropping a 20-gauge shell into a 12-gauge shotgun, then firing a 12-gauge shell. The 20-gauge shell goes a few inches down the barrel, and when the 12-gauge charge fires, KABOOM!

Most ranges have the result of one of these disasters hanging on the wall for educational purposes.

Another mode of failure that is mentioned in books and articles, though I have never seen it, is getting the barrel plugged with dirt while hunting.

- Jim

The only failure I have seen was on an older 12g with a goofy break choke. What probably happend was the plastic wad probably got stuck in the choke and failed to exit. The failure ened up mangling the choke rendering the gun unusable.

I shoot a bunch of shotgun, and that was the only failure I have seen.

I am guessing reloads could be a culprit. Just a guess tho.

I was at the company gun club some years back when a BOOM! - clearly louder than the "POP" of a normal shot - came from one of the trap fields.

Guy had his Browning Citori blow up at the breech end. The barrels were bent down around the pivot point by around 135 degrees, and the chamber ends were raggedly torn. The sides of the receiver were bulged out - a most thoroughly destroyed shotgun.

Other than a few minor scratches on his face and support arm, the shooter was unhurt, and nobody else on the squad was hit by shrapnel. (He WAS wearing shooting glasses!)

The guy handloaded, but even a double charge of powder shouldn't have destroyed the gun like that, and there was no known obstruction, since the record showed he'd shot at (and broken!) the previous bird he'd shot at. The empties in his shell bag looked normal, so there weren't the remnants of a split shell in the chamber in the chamber either.

I understand he got some sort of consideration from Browning towards a new shotgun, but I never did learn the details.

Thanks for all the responses so far. I am still learning and the fact a gun can do such a thing is pretty sobering. I want to know what to do to make sure I don't cause such an event in my lack of experience or fail to recognize fast enough when an obstructed barrel may have occurred before pulling the trigger again.

I like to learn from experience, especially others' bad experience.

Reloaders have their "never again" stories. If there is one constant theme, it is paying attention to what they are doing, not listening to the radio, watching TV, thinking about the argument they had with their spouse, etc.

If you know your weapon, you know what normal recoil feels like. If it doesn't feel right, the clay didn't break, or you don't see a hole in the target, check it out. I keep a long brass rod in my range bag for that purpose.

The story that Hank related sounds to me like metal fatigue. That is a phenomenon that is unpredictable and hard to detect before it occurs. In areas that are extremely risky, like nuclear reactors and rockets, X rays are used. I don't know anyone who can afford to do that with civilian firearms.

Sometimes we just take our chances. Like every time we put a car on the road, or climb on a horse, or let a child go out on his own.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote: If you know your weapon, you know what normal recoil feels like. If it doesn't feel right, the clay didn't break, or you don't see a hole in the target, check it out.

Sage advice indeed!

One day my buddy and I were at the pistol range doing some shooting - he was in the lane next to mine. I heard a soft "pop" come from his lane. I leaned over and saw he was about to fire another round from his S&W Model 19. I asked about the soft report of the previous shot, so he carefully lowered the hammer and checked the gun out.

Bullet was stuck in the bore.

He was a fairly new reloader at the time, but not that new. To make a long story short, he was loading with Alcan AL-8 powder (this was some years ago!) and we found out . . . the powder was defective. It looked and smelled OK, seemed nice and dry, no liquid or corrosion in the can . . . but. It. Just. Wouldn't. Burn. It would barely ignite even when you touched a match to a small pile of it. If he'd continued with the ammo - or worse, tried some factory or other handloads with one or more bullet stuck in the barrel, bad things could have happened.

This is why I generally don't try to shoot ragged holes. I like to see every hole when I am not absolutely sure of the weapon's function or the quality of the ammo.

I often shoot at the target like it was a clock and I was trying to hit the hour numbers.

- Jim

To those new to reloading: There are certified NRA instructors that teach a Basic Reloading Course.
You would be wise to spend a few hours in the NRA class prior to reloading on your own. As always,
any NRA course will stress gun/reload safety. You'll also get hands on experience with single stage
and progressive loaders of several different brands.
I've been reloading for 40 years. Started at summer camp, shot gun shells using the old fiber wads
and paper shells. I've had 3 "dud" primers that failed to ignite in rifle calibers but no other problems in
all these years.
I hate to hear of any accident regarding firearms, whether from double charged reloads, obstructed
barrels or mishandling of a firearm.

SRVA is a certified NRA Reloading instructor in the north Houston area. Send him a PM if interested in a class.