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On Monday my friend called me to go shooting, but my phone was off so I got his message too late. He ended up going without me, but I happen to run into him the next day (he freelances where I work sometimes). He proceeded to tell me his pistol exploded on him at the range. At first I thought it was his nice little Sig p238, but it turned out to be his wife's Taurus PT22. He sent me the picture below. Only damage you can really see from the angle is the cracked grip, but he said it blew open as seen, and the slide flew off. Does anyone know anything about such happenings? I know he doesn't roll his own for what that is worth and rimfire weapons are strange birds to me, so I had nothing to give him in way of guidance as to what could have happened. He said Taurus was pleasant to deal with as far as sending it in for what that is worth. Had I got his call in time and been there, I would have taken copious pictures. Unfortunately, this is the only one I have to show.

Thoughts are appreciated.

I think that does sound familiar. I remember a thread on another forum a while back that was claiming this failure had happened to them. Taurus should fix it, but I don't know if that is any consolation given the trust lost in the gun. Have him call Taurus up and get an advanced shipping notice label.

This was a 22LR?

texasmusic wrote: This was a 22LR?

That's why rimfires are always a bit squirrely for me. They work in unusual ways sometimes that I feel bank on the low power of the round too much. I don't have any proof to back this up, but I don't let that stop me from developing unfounded bias.

TheMilkMan wrote:That's why rimfires are always a bit squirrely for me. They work in unusual ways sometimes that I feel bank on the low power of the round too much. I don't have any proof to back this up, but I don't let that stop me from developing unfounded bias.

Then try shooting a Ruger Single Six. It is built like a tank for .22lr.

There are cases of rimfire rounds discharging before they go completely into battery (get seated in the chamber) on Semi-auto weapons. That is possibly what happened. Hard to tell without getting their story of what round it was, rapid fire, etc etc.

And, no one that I know of reloads .22 rimfire rounds, so would be a factory round. Would also doubt it would be an issue with an over-charged load as there is not enough room for much additional powder if any.

If there is actual damage to the gun, then I would send it back to the manufacture and see if they can determine what might have happened. Don't clean anything, just call them and get an RMA and send it requesting they investigate why it went kaboom.

If there is no physical damage, then I would get it back together and maybe take it to a good gunsmith or shop and let them look it over to ensure there is not something wrong with it.