PDA

View Full Version : S&W 629 Range Mishap


James T. Kucaba
10-22-2009, 11:48 PM
I got this in an email ... I have no information about it whatsoever.

John Dallas
10-23-2009, 08:13 AM
Wow. Mishap wa so bad it blew up the attachment!

James T. Kucaba
10-23-2009, 08:41 AM
I'm unable to post photos here for some unknown reason ... But if someone will send me their email address, I'll email the photos to them so they can post the 629 Range Mishap photos.

Jim Kucaba ... AriZOOna Cactus Patch ... Email: JimKucaba@aol.com

John Dunkle
10-23-2009, 09:02 AM
First - I added the pictures to your thread, Jim.. As well - I'm moving this thread to the correct forum.. Next - I'll edit the title of this thread from "S7W" to "S&W".... :)

As well - the revolver blew up when the owner was "testing one of his own loads..." I think he's lucky to be alive (only suffered a couple of gashes on his noggin'..)

John

Dean Romig
10-23-2009, 09:58 AM
I'll bet a donut my Ruger GP-100 would have held up okay.

Richard Flanders
10-23-2009, 10:32 AM
I used to have a Colt SAA .45LC that looked just like that except my top strap just stretched and humped up.... it results from accidental, or in this guys case perhaps an intentional overload. The main charge goes off and ruptures the cylinder setting the adjacent chambers off. No one would fix it so I sold the frame for parts but still have the cylinder of that .45 and the top 3 chambers are totally gone. I never even found the pieces. Every time I reload pistol ammo I put that cylinder on the bench right in front of me as a reminder. Been doing that for 25yrs. Impressive when it happens to say the least...

Dean Romig
10-23-2009, 12:26 PM
Hey Rich, let me guess. . . cookin' up some grizzly bear loads??

Ross Goldsmith
10-23-2009, 04:09 PM
35 years ago, I was shooting a pistol at a range in Austin when the fellow beside me cut loose with a Ruguer Super Blackhawk 44mag. Pealed off the top strap, blew out the top chamber and the adjacent right chamber and the 7 1/2 inch barrel just fell out on the ground. Fortunately, I was on his left.

The guy was trying out his first handloads. I've been leary of standing shoulder to shoulder shooting with people I don't know ever since.

Richard Flanders
10-25-2009, 10:34 AM
Dean: Just the opposite actually. No one with enough brain cells to fall in the low double digit range would use a .45LC on a grizzly bear, at least not in a Colt SAA. Better to have just have one bullet for yourself if the situation is that critical. I was working up what was to be the lightest load that would go off reliably so I could sit on my porch with a cuppa tea and plink. The mistake was having 12 cases in the loading block and only charging 6 at a time, leaving the others in the block. Apparently I charged 8 cases but put bullets in only 6 and the next time charged all 6 in the block, giving two a dbl charge of green dot. Not good. All the manuals say to visually check your charged cases for a very good reason. One shot and I was off to the local clinic for some stitches; unfortunately the brain transplant I requested was not available at that clinic, but I've been a much more careful reloader since that day. My trigger finger is still a bit stiff from that incident but only because the wound became infected. The only other after effect was that I had to give up playing bluegrass banjo because of the lack of flexibility in that finger. Oh well; I wasn't that good at it anyway. We live and learn...at least hopefully. I guarantee you that the ruptured cylinder will be in clear view on my bench until I've reloaded very my last pistol round....

Harry Collins
10-26-2009, 07:17 AM
Knowing my limitations, I have always tried to use powders that fill the case. 2400, 296 and H110 are my large bore postol powders of choice. I do however like W231 for 45 ACP and the small bores because of the very low to near absence of muzzel flash. I have used Unique but it scares me just because of what Richard experienced. Talk about limitations, if I am interupted while loading shotgun shells (and I think I could do this in my sleep) I will stop and walk away from it. This is always the time a primer falls upside down and I miss it or I just get disunited....

Harry

Tom Carter
10-26-2009, 11:31 AM
Richard, When I lived in Alaska I only carried a 22 pistol for bears but I always went with another person. I figured if we were attacked by a bear I would shoot the other guy in the leg and I would only have to out run him and not the bear. Cheers, Tom

Richard Flanders
10-26-2009, 11:50 AM
Roger that on the Unique Harry. You could totally fragment some guns with an overload of that stuff...

Tom: that joke gets used a LOT amongst geologists up here, especially when we're about to go into the field with a totally green assistant geo...

Dave Suponski
10-26-2009, 12:40 PM
:rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf:

Tom Carter
10-26-2009, 12:54 PM
Richard, What joke?????????????

Cheers, Tom

Dale Zywina
05-30-2010, 07:44 AM
Gentle men 2 of these S&W 629's have blown up in the same exact way in the last few years at our local handgun range, thankfully no one has gotten hurt! It seems that both blew when shooting handloaded target loads, the theory is that they back burned when fired, just like the 38 special load of 2.7 bullseye, wich I shoot regularly but a handful of guns have turned into handgernades! I notice that all the guns blowing up with low power target loads are all stainless? It seems that there is a weakness in the material, maybe it doesn't have enogh elasticity? anyway yours is not the first or last to blow up, take care Dale in Canada