Bought a used Grand Power on Gunbroker. Stop at my friends place on the way back from picking it up at my FFL. I didnt bring any of my hand loads along as I didnt plan on trying it out... was on my way to work. But my buddy had a box of factory loads... I wont mention the brand, but its well known. Nickle cased hollow points. So I thought I would run a magazine through it to see how it shot. First shot felt good.. just missed the plastic bottle I was shooting at... second round went BOOM... blew the gun out of my hand, blew the mag out... the safety levers off, the trigger off and the sides of the grip out. Luckily no damage to the shooter. We had to beat the gun apart and retrieved the casing. Not a good day!!! Sure looks like a classic double/overcharge to me.
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(http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj539/ottoman1954/004_zpsmqa93agg.jpg)
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Damn. Glad no injuries.
I'd be contacting the ammo manufacturer ASAP.
:o
Damn! Glad you are okay. Was this Underwood? In Nickel the only other one I know is Doubletap. If it's Underwood, they might be having issues again. Was this a Lehigh bullet round?
I think that can be fixed with some new plastic pieces. They seem fairly easy to strip down with a punch and hammer.
I was wondering how these pistols would do in such an event with their near full chamber support. It seems it still found the weakest point and let go there.
Hornady also has nickel in the 175 grain flex tip. And several other makers advertise nickel/brass as they load what is available.
A gun is fixable/replaceable... glad to hear no hand damge
Ottoman, please follow up on this to see how or if the gun is repaired or replaced...
This is an unusual type K-Boom, seeing that the Grand Power is rotated in and out of battery...
It looks like that was a classic overcharge showing substantial casing damage. The case head being blown apart and folded back shows it unlocked open the action and then push forward on the case. The brass flowed under pressure as well as the action left the casing unsupported. The overpressure is likely to have pushed the primer out, unlocking and opening the action, this left the casing further unsupported to allow more failure of the casing.
Good luck getting the proper repairs or replacement.
Saw the hollow point part now and realize it isn't a Lehigh bullet. Spill the beans on who the MFG is to be cautious of ;D
I agree please advise on the manufacturer for safety purposes.
What does the barrel and slide look like? With a bulge like that in case head the chamber either failed from an overcharge or it fired out of battery.
Atomic also uses nickel cases and hollow points. Just got back from running some through my P40.
Quote from: mkf350 on March 02 2017 03:56:59 PM MST
What does the barrel and slide look like? With a bulge like that in case head the chamber either failed from an overcharge or it fired out of battery.
I doubt the chamber failed, it is extremely thick. Also strange that it might fire OOB. Will be interesting to see what the OP has to say.
Just glad the damage is to the gun! Will be following this out come for sure.
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Im not saying the brand because while the rounds appear new factory loads in the original box he is not sure where he got them from... they have been sitting around for more than a few years.
Barrel looks good... dropped a new round in.. seems fine but who knows. Slide also looks good
But it sure stung my hand... not something Id care to have happen again!!
I think this one will be a wall hanger/conversation piece!
Bought a new Grand Power.. picking it up Sat.. gotta get back on the horse ;)
Shooting my favorite load... 10.4 grn Bluedot 180grn FMJ
If you have any of the ammo left you might want to send The Shadow a couple for pull-down.
I'd be happy to document them, however the rest may not show what was inside the one that blew up. If there is another that would be a disaster waiting to happen... :o
Happens all the time. Buddy makes some reloads while drinking a few beers one night. Accidentally double charges. Sticks his reloads in an empty factory ammo box. A few years goes by and he says "here, shoot these."
:))
This happens with factory 10mm ammo more than any of us want to admit. Remember this thread about Underwood ammo blowing up a Glock?
http://10mm-firearms.com/general-discussion/10mm-kaboom-have-a-good-read/
I would, personality, ask ottoman to contact the manufacturer about this. Ammo is run in lots and you may help prevent someone else from having a similar interest. It may have been older ammo, but it's not like it starts sweating nitro when it's older. The manufacturer can use the info to help prevent repeats of this problem.
Ok I will contact the manufacturer to let them know.
I already pulled the remaining rounds down and the rest all looked good... charge weights were within a tenth of a gram.
Guess I just got lucky.. like winning the lottery.. in a bad way!
Quote from: Intercooler on March 02 2017 02:29:15 PM MST
Saw the hollow point part now and realize it isn't a Lehigh bullet. Spill the beans on who the MFG is to be cautious of ;D
Looks like Winchester 10mm Nickel Brass:
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i250/wamphyri13/Guns%20for%20sale/DSCN0534-1.jpg)
Picked up my new P40 today. The serial number is two earlier than my original one. Ran two magazines through it but I guess my hand isnt 100% yet as it stung a little more than it should so I switched over to rifles the rest of the day. Gun ran fine with the exception of a failure to feed the last round of each magazine.... no dropped mags.
Sounds like weak magazine springs.
Did the old pistol and parts already go back to Grand Power?
Quote from: ottoman on March 05 2017 12:11:59 AM MST
Picked up my new P40 today. The serial number is two earlier than my original one. Ran two magazines through it but I guess my hand isnt 100% yet as it stung a little more than it should so I switched over to rifles the rest of the day. Gun ran fine with the exception of a failure to feed the last round of each magazine.... no dropped mags.
I was kinda wondering about getting "back on the horse" this soon. I think, if it was me, my target would look like a shotgun pattern. Hopefully your next trip will be back to normal for you.