Exploded 10mm Nighthawk 1911

[sstewart]

This is totally a swag (Scientific wild A** guess)
But it seems to me that this is a squib, followed by an overcharged round.
Maybe one round got light, The next round got heavy. Both got loaded in the box.

like I said a SWAG.

I too wonder about the cycling part.

[DM1906]

This is totally a swag (Scientific wild A** guess)
But it seems to me that this is a squib, followed by an overcharged round.
Maybe one round got light, The next round got heavy. Both got loaded in the box.

like I said a SWAG.

I too wonder about the cycling part.

With insufficient gas exiting the muzzle, it wouldn't cycle (even under "normal" conditions). Either the bullet(s) remained in the barrel (unlikely), or the gas pressure was relieved by the new porting job, as well as the link pin and other mangled metal fouling the works. This looks like a squib, followed by an otherwise normal round chambered. Standard pressure 10mm has more than enough energy to do that, under the right (wrong) conditions. By the looks of the fine machine work performed by that guy's "gunsmith", the bullets and/or case didn't cooperate. I think the missing part of this story is, the guy (thought he) had to get the case out of the gun before calling Nighthawk, or he would be on the hook for his $3K paperweight. From the looks of the prying marks at the hood, it was likely still in battery, locked up tight after the event, and the reason the grip panels and his hand were still intact.

[sstewart]

your most likely correct.
when i have had squib. the report is odd then followed by the FTF is kinda a tip off.
I bet this guy manually racked another round and pulled the trigger.

[Blades]

I have no problem with just blasting away.

Just saying when blasting if you have a malfunction remember to thoroughly check it out.

And if you want to run malfunction drills, set up malfunction drills.  But if you have a non-setup malfunction, you should check your bore, unless it is the "real deal" gunfight.

Gotcha.

[4949shooter]

Crazy how the slide split like that. Glad the shooter wasn't hurt.

[Deadguy]

Post from NHC Rep on another forum.

Based on what the customer had told us last night we agreed to replace the pistol at no charge.  The pistol was given to him by his wife for his birthday, he loved the pistol and told us it was the most accurate pistol he had.  Mark questioned him about the possibly of a squib load or an over charge and he told us to his knowledge everything  was normal.  We believe based on his knowledge he told us the truth.  Mark told him that we could not explain what happened based on his answer.  We would not disassemble his pistol, we would use it for a display piece.


This morning pictures and blog content started appearing online and at that point we decided to investigate further due to the photo's on the blog showing pictures of the pistol in a different condition than we received.  Our customer did not put these pictures online.  The pistol that we received had been pried and beat open.  The owner of the pistol said a gunsmith had done so to remove the spent case.  We did not receive the spent case when the pistol was returned.


When we broke the pistol down and examined the barrel, we saw clear evidence that a squib load caused the damage.  We have taken numerous photos to document these findings.


Last night we wanted to give the customer a response as soon as possible.  Mark agreed at that time to replace his pistol free of charge and we will stand by our word, but we wanted to present these facts.

[The_Shadow]

Those barrel pictures tell the tale! Glad they shared those pictures so we could grasp the damage better!  
Kudos to Nighthawk Custom Firearms for them making their customer whole after this ordeal...  

When I first picked up on the story, I thought it may have been an over charge.  Seeing these I would agree with the findings of a squib with a followed disastrous shot.  But to have such a fine firearm wrecked is a testament to what can happen when things go wrong!

So if the Armscor round that squibed was short on powder, could the next actually have been one with an overage, if this was a result of a powder bridging situation being the next in line?

[BEEMER!]

Those barrel pictures tell the tale! Glad they shared those pictures so we could grasp the damage better!  
Kudos to Nighthawk Custom Firearms for them making their customer whole after this ordeal...  

When I first picked up on the story, I thought it may have been an over charge.  Seeing these I would agree with the findings of a squib with a followed disastrous shot.  But to have such a fine firearm wrecked is a testament to what can happen when things go wrong!

So if the Armscor round that squibed was short on powder, could the next actually have been one with an overage, if this was a result of a powder bridging situation being the next in line?

Only The_Shadow knows

[Charlie_Zulu]

Those barrel pictures tell the tale! Glad they shared those pictures so we could grasp the damage better!  
Kudos to Nighthawk Custom Firearms for them making their customer whole after this ordeal...  

When I first picked up on the story, I thought it may have been an over charge.  Seeing these I would agree with the findings of a squib with a followed disastrous shot.  But to have such a fine firearm wrecked is a testament to what can happen when things go wrong!

So if the Armscor round that squibed was short on powder, could the next actually have been one with an overage, if this was a result of a powder bridging situation being the next in line?

Yep, that's why the whole story couldn't be told until the barrel came out.

Squib was my 1st thought.  But, as mentioned already, could've been a squib followed by an over charge.

Just goes to show how focussed and keenly aware we all must stay on the firing line.

[Deadguy]

I'm wondering if the shooter was being honest about the ammo manufacturer in the event a warranty issue came up.  Only the shooter and the smith that pried the round out know for sure.

[DM1906]

I'm wondering if the shooter was being honest about the ammo manufacturer in the event a warranty issue came up.  Only the shooter and the smith that pried the round out know for sure.

I suspect (not wonder) the same. If this was an "innocent" incident, what urgency would there have been to damage/destroy evidence of the event? If it was "Armscor" or whatever brand of "factory" ammo, that would be important to Nighthawk's investigation. Add to that, the spent case wasn't included with the pistol, and the pistol was extensively molested between the original images sent to Nighthawk, and what Nighthawk received. Now, we'll probably never know. If I were Nighthawk, I would require the spend case that was removed, as well as the remaining unfired rounds from that box, prior to honoring the replacement of a very expensive pistol. That would not be an unreasonable request.

[Wolfie]

This is clearly suspect and I do not believe its the gun companies fault. However they did the right thing and it will pay off with good publicity. There will be more goodwill than the cost of the gun.

[sqlbullet]

There will be more goodwill than the cost of the gun.

You are spot on!

And this is why I am often wary of a company that won't make good on products in extraordinary events.  If your product is good, standing behind it like this will buy you far more publicity, marketing hype and new customers than you could buy with a couple hundred $$'s anywhere else.

[Intercooler]

That's what I preach about Ruger. Their unwritten policy is exceptional!

[Olgo]

It'll buff out. 

But seriously, if it was a squib there'd be a bulge in the barrel where bullets collide. This looks to me an overcharge.