Have you personally witnessed or experienced a “kaboom” with a handgun or revolver?

Question:
Have you witnessed or experienced a “kaboom” with a handgun/revolver?

Choices:
Yes
No

Question:
What caliber?

Choices:
.380
.38 Special
9mm
.40S&W
.45ACP
10mm
.357SIG
.357 Magnum
.44 Special/Magnum
Not applicable

Question:
What was the final determination as to the cause?

Choices:
Faulty factory ammo
Faulty remanufactured ammo
Squib or obstruction
Defective firearm, factory unmodified
Defective aftermarket part(s) in firearm
Other
Not applicable

 

I had a squib load on my re-loads on a S&W M&P 9mm. It did not KABOOM, just didn't allow the next round to chamber, thereby not allowing the slide to go into battery.

I witnessed an AR-15 Kaboom at a range about 20 years ago. (rifle, not pistol, sorry)

The guy was a newbie reloader and screwed up. I felt sorry for him, Although he was not injured.

Not a pistol but a friends rem 742 I was zeroing.
Still have the scars on my right arm.

Was at the range shooting my wife’s Taurus 605. First shot was fine then after the second shot I noticed something on the barrel. The barrel had split open and the frame was bent. Looked like the gun had exploded in front of the cylinder. Thankfully I was not injured. At first I thought it was a squib but I saw where my first shot had hit the target. Sent it to Taurus and they replaced it but my wife refused to shoot Taurus after that. I traded it for a GP100 for her.
I accidentally hit No on the first question in the poll.

No, I did not, but one of my best friends telling my wife the stories of Glock G22 kabooms is part of the reason, perhaps a good part of it, my wife gave me a Sig P239 SAS for Christmas, years ago

Ahh, nuts. Somehow I deleted the choice for "Other" in the caliber question.

I watched two P226 E2's in .357 Sig go down simultaneously with .357 Sig S&B ball ammo. Chambers were locked up so tight we couldn't hammer them open. Pistols were brand new.

I believe it was one of two things:
1)crap ammo
2)crap cut chambers.

I lean toward the ammo because we purchased several other pistols in the same serial range (within single digits on serial numbers) and they ran fine.

Had an early M-60 2" snub go kaboom with some newly issued Federal, 125 gr +P ammo. I must have been THE unluckiest bastard alive , as I never heard of any issues with the ammo from anyone else. We had M-28's then which are far stronger than a J frame snub but still, no reports of hard ejection, flat primers, etc.

I had come home from afternoon shift in the Winter and there was a huge porcupine trundling up the hill by our drive. Got out, grabbed the M-60 out of my jacket pocket and held my flashlight to illuminate sights and the porcupine. Fired one round and it didn't seem to have any effect. Went to cock it back and found out I was missing a few pieces of the gun. I was uninjured and upon the shot, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Found the topstrap 20 years later ,approximately 90 yds away ,up on some rocks in our back yard.

Only photo I have, not very good....Sorry.

Sig mosquito, sig replaced it all for me.

I saw a buddy shoot someone else's bad reload out of an HK USP 45. Blew the left grip out. He was fortunately uninjured but his gun was of course wrecked. Hk replaced it for him though I don't know the details.

HK Tactical that really stung my hand.

Was shooting 230 gr Federal HP's. Doing quick double taps.

Felt a big sting, mag blew out and hit my foot. Other than that no injury.

The case blew out at the web, sending hat gasses down through the mag and out the side of the grips.

HK repaired it, yet stated that it could NOT have fired out of battery. Yet it sure appeared to have done so.

Sent the gun in with the damaged mag. Got the gun back with a new frame, all springs replaced and FOUR new hi caps!

Several. Taurus M85 non +P rated snub blew up after a steady diet of +P. Taurus replaced the gun, no questions asked.
Most memorable: Overcharged cartridge in Ruger Mini 14. Most of the gas went out through the magazine and a metal fragment lodged in the shooters arm, causing a serious bleed and a trip to the ER. After an extractor replacement, the gun worked fine.

The first was an M-16A2, working with the Thai Royal Marines. Do not, I say again, DO NOT fire live rounds through the weapon if you have a BFA (blank firing adaptor) on!
Barrel peeled back like in the cartoons.

Beretta M-9 went kaput on the range in Quantico. I can't remember exactly what happened, but there was a loud "WTF!" From one of the Marines, and the gun was in pieces...

Revolver on the range here on Chgo Police. Shooting shitty rounds, one must have been a squib, the next one wasn't.

Guy shooting a .454 Cassull. Hand loads, and you could just tell that this guy needed to be tougher than everyone else. It wasn't as big as a "KA-BLAM" as I would have expected, but big enough to mess that nice gun up forever.

quote:

Originally posted by k5blazer:
Was at the range shooting my wife’s Taurus 605. First shot was fine then after the second shot I noticed something on the barrel. The barrel had split open and the frame was bent. Looked like the gun had exploded in front of the cylinder. Thankfully I was not injured. At first I thought it was a squib but I saw where my first shot had hit the target. Sent it to Taurus and they replaced it but my wife refused to shoot Taurus after that. I traded it for a GP100 for her.
I accidentally hit No on the first question in the poll.

I think that model must have a cylinder carry-up problem. I know, as mine had it and had to be sent back. I only got a few shavings before I realized that the chamber was not aligning with the barrel. It's been perfect since being serviced.

One of the good times I was in tune with my gun.
Plinking with a Walther PPK Remington ammo had a squib. Didn’t hit the target cleared it and field strip it. Found the bullet in the Barrel.
Well over 100K rounds later haven’t happened again.

I was at the range. The guy next to me's Smith Model 29 blew up. Split the cylinder and blew the top strap into the ceiling. It looked just like FN's Model 60 snub photo above. I believe he was using handloads, but since he was a stranger next to me, I don't know the exact cause.

had a squib in a 686, ammo was from an estate, and
was from a company called BER in NY,

3 rounds went bang, last one went pfft, and the rest went to a baggy to get pulled and reloaded,


did have a friend and hi power comp mentor that blew up a Smith 29,
chunk out of the cylinder, strap bent up,


then, he blew up an AR, got it fixed, his son was shooting it in a match, and blew it up,


found out he had mixed some pistol powder/rifle powder in his measure, so his AR loads were part 748, part pistol powder,

he had to send some loaded rounds off the Winchester to test, since he contacted them saying the lot of 748 he purchased was bad,


have no idea if he did the same with the 44 ammo,

I've had two. I blew a P38 up with WWI surplus 9mm sub gun ammo, and a 1911 had a case "blowout", sending gas and metal down the mag well and out thru the grips. Part of the P38 rear sight assembly had to be removed from my forehead, and bits of walnut from my right hand. The 9mm was destroyed, the 1911 was not.

Yup. Years ago, my brand new Sig P226. First mag through and about the 4th round...bam!! Sent it into Sig and they took care of it and fixed everything. They said it was a bad Ammo issue.