Riddle me this Batman. I have known of hangfires since I took my first NRA handgun course with my then brand new S&W 67 back in the 80's. I understand the concept. I have never seen one ever. Not even sure I have ever even heard of one.

We all know the drill. If you get a click and expect a bang keep the gun downrange for 30 seconds just in case its a hangfire.

I just bought an 8 shot 22lr revolver for light trail use. It got me thinking. One of the advantages of the 22 in a revolver is that if you have a dud you just pull the trigger again, problem solved.

I understand the odds of a hangfire are approaching zero but what if? So the gun goes click, you pull the trigger again, in the mean time the other round turns out to be that elusive hangfire. What kind of event would that turn out to be? Has anyone ever witnessed one? Big issue? Little issue?

Inquiring minds want to know. That's me.

I've never had an out of battery discharge in a revolver, but I've also never had a hangfire in a .22 LR. Any click-bang experiences have been with bolt action rifles and old milsurp ammo. My .22 duds have all just been duds.

I imagine it would be not a great experience in a wheelgun if one went off...not sure if it would damage anything or not, but it's definitely not something I'd want to try on purpose. I'm interested to hear first hand accounts from anyone who has experienced it.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Any click-bang experiences have been with bolt action rifles and old milsurp ammo.

Ditto.

I experienced a few hang fires when attempting to develop reduced loads for 7mm Remington Magnum, but that was my fault and not something I’ve ever seen otherwise.

To address your question, I suspect an S&W revolver would allow the discharge of a 22 LR round out of the misaligned chamber without (much?) damage or injury if the shooter was using a proper grip on the gun.

As a personal opinion, that “wait 30 seconds” rule is unrealistic and was developed in the days when no one thought civilians would ever be shooting for serious purposes when waiting might not be possible. In addition, I believe that hang fires with factory ammunition are much less common than they were decades ago.

Should hangfires even be taught anymore?

If I had to guess, the closest analogy would be a cap and ball revolver without enough grease or whatever and a second chamber lighting off. I’ve never owned one of those though so I don’t know what that would be like either. Any black powder guys experience that?

I've experienced nearly all of my hangfires with old British ammo using cordite propellant. The cordite degrades with age more than smokeless powder does.

But even then, 30 seconds between striking the primer and the round igniting is a really long time. These were more akin to firing a flintlock: click...boom.

I've been shooting on a regular basis since Moses parted the Red Sea and I've never personally experienced a hangfire, nor have I been around anyone else who has.

From what I've read, it's more prevalent in black powder flint or percussion guns though.

I've recently experienced FTF with newer 22 ammo in both my revolvers and autos. I would say I've had more misfires in the last year than I've had over the last 30. Could be a quality control issue. After waiting it out I turn the unfired cartridge so the firing pin will hit a different part of the rim. They have all fired so I thinking is priming compound not getting the whole way around the rim. The only FTFs I've experienced with center fire is 357 mag out of a brand new Python Elite when they were first introduced. Sent it back to the factory for repair. It was nothing but a light double action spring problem.

The longest hang fire I have ever experienced was with really old ammo and was about muzzle loader firing length of ignition. Click.bang so to speak. If it had happened with a revolver at a range I seriously doubt I would have even been indexing the cylinder. Honestly even if I was squeezing as fast as I could in fear the round “probably” would have gone down the pipe, maybe shaving a bit.

That said I usually count to 10 or so if I have dud if I can do so.

Never had one, never heard of anyone having one. I kind of wonder if it's a carry over from blackpowder days.

All the duds I've had have fired on a second strike, or in the case of some rimfire ammo just haven't gone off at all.

I had an attendee in one of my concealed carry classes about 4 years ago who said he was an instructor for the US Army. He said he was teaching a recruit to shoot the M4 when the recruit had a hang fire. Said the recruit pulled the trigger, the rifle went click but nothing happened. He said they looked at each other for a moment and he opened his mouth to say something to the recruit when the rifle discharged. Classic hang fire.

I've never had a hangfire myself and have never known of anyone else who has.

I saw an 8mm Mauser hang fire shooting old surplus ammo. There was about a 5 second delay but the shooter knew to stay on target.

IF, and a big if, there were a hangfire in a revolver and you pulled the trigger again quickly, that would seem like a bad day if the round fired after the cylinder rotated...

Never had one, but was instructing a person while someone was next to me rapidly firing a S&W 22 revolver. He had a misfire, or so he thought until it went off, and he had already advanced the revolver. I got a little spray of lead particles, I was only about 3 feet away. We checked the gun and ourselves. All good. Eye protection was key in that situation for me by the way.

quote:

Originally posted by josp:
Never had one, but was instructing a person while someone was next to me rapidly firing a S&W 22 revolver. He had a misfire, or so he thought until it went off, and he had already advanced the revolver. I got a little spray of lead particles, I was only about 3 feet away. We checked the gun and ourselves. All good. Eye protection was key in that situation for me by the way.

What if it had been a .44 mag with a fully jacketed bullet? I can't imagine.

That could suck. Like I said earlier, I think black powder revolvers have chain fired (?), not sure if that is correct term. That seems like the closest to what is being described.

One of the Jr Darthfusters suffered a hang fire with some of his uncle's reloaded ammo. Acually blew a chunk out of one of his fingers. Was a SW 686. I have pix but it's gruesome.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
One of the Jr Darthfusters suffered a hang fire with some of his uncle's reloaded ammo. Acually blew a chunk out of one of his fingers. Was a SW 686. I have pix but it's gruesome.

That's not good! Hopefully no permanent damage to your son! How did his finger get injured? Spall off the frame or did the gun come apart in his hand? If not the latter, was there any damage to the gun?

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
One of the Jr Darthfusters suffered a hang fire with some of his uncle's reloaded ammo. Acually blew a chunk out of one of his fingers. Was a SW 686. I have pix but it's gruesome.

That's not good! Hopefully no permanent damage to your son! How did his finger get injured? Spall off the frame or did the gun come apart in his hand? If not the latter, was there any damage to the gun?

When a cartridge discharges in the cylinder of a revolver, gasses and debris escapes through the gap between the cylinder and the frame/barrel. When the round failed to fire, he placed the pistol in his hand to swing the crane out and dump the spent casings. Just as he placed his middle finger behind the cylinder to press it out of the frame, the cartridge discharged. Fortunately he had not depressed the cylinder release yet and, as he was trained since he was 5, he kept the barrel pointed down range. It was a surprise for sure. Had he waited 30 seconds before manipulating the gun, he could have avoided the trip to the hospital. His finger healed completely. We don't shoot any of my Bro-in-law's reloads anymore.....lol

Ah, gotcha. So the gun was still in lockup with the offending cartridge in-line with the barrel, and he got burned by blast coming from around the forcing cone. Still bad, but I guess it could have been worse. I wouldn't shoot any more of uncle's reloads, either, lol!

Still curious what happens if a hangfire occurs with the cylinder out of alignment with the bore...