Bad .45ACP Juju Reloading

[planeflyer21]

So one of my buddies calls me up yesterday afternoon, says he blew up his new Ruger SR1911 Commander Lightweight, that "the round just went off in the magazine."  My immediate first thought was "No it didn't."

So grab my trusty Brownell's red toolbox and head out to his place.  He was insistent that he fired and the 1911 cycled and ejected but the next round went off in the magazine.  Blew off the bottom grip screws on each side.  Couldn't retract the slide but about 1/4".

He also said that when he pulled the mag out, the next cartridge was still in place with the side blown out and the bullet still in place.

Also very insistent that he loaded 4.5gr of Power Pistol, with regular LPP and a 230gr FMJ.

When I looked, first thing I did was shine a light into the chamber witness hole that Ruger has on their SR1911s:  yup, case still in the chamber.  Took the nylon side of the Brownell's hammer and was able to get the slide off the frame and we knocked out the case.  The case head had blown out and down into the magazine.

Speculation now but it appears that the force from the BOOM cranked down on the next cartridge, smashed it against the rear of the magazine with enough force to pop the primer and ignite the powder.  Both combined charges blew out the bottom of the grips.

All theory at this point, so I texted up brother Hemi with the following photos.  He stated the same, that the case in the chamber blew out by the loading ramp and that it was most likely a double charge of powder.

Using my buddy's calipers, we measured both the slide rails and frame rails.  Both had a slight swelling of a couple of thousandths of an inch near the feed ramp if in battery.  When trying the slide to frame fit afterwards, there was a binding between the frame/slide forward of the battery position.  After I left, he cleaned it and said the binding is gone and everything moves well and clear.

There were no visible cracks or other damage to the naked eye, other than the one lower grip screw he found had the lower 2 threads stripped off.  The grip bushings were fine. Grips were fine.  Hard to see in the photo, the top round in the mag that went off imprinted the case head shape onto the magazine! 

I have to say, having read that Ruger made the slide and barrel from one solid forged piece of steel, I now believe it.  Pretty damn strong!

Be careful reloading!  Check, double check, recheck!

You can see in the one slide photo the bit of primer cup that is stuck in the firing pin hole.

Thanks again Hemi!

Edited March 27, 2016 by planeflyer21

[NTXshooter]

 

Wow, he is a lucky guy.  That could have been bad in a weaker pistol.

[survivalshop]

       Don't see how a round can be set off by impacting a flat surface on the Mag. , just doesn't jive . A high set primer might & the power released from it exploding could set off the round under it .  Also a high primer could go off before it was completely chambered , All speculation on what happened ,of course  , as was said .

  Double charges are very deadly . Its why I use Powders that a double charge will over flow the case or make it so a Bullet will not seat , takes away any probability of it happening.

 Would of liked to see photo's with the Pistol unmolested after incident , might tell more .

Edited March 27, 2016 by survivalshop

[planeflyer21]

2 hours ago, survivalshop said:

       Don't see how a round can be set off by impacting a flat surface on the Mag. , just doesn't jive . A high set primer might & the power released from it exploding could set off the round under it .  Also a high primer could go off before it was completely chambered , All speculation on what happened ,of course  , as was said .

  Double charges are very deadly . Its why I use Powders that a double charge will over flow the case or make it so a Bullet will not seat , takes away any probability of it happening.

 Would of liked to see photo's with the Pistol unmolested after incident , might tell more .

I wish I'd seen it before he started tinkering with it.

My theory is the primer of the round in the magazine was blown out by the pressure of the blowout, allowing it to pop on the back of the magazine.  The residue of burnt powder was all over quite an extensive area.

Somehow I missed taking a photo of the frame.

[392heminut]

Just glad your friend wasn't hurt (other than his feelings!) Guns can be replaced.

[planeflyer21]

Oh his butt is hurt.  That's for certain.

He called today.  He's been pulling bullets.  Found quite a few with 10gr of Power Pistol.  Definately a double charge.  Wants to blame every piece of equipment but the one between his ears.  Says the 5-0-5 scale must have bumped up 10gr for a few loads without him noticing it, then went back down.

Every time he came up with an excuse, I would say "Or it's the guy loading."  Doesn't want to admit he may have made a mistake.

Load long enough and you will.

[sketch]

Good reality check for me! Im about to relode 1k of 223 with a friend that is still learning. I will watch every move closley! Thanks for the reminder plane!!

[planeflyer21]

UPDATE:

Dude got his 1911 checked out.  A+! good to go!

God was watching him that day.

[washguy]

54 minutes ago, planeflyer21 said:

UPDATE:

Dude got his 1911 checked out.  A+! good to go!

God was watching him that day.

Yes God was taking care of him....could have had a new name...."lefty"              Wash

[unforgiven]

What's wrong with "lefty"  Hahaha

[Dane Armory]

2 hours ago, unforgiven said:

What's wrong with "lefty"  Hahaha

DE Nile it's not just a river !

Maybe his dog was loading that day ?

[Rsquared]

On ‎4‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 10:23 PM, unforgiven said:

What's wrong with "lefty"  Hahaha

Oh...I think you know mister.........................

[survivalshop]

On March 28, 2016 at 11:04 PM, planeflyer21 said:

Oh his butt is hurt.  That's for certain.

He called today.  He's been pulling bullets.  Found quite a few with 10gr of Power Pistol.  Definately a double charge.  Wants to blame every piece of equipment but the one between his ears.  Says the 5-0-5 scale must have bumped up 10gr for a few loads without him noticing it, then went back down.

Every time he came up with an excuse, I would say "Or it's the guy loading."  Doesn't want to admit he may have made a mistake.

Load long enough and you will.

  Its quite possible his scale did screw up , but wouldn't you notice a double charge , loading by hand , one at a time ? Its always operator error with reloading , if loads are incorrect.  He got lucky , for sure , glade he is OK .

 I try to blame the wife , but she is never in the reloading room , unless she wants something from the safe.?

[planeflyer21]

When working up loads, I check each case with a flashlight.  I've only had a few double loads and they were VERY visible.

[Sisco]

Plane your right, Good idea to use only powders that overflow a case on a double charge. Cheap scales will give bad results. My old Lee manual scale would vary well over one grain. When I discovered that I DC'd it and picked up a digital scale.

[planeflyer21]

I have two Lee scales.  Both are dead on, as is my digital scale.

I remember thinking it wouldn't work but Trail Boss stomped butt for .45acp!

[mineralman55]

7 hours ago, planeflyer21 said:

I have two Lee scales.  Both are dead on, as is my digital scale.

I remember thinking it wouldn't work but Trail Boss stomped butt for .45acp!

Trail Boss is a great powder for so many pistol loads. I really like it for .45acp, and it is outstanding for 357mag and 44mag. Believe it or not, those funny little donut shapes actually feed well through a Uniflo.

[planeflyer21]

Really?!  That's very cool.  I'd imagine those .357 and .44 magnum loads tone down to Special levels?

[mineralman55]

1 hour ago, planeflyer21 said:

Really?!  That's very cool.  I'd imagine those .357 and .44 magnum loads tone down to Special levels?

Yep. I don't get a chance to get to the range as often as I'd like, so when I do get there, I tend to shoot a lot of rounds. I don't care what anyone says, shooting full power loads in a .357 or .44mag is not an all day activity. 4.1 grains of Trail Boss underneath a 158 LSWC, or 6.5 grains of Trail Boss underneath a 200 LRNFP are accurate, powderpuff, all-day shooters. In the 45ACP, 4.1 grains under a 230 LRN is an accurate, easy shooting round.

For those of you looking for another low-recoil powder try Ramshot Competition. It was actually developed for "cowboy" loads, and it works great in the .45ACP and .357mag. It works well in the 44mag, but not as well as Trail Boss.

(This is a bit off the original topic, but I'm rambling for the fun of it.)

[planeflyer21]

Ramble on brother!

 

[bubbas4570]

Me likely that version! 

 

[FreQRiDeR]

Oh man! I make a habit of capping my cartridges with a bullet (by hand) directly after charging them and I tend to use powders that fill my cases 85-100 percent (usable) so thank God, I've never experienced a double charge!