Bad day at the range yesterday!

[rottenit]

Had a bad day at the range yesterday, my .40 Brazos HP Edge went Kaboom…

I had just finished up doing some 50yd groups and switched to a dot torture drill at 21ft. On shot #29 I felt a sharp jolt in my hand and it felt like someone threw a bunch of sand in my face. I looked down at the gun and the chamber was split open and in multiple pieces. The slide would not operate due to the chamber being bent out of the cut-out. Dropped the mag top round was damaged and the feed lips looked a little beat. Looked down the barrel and it appears that a piece of the case tried to make its way through the rifling. I am 100 percent positive that this wasn’t an obstructed barrel (squib) then fresh round situation I saw the shot hit the paper before the kaboom. I’m guessing a double charge? This was remanufactured ammo from a company. I was wearing safety glasses and am very happy about that . Funny tho, these aren't my usual ones. I forgot the normal shooting glasses and had these left over in my car (got them after lasik a couple of days ago).

I am not the 1st owner, by the previous owner’s account there may be up to 2 others in the chain of ownership. The ammo company wants documentation for the gun, I contacted Brazos they confirmed that the gun was there’s and it was sold in 2010 but that’s all they will say which I get, although I didn’t need the attitude I got from the person.





More Photos:
http://rottenit.smugmug.com/photos/swfp ... Key=JwcD2r

[TTS]

Wow, glad you are OK. I have not seen a KB like this before, they usually blow out the bottom and sides.

[Seismic Sam]

Yes, thank God for the sunglasses. If I were you' I'd ask (meaning DEMAND!!!) to know what the charge weight and powder was for those loads, and then try and experiment to see how much of that powder you can actually get in the case. From the looks of the damage, I wouldn't rule out a triple charge, and seeing as these kinds of companies sell on price point, they are going to use the smallest charge they can of the fastest burning powder they can (meaning Bullseye or something similar) to get the specs they want. Just for S&G, you might also want to ask they if they have insurance as an ammo manufacturer for their product, and if they have the FFL to go with it. I doubt you'll get an honest answer, but you might find out something from the speed that they hang up on you after you ask those questions.

BTW, have we heard anything more from old whats-his-name in Bloomington yet?? This is a perfect illustration of what can happen when you buy rebuilt or handloaded ammo from some cut-rate company or a guy in a basement.
Oh, and how much are you out for losing that gun?? That looks like $2K plus worth of destroyed hardware to me.

[rottenit]

Replacement cost on the gun is $2600

They seem like a moderately large company that seems to cater to the action shooting crowd. I've shot about 2500 rounds new and reman from them without a single issue. They say they pressure test all cases.

[Bessy]

Replacement cost on the gun is $2600

They seem like a moderately large company that seems to cater to the action shooting crowd. I've shot about 2500 rounds new and reman from them without a single issue. They say they pressure test all cases.

Atlanta Arms?

If it is AA, it's probably loaded to just above major... in which case you aren't going to get a triple charge in the case. If you bought this from a another competitive shooter.. I'd wonder about the history of the gun and why it was sold, and what kind of loads were put through it. Many USPSA shooters reload for cost savings, not for enjoyment, spend as little time on the press as they can, and don't always have the background they should before jumping in.

Case failures generally speaking don't blow the chamber apart, culprit is more likely a double charged round. 40 IMHO far less forgiving to load for then something like .45

EDITED TO ADD

Depending on the slide, and frame, the cost to fix the gun is probably much less that 2600. If you can salvage the frame and slide, and FCG the price tag shouldn't be that bad.

[rottenit]

I've been able to piece together some of the history I know the previous owner, and he knows the owner before him but there may be an owner before him so no clue what people were running. The slide is dented/deformed by the chamber. Popped what's left of the case out, extractor is just floating around in there.

[Bessy]

I've been able to piece together some of the history I know the previous owner, and he knows the owner before him but there may be an owner before him so no clue what people were running. The slide is dented/deformed by the chamber. Popped what's left of the case out, extractor is just floating around in there.

Yeah that slide is hosed...but you can still probably salvage the sights, and maybe frame and FCG? So crazy...

[crbutler]

Looks a lot like metal fatigue to me.

If that gun was given a steady diet of high pressure loads, that could've been the cause. Usually when these fail from an isolated over load, they blow out the case at the bottom and the mag goes as well. I doubt that Brazos will do much for you, and will probably point a finger at the barrel manufacturer who will state that the ammo was the culprit.

The classic clays/heavy bullet IPSC load was over pressure. Most guys were running that combo 5-10 years ago.

Lucky you are not a lefty there.

[rottenit]

I wish I had a good way to get the slide separated from the frame to take a peek, tried a decent amount of force to move what used to be the chamber out of the way but it barely budges. I can cock, fire and mag release works so the lower is probably ok im guessing. I'm not sure if I should mention the ammo MFR name until I get some sort of resolution, when I spoke with them on the phone they said that everything that I submit goes to a legal department. There are disclaimers on the website, and even the box of ammo so i'm not sure how much legal liability they (or really any ammo manufacturer) carries in situations like this.

[FJ540]

If you want to get the barrel out and see about salvaging the slide, I can mill out the chamber area and we can sepparate them.

[Bessy]

Looks a lot like metal fatigue to me.

If that gun was given a steady diet of high pressure loads, that could've been the cause. Usually when these fail from an isolated over load, they blow out the case at the bottom and the mag goes as well. I doubt that Brazos will do much for you, and will probably point a finger at the barrel manufacturer who will state that the ammo was the culprit.

The classic clays/heavy bullet IPSC load was over pressure. Most guys were running that combo 5-10 years ago.

Lucky you are not a lefty there.

Most uspsa shooters myself included like to run 180gr projectiles, you run your OAL too short, or pick a fast powder like clays,, and yeah that could see that being an issue. We had one guy last week.. gun was super loud.. recoil looked pretty stout. He was having problems with his load length, and I asked them about it. 5.8 gr of 231 with a 180 gr bullet (I run 4.7-4.8 so that is really hot). His response was that the "book" said that was minimum starting load. Seems crazy to be metal fatigue but you could be on to something.

[rottenit]

Looks a lot like metal fatigue to me.

If that gun was given a steady diet of high pressure loads, that could've been the cause. Usually when these fail from an isolated over load, they blow out the case at the bottom and the mag goes as well. I doubt that Brazos will do much for you, and will probably point a finger at the barrel manufacturer who will state that the ammo was the culprit.

The classic clays/heavy bullet IPSC load was over pressure. Most guys were running that combo 5-10 years ago.

Lucky you are not a lefty there.

Wasn't really thinking that Brazos would be at fault just wanted some basic info like if it was one of there guns and when it was sold. She got a bit of an attitude with me on the phone when I was polite which was annoying considering that I've spent some money in the past directly with them. The gun was sold for the first time in 2010. I've considered metal fatigue who really knows, ive looked it over a lot when it was cleaned there was nothing that stuck out. This is what STI says about the barrel:

"STI barrels are made from 416 rifle grade stainless steel billet forgings. The bore is gun drilled, button rifled, then air gauged to offer the most exacting size and the most consistent barrel available. The rifling is 1 in 16 twist and has six lands and grooves. The barrels are vacuum heat treated and vacuumed tempered to 40Rc, then machined to exacting specifications. The barrels are short chambered to allow gunsmiths to cut the chamber to their application."

With metal fatigue would you get that much splitting, there is a chunk missing out of the top and the bottom is split as well?

Funny thing about the lefty, the next part of the drill was weak-hand only so I was 2 shots away from that.

[Randygmn]

That's quite a thick bit of steel there to be blown up like a balloon. I can't imagine it being fatigue. IMO, this can only be ammo related.

Edit to add: very glad your ok. I've been shooting a lot lately with my 12 yr old daughter. Makes me think twice. That could've been BAD

[FJ540]

If you get a crack started, it continues propogating and eventually you exceed the tensile strength of the intact material which remains.

This is why barrels and bolts get proof tested and then MPI checked. If the proof load starts a crack, the part will eventually fail prematurely.

[Ron Burgundy]

Wow! Glad you're ok.