Posted on 02/28/2007 11:52:31 AM PST by archy
Catastrophic Failure of Semiautomatic Handguns
The following bulletin was received from the New Jersey State Police - Officer Safety Division
Date: February 23, 2007
Continuous reloading an chambering of the same round may cause catastrophic failure in semiautomatic handguns.
The Security Force at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, recently reported on the catastrophic failure of a semiautomatic handgun when it was fired. The internal explosion caused the frame to break while the slide and barrel separated from the weapon and traveled down range. No one was injured in the incident. An investigation revealed that security personnel were repeatedly charging the same round of ammunition into the chamber.
Technical personnel at Glock Inc. advise that repeated chambering of the same round may cause the bullet to move deeper in the casing, further compacting the prpellent. When a normal cartride is fired, the firing pin his the primer, igniting the propellant. When the propellant burns, the gas pressure drives the bullet out of the case and down the barrel. However, if the propellant has been compact, the pressure may increase beyond the gun's specifications, causing the weapon to break apart. Sigarms Inc's peronnel confirm that reloading the same round five or six times will cause the problems, noting that reloading the same round even once will void their warranty. Both manufacturers stress that the problem is not with the gun, but with chambering the same round repeatedly.
The NJ Regional Operations Intelligence Center urges all law enforement officers not to chamber the same round when loading their weapons.
***For example, when you clean your weapon, most of us drop the magazine and then pull the slide back thereby ejecting the round in the barrel. After cleaning the weapon many of us will return the "same" round to the barrel that we initially extracted. Each time the slide slams forward on that same round it seats it deeper into the cartridge. Apparently, by seating the round deeper into the cartridge, it creates greater pressure when the round is intentionally detonated by a firing pin strike and is causing weaopn's to explode.
-xxx-
L
Okay, let me show my ignorance of guns and ammo.
I was under the assumption that older, black-powder guns had a slow rate of powder burn, so slow in fact that some residue of the charge was still burning as the round left the barrell.
Now, newer guns use much faster powder.
I would be surprised if powder was still burning, TO THE POINT OF INCREASING MUZZLE PRESSURE, when the round left the end of the gun.
I'va always assumed that maximum muzzle pressure behind he round was acheived early in the bullet's travel down the barrel. Is that wrong?
Ideally, where in the bullet's travel down the barrell is maximum muzzle pressure achieved?
I don't understand how the relatively short distance that the extra-insertion of a round into the casing experienced could account for THAT much overpressure. Once the powder starts burning and casing pressure starts rising, the bullet begins to leave the casing. As the distance increases, more powder has to burn to keep increasing pressure.
In my admittedly shallow bit of knowledge on guns and ammo, I would have thought that maximum pressure would be achieved several inches down the barrell, not at the point where the powder first began to burn.
It almost sound like the bullet is getting stuck in the casing and will not expel properly from the casing.
Nothing beats a good revolver by your side.
The Glock 22 is known for it's unsupported chamber.
That is, the cartridge case is not fully supported by the chamger, which increases the likelihood of these things happening.
The Glock 22 has a higher rate for this type of failure. When coupled with the large numbers of this handgun, especially in department armories, you see many more instances of the Glock KaBOOM.
That said, I've used a Glock 22 since 1993 with no issues and a factory barrel. If a user is worried, they can install an aftermarket barrel for $150.
Three things jump off the page at me1) Does everyone everyone dress this way at the range?
He wore the prescribed personal protective equipment for firearms use
(safety glasses, armored vest, head and hearing protection, nomex gloves, a long sleeve shirt, and safety boots.)
2) What does this mean? It sounds very unsafe!
PTLA will not use defective rounds for training and will dispose of them.
and three: the barrel looks like there had been a squibb load with an obstruction
no, it was usually a problem with nylon holsters (especially IWB) where if you aren't very careful the trigger could get pulled.
there have also been some who shoved their glock in their belt, one that hung it on a hook, and a couple that have gotten the trigger hung up on the top strap.
plus the idiots that fifed.
Good Lord....
All that flash you see when you fire a short barrel pistol is unburned powder. Continued powder burn is also one reason rifles will have a higher muzzle velocity shooting a pistol round. Black powder is classified as an explosive because it burns very rapidly.
This just a guess on my part,
but if you practice with "defective" rounds, as they do a PTLA
sooner or later a defective round will squib then someone unfamiliar with a squib will
then clear the action and not take note of a empty shell casing ejecting
and thus leaving a barrel with a round in it.Then the next person loads a round and fires, the barrel will expand exactly like the picture.
Today, Richmond VA (Glock too) :
Guard wounded by his own pistol
Richmond Times-Dispatch Feb 28, 2007
A security guard at the federal courthouse in downtown Richmond was slightly wounded this morning when a handgun he was handling accidentally discharged.
The guard was grazed in the right upper thigh area by a lone bullet fired from a .40-caliber Glock 23 pistol, and he was taken to VCU Medical Center, where he was treated and released, said Jim Daley, the supervising deputy in charge of the U.S. Marshals Service in Richmond.
The guard, whose name was not released, is employed by Akal Security, which provides 22 security officers for the courthouse at 10th and East Main streets.
Daley said the guard had just reported for work about 7 a.m. and was putting on his equipment in a third-floor room used to store weapons, radios and other equipment. As the guard was putting the gun in his holster, it discharged, Daley said.
The bullet struck a filing cabinet and broke apart. No other injuries were reported.
Authorities are unsure why the weapon fired, Daley said. The Glock 23 has no external safety.
"We're going to check and make sure there are no defects with the gun and go from there," he said.
Another reason to like the tried and true 1911 A1?
Another question that the article brought up is, what, exactly, is the proper way to dispose of a cartridge that you don't want to fire? Is a bullet puller the way to go? If so, what do you do with the powder, and what is the proper way to dispose of the primer?
The bullet slamming into the feedramp as it is being chambered is what causes it.
"I can't say that about my Beretta or H&K."
Really? I had a USP that never failed after the spring was broken in.
My favorite negligent discharge story is the one I heard about where a security guard and janitor were going to split a 6-pack and didn't have a bottle opener. "I'll just use the trigger guard of my pistol" thought the guard.
The janitor got a 9mm bullet in the calf.
Other than that, I love the weapon. It's the same size as my Glock 23, but a little heavier.
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