[Hammer1]

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Assuming no barrel blockage or damage from previous use...

What is the likelihood of destroying a gun with handloaded ammo loaded under careful conditions using prudent low to medium pressure published loads with no change in components ?

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[dgh]

NONE

DGH

 

[GW22]

If you're talking about a catastophic failure (blowing up the gun), it is essentially zero.

-Gary

 

[MDMike]

I haven't been able to do it in the last 28 years of shotshell reloading. And I hope I never do.

 

[16gun]

I'm right there with you MikeD. I've been handloading since 1976 and no blow ups. Let me say though I have caught on two occasions loading in high static electric conditions (winter time) that I had Nitro 100 bridge in the drop tube. Yes sir, and the only way I caught it was final crimp was slightly bulged. Checked the shell and confirmed double charge. Checked the shell before it and it was empty!! Point is anything can happen so it doesn't matter how long you've been loading or how safe you are. I think reloading is statistically safe considering the millions of reloads fired every year. JMHO. Jerry

 

[Dr.Longshot]

None

GB
DLS

 

[Tripod]

I have touched off a couple of double charged (34 grain) 700X loads before figuering out how they happened. My old 1100 took it in stride!

 

[dead on 4]

The same as with a factory shell, it depends on the state of the guns metallurgy at the time the shell was fired, not the size of the load.

Surfer

 

[YOTESLAYER]

I have shot, on two occasions, 33 grains of 700x behind 1 1/8 oz of shot. They bark but I have a very hard time believing that it is enough force to blow a shotgun into a million pieces.

 

[hmb]

In order to blow it into a million pieces you need powder detonation. The sonic wave that accompanies the detonation is what causes the destruction. HMB

 

[YOTESLAYER]

I'd like someone to explain how detonation works because I've shot shells with very little powder and shells with a double charge, neither one blew up.... so how does detonation work???

 

[jmunsell]

click boooooommmmmm

 

[Brian in Oregon]

Smokeless power BURNS at a fixed rate. It is a CONTROLLED rise in pressure.

Detonation is when the powder does not burn but explodes all in the same instant, creating a huge pressure spike.

 

[YOTESLAYER]

I agree with you mac. Now say a wrong type of powder all together was used, something with way to fast of burn rate say, now I see it as a possibility. But normal published loads blowing a gun apart seems highly unlikely to me.

 

[halfmile]

As long as you don't shoot a K80 you are safe. You are probably quite safe with a K80 too, but there are way too many reports not to think about it.

Detonation: Happens in large capacity metallic cases with small powder charges. Flame front from the primer flashes over the whole charge and creates the aforementioned pressure spike. (this cabbage was just recently chewed here, and I'm not going to start over. Suffice to say I believe the loading data publishers).

Detonation is highly unlikely in shotshells since the wad closes off the powder and there is no airspace.

HM

 

[hmb]

HM think about this one. That new batch of Win AA hulls, the ones they discontinued. They had a ridge inside that the wads were hanging up on. This hang up of the wad coupled with a light powder charge would create that shell with an airspace that you were talking about. HMB

 

[trapshootin hippie]

HM, how many times have you witnessed the detonation that you describe? I have shot thousands of large caliber handgun shells with a minimum of powder and never had such thing happen, and no other cowboy shooters either that I know of. Detonation is an unprovable myth, kinda like flying saucers.

GneJ

 

[hmb]

GneJ,

Why don't you google smokeless powder detonation and you can watch the video of the unproveable myth. HMB

 

[jmunsell]

Bonjour

 

[hmb]

Au revoir. HMB