Ranger6 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 At our IDPA match yesterday one of our competitors had his G-22 discharge prematurely. The round went off (apparently) as it was being chambered. This destroyed the magazine and broke the trigger guard from the gun. The shooter (luckily) only received mild injuries to his finger and hand. He has 4 stiches in his finger and a few pieces of metal embedded in his hand. He was firing "strong hand" at the time. The exact cause of the discharge could not be readily identified. According to those on the stage, there was no "squib" load prior to the blast. Causes include the possibility that that the primer was struck by the ejector, the magazine fed the round in incorrectly, or some obstruction in the chamber set up the discharge. The shooter stated that the rounds had been reloaded (which could lead to an overcharge situation) and that they used lead bullets. Some shooters stated that the lead bullets could be the cause of the problem. If so, should Safety Officers be addressing this as part of the Safety Briefing prior to the start of our matches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hkguy Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 sounds like something could have been in the firing pin channel that kept the firing pin extended and caused a slam fire. Its possible that there could have been a double charge that lead to the KaBoom too. As an SO its not my place to lecture shooters about ammunition unless i'm running a equipment check stage and your ammo does not make PF. Ultimately it is the shooters responsibility to make sure their ammo is up to snuff, especially with reloads. I know a few glock shooters that run lead bullets and have not had issues, but i think they are running a harder bullet. with lead, alot depends on the size and how fast you push them. at any rate im glad to hear the shooter is doing well and is on the mend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csiedmond1 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 That's scary!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.E.Anglin Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 high primer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Hold the press, You said that it was a premature discharge...do you mean the finger was off the trigger, or on the trigger? What did the brass look like? It is relatively easy to figure out exaclty what occurred if the facts are presented in a consistent manner. Blowing out the magazine and trigger guard is likely not an out of battery condition but rather a KB or a case head separation. But you have presented it as if someone beleives it was out of battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Egan Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Hold the presses again.. I was second SO on the stage, standing behind and just to the left of the shooter, holding the clipboard and watching the gun. It was the third shot, and it was a G21 - full size .45., not a .40 G22, and the shot did not go off prematurely. Obviously the care of the shooter came first, applying pressure to the cut finger, and making sure he had no other injuries. That said, I did get to examine the remnants of the handgun briefly, and question the shooter. It was an obvious double charge resulting in catastrophic case failure in my opinion. The shot was much louder, and pieces flew several directions. The frame was broken into several pieces, one of which gave the shooter the cut on his trigger finger. The magazine was blown downward, and dis-assembled. The slide and barrel were blown upward. The case was in full battery with the slide. The feed ramp was split downward, and the exposed portion of the brass was blown out. The slide was bulged at the ejection port area. The firearm was totally destroyed. Shooter loads on a single stage press, 4.5 (or so, based on memory of conversation) grains of bullseye, and I didnt get the bullet weight. However, they are a truncated cone lead bullet and I would guess 185. I looked down the slide and barrel and there was no obvious leading or other obstruction, and no obvious bulging further down the barrel indicating a previous squib. I will contact the shooter and get better info on his loads and process, and maybe a photo. The good news is that the shooter was not injured worse, nor were any others. By far the worse kbooom i have witnessed, and I have seen four now. Many thanks to Ranger6 for helping with the first aid, and getting the shooter to the emergency room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 That makes a lot more sense Tim. Just curious, was the bore badly leaded or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Egan Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I looked down the slide and barrel and there was no obvious leading or other obstruction, and no obvious bulging further down the barrel indicating a previous squib. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger6 Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Tim is right. My typo. The handgun was a G-21, not G-22. Ranger6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. B Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 It'd be pretty easy to double charge a .45 case with bullseye. 9gr would still fit in the case, I'm pretty sure. That's why its imperative to look before you seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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