Kaboom

[rhyrlik]

Could be a case oversize at the base, which could hold it out of battery far enough to blow out the case but still let the striker go forward and fire the round.

Steve. I run brass through Lee Bulge Buster before I ever put them on progressive and plunk test every round.

When you ran them through the bulge buster, did you feel anything out of whack as they passed through the sizing ring? I mean were some hard to resize at first and then got easy then hard again as the casehead went through the ring in a jittery sort of way? I toss those cases.

[elroyyboy]

Could be a case oversize at the base, which could hold it out of battery far enough to blow out the case but still let the striker go forward and fire the round.

Steve. I run brass through Lee Bulge Buster before I ever put them on progressive and plunk test every round.

When you ran them through the bulge buster, did you feel anything out of whack as they passed through the sizing ring? I mean were some hard to resize at first and then got easy then hard again as the casehead went through the ring in a jittery sort of way? I toss those cases.

You know, that's one of the tips I picked up here. I'll be more attentive next time.

[Ming the Merciless]

Ok. I've been reloading for about a year w a Pro 1000(cowboy T videos and lee thread on this forum made it work). I start a reloading session with weighing of 10 charges and checking every 15-20 charges after that. If I stop for any reason, I re weigh 10...

I've been using Titegroup for 40 under 180gr Berry's FP and use Lee FCD on every round. I also measure OAL of 10 when I start and randomly measure during reloading.

My intent was to develop a near minor load in order to make the gun, G35, run nice and soft in production. I've been using 4.3g, 1.135OAL, with success. Not a minor load, chrono approx 875-900 FPS, but it runs the new gun well without having to change recoil spring. I've used this recipe 3 different times with no malfunctions and no leading of the bore. Additionally, I plunk tested every round and discarded for disassembly anything that doesn't drop in easily.

I have changed reloading conditions. I'm in the middle of a divorce and used to reload in my basement shop with lots of lights. Now I use a table, and have moved lights to ensure that I can look into each case prior to placing each bullet by hand for seat/crimp at position 3 in Pro1K.

Reading this, it appears that my process is pretty thorough. Not thorough enough I guess...

I would suspect bullet setback since you are using the Lee FCD and plated bullets. My experience with the FCD is with lead or plated bullets when you resize the seated bullet and case with the FCD die the brass case springs back more than the soft lead/plated bullets and you lose case tension. Using just the Bulge Buster should size the case sufficiently to chamber in any Glock chamber and provide more than enough case tension to prevent bullet setback. The crimp is just to remove any case flare, NOT to hold the bullet in place.

[Slammer]

I had the KABOOM happen also with 40 S&W, or I should say my wife did as it destroyed her Walther 40 PPS.

My son a NRA Range Safety Officer was wathcing her and said it sounded more like a paboom.

Now I have been reloading since I My son and I have been using berry bullets. I thought I had it all down as I have loaded literally 100's of thousands of rounds.

We are using Dillon 550's for most of the Pistol, I use a Corbin Press or Walnut Hill for the largest calibers ie 300 WIN MAG and 50 BMG.

We use Bulge Busters on the 40 and 45 and discard any brass that even look questionable.

I had been seperating all brass by head stamp and weighing each and every round three times, once by me, once by wife or son and then once again by me before considered safe for use. We check the OAL with calipers twice by two different people yet it happened to us.

I had not been using chamber checkers, but have added that for any calibers I could find a chamber check gauge for. ie 9mm, 40, 45, 308, 7.62x39, 7.62x54R, 30-06, 223 etc.

I had served 23 years in Special Forces and am a Sniper that would Load damn near everything 50BMG, 223, 9MM, 40, 45, 308, 30-06, 7.62x39, 7.62x54, multi gauges off shotgun. I was puzzled as I thought I had done my best to ensure all of our safety yet it happened. My wife a fairly new shooter handled it extremely well, she has five different pistols and it did not stop her, although she has no faith in Walther 40's anymore. She went out two days later and bought a Colt New Agent 45, now I did find her anticipating another issue and flinching, so I bought a few 22 Misquitos to build back her confidence, We added a mutitude of additional safety steps, ie chamber guage or checkers you drop the round in to check for proper seating. If it extends past the end not safe to shoot. We check OAL with calipers and weigh each bullet separating by weight, we do the same with brass regardless of headstamp. Why, if I know the weight of brass and bullet in grains and the third item is the powder thesethree added up give me a specific weight the round should weigh. If it is not that on the dot, it gets pulled and redone. Yes time consuming, but it is a heck of alot safer and we shoot every weekend 223, 308, 22, 40, 45 and 9MM. Are very active in the NRA/Winchester Markmanship Program as well as attending NRA courses so it is needless to say we will give up reloading. We will change processes and add additional safety steps. I check cases a heck of alot closer now, and I have found it is the Glock Gen 1 & 2, possibly Gen 3 that bulge Brass, I beleive it was due to the unsupported chamber design, but would have to look it up as I believe in Gen 3 they tightened the Chamber up. Anyways that is our experience with a KABOOM..

[bowenbuilt]

That round was fired out of battery. There is no question about that. Instead of push back my thought would be toward a bullet the had a tad too much OAL. At 1.135 in a stock barrel you are very close to where the rifling starts, it would not take much before the bullet hit the rifling causing the round to fire out of battery. It happened to me the exact same way and afterwards I changed to an aftermarket barrel and had it throated but still kept the 1.135 OAL and have never had this happen since. That was at least 30K ago. Like you I plunk tested every round but one got by me somehow and one is all it took. After it happened I discovered that I had a few bullets that were more abrupt in the nose area than others and I am sure this is what caused my problem. Once you throat the barrel this will not matter, just insurance for $30.00 well spent. Either way I wish they would come up with a different scheme so these things could not fire out of battery, you can read about this everywhere on the net so at least you won't suffer by yourself. When you shoot Glocks at light speed sometimes Murphy just shows up. Glad you didn't get seriously hurt and don't worry, you will soon get over the KaBoom.

[kamikaze1a]

If you recovered the head of the case you should be able to tell if it was OOB by the primer strike.. Glocks will strike the primer off-center when OOB.

If strike centered, then I would say it was a catastrophic case failure with the unsupported chamber a contributing factor... my 2¢

[JaxWiley]

i reload for my h&k uspc .40 and use plated berrys 180, 165, and now 155 hollow base over WST
this is a new powder for me. there is not much data for it in .40 s&w loads
i have been using mixed brass.
i try to be very careful i may be missing something

what is with the flueting with H&K wepons talked about earlier in this thred.

Edited August 25, 2013 by JaxWiley

[jmbaccolyte]

JaxWiley- May I suggest the following website as a start... http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

They list loading data for WST for those bullet weights I believe. Overall cartridge length is critical and the peak chamber pressure will rise rapidly as the case gets shorter than the recipe calls for. I keep track of the number of times that I reload each group of cases and recycle them after several reloadings. If you're shooting a mild load you can get more uses out of a case vesus the higher pressure loads. I inspect my brass after cleaning for any damage, like cracks or bulges. Sometimes I'll even find small rocks, chunks of wood, .25 Auto cases or such in there.

I carried a USP compact in .40 on duty for four or five years and don't remember any chamber fluting. Maybe that's just on the military weapons they make.

Never shot plated bullets through polygonal rifling, sorry.

Edited August 25, 2013 by jmbaccolyte

[area51]

In my eyes, ALL BRASS IS GOOD, except AMERC. I like S&B brass because it's strong.

Once fired brass is a relative term. Once fired in many guns.

I agree with RePete. You need to keep an eye on the crimp and as long as you stay within limits you'll not have a problem.