outerlimits Posted November 1, 2004 Share Posted November 1, 2004 witnessed a good friend have his benelli explode using a tec loader at a 3 gun match yesterday. this was an extremely experienced shooter who competes regularly in 3 gun. the round blew the tec tube apart, blew the handle in 2 pieces, and sent #8 shot all over the receiver. several of the shells were compressed into what looked like 2' long and very ugly. he was unhurt (very lucky), and the benelli needs to be looked over to determine if any of the internal parts got torched as well. after witnessing this, i can assure you my loads on the next stage were alot more deliberate! the only reason i'm posting this is this is the 2nd person i know who has had this occur, one with modified handles, the other with stock (older) tec handles. at some point, uspsa needs to consider this issue in terms of getting the manufacturer to define how to safely modify theee handles to avoid future accidents. it's interesting to me that they have been silent on this for so long now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 Are you refering to Adam at the Targetmaster match? He was definitely luck in that he didn't turn the gun over as much as he normally does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wide45 Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 Too much we don't know here. Reloaded ammo? New handles? Modified? Dowels? Graphite in the tubes? Sand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 (edited) Too much we don't know here.Reloaded ammo? New handles? Modified? Dowels? Graphite in the tubes? Sand? Agreed. I was there and saw some of the damage. It will not stop me from using them though. Been using them in the un-modified form since they were first introduced. Made the safety mods a few years back and I intend to keep on using them. Adam is the only person I know who has actually had it happen to them. I know there are numerous, documented instances, but still and all folks, how often do pistol shooters have squibs and booms? How often do fancy unloading practices create brass shrapnel zones? Do we disallow the usage of re-loaded ammunition on the grounds that there is a squib once in a while and even less often someone doesn’t catch it soon enough?*(rhetorical question mark) Do we mandate that no fancy moves are allowed because once every leap year, someone blows it?*(rhetorical again) What are the facts? We may never know for sure. Adam’s OK, beyond that, I will not lose any sleep over it. He was definitely lucky in that he didn't turn the gun over as much as he normally does. The point I see here is that maybe he was doing something different and another factor also stepped in. The key phrase here is the “as much as he normally does” one. To me that actually says something. -- Regards, Edited November 2, 2004 by George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 Well the key seems to be that they were either old style or modified according to the post. The old style have been fixed by the manufacturer so either make the primer cut or upgrade to the new ones. If they were modified who knows how they were done. I saw a guy show up at one of the local matches with the dowel rods screwed in with a metal screw right where the promer would be and for safety he put a piece of Duct tape over it. I've used the new style with and without the dowels. The Arrendondo piece or a hogged out pistol grip eliminates the need for the dowels. Like anything else USPSA can't stop people from taking a safe piece of gear and doing something to mod it into a safety hazard, if they do we all get screwed. A little common sense goes a long way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted November 15, 2004 Author Share Posted November 15, 2004 Well the key seems to be that they were either old style or modified according to the post. The old style have been fixed by the manufacturer so either make the primer cut or upgrade to the new ones. If they were modified who knows how they were done. I saw a guy show up at one of the local matches with the dowel rods screwed in with a metal screw right where the promer would be and for safety he put a piece of Duct tape over it. I've used the new style with and without the dowels. The Arrendondo piece or a hogged out pistol grip eliminates the need for the dowels. Like anything else USPSA can't stop people from taking a safe piece of gear and doing something to mod it into a safety hazard, if they do we all get screwed. A little common sense goes a long way. lemme clarify the specifics...the tec loaders in question were the old style, modified with the relief cut. now, i will say this after looking over the midifications, the cut was not that much. when i modified mine, i borrowed a new handle from a buddy and tried to duplicate it. i also bored out the opening a little and chamfered the edges. his were not like that. as far as "upgrading" to the new handles, you can, but you have to buy the tubes and the pouch/bracket. armstec will not sell you separate components. the only way you can get replacement stuff is by shipping him the exploded parts...he won't even talk to you until you do. at that point, he has the evidence, so yer outta luck. i suggested to my friend that he take a couple of good pictures of the exploded tecloader parts, the trashed benelli, the shells, his shirts, etc and send them to armstec, along with an attorney's business card. that should get his attention. the armstec guy is pretty lucky so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Well let's see. New speed loaders 30 bucks for 2 x 3 sets = 90 bucks Blown match + Shotgun + Hand + shirt get the point. Me I'd spend 90 bucks rather than have my damn hand blown off. Of course you can always do the great American pass time and threaten to sue the company because you tried to modify the design and F&&*ed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 I bought some tec loaders 3 weeks ago from Brownells and they don't have the relief cut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVI4ME Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Goerge, Was this OUR Adam that had the Tec-Loaders go boom? At the Cowboy/IPSC halloween 3 gun? WOW? I was wondering why he didn't finish the match, now I know... Holy Sh*t Glad he is ok Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted November 16, 2004 Author Share Posted November 16, 2004 Goerge,Was this OUR Adam that had the Tec-Loaders go boom? At the Cowboy/IPSC halloween 3 gun? WOW? I was wondering why he didn't finish the match, now I know... Holy Sh*t Glad he is ok Rob yep, that was "our" adam. i haven't talked to him since, so he may be looking for another benelli... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddjob Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 Glad he ain't looking for another hand!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggerJJ Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 Come on guys, its been over 2 weeks since this incident and STILL little to no detailed info??? From what I read it was old tec tube handles, but were they modified properly? Was the primer cut done correctly? How about a photo? With or without dowel? Possible dirt in the primer cut? What kind of ammo, reloads or factory? If reloads, were the crimps deep enough? What's the detailed story? I think the entire 3gun community needs to see as much as possible about this, the Tec Loaders have had quite a bad rap from mostly rumors... thanks! JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 I think the entire 3gun community needs to see as much as possible about this, the Tec Loaders have had quite a bad rap from mostly rumor I agree. I was there but didn't see the loader parts closely. Now I wish I had. I believe the bad rap would mostly go away if we had all of the real hard info about all of the actual occurrences. Rumor always takes over when there aren't enough facts ;-) I'm still using them and I'm not skeered! -- Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted November 18, 2004 Author Share Posted November 18, 2004 i provided plenty of specifics in my post above. i've explained the mods to his handles, and outside of that, the tubes had no dowels at all. ammo was fiocchi power sreaders...what else do you need to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 Yep, looks like another home gunsmithing project gone wrong. I don't see how you can blame Armstech on this one. Poorly modified and left a sharp edge apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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