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Blew Up an XDM40 Today
Wymore Wrangler:
I'll echo all the sentiments that your okay!!!!
GreyGeek:
--- Quote from: OnTheFly on August 03, 2014, 09:28:21 PM ---I have jonm's thirst for knowledge. From what I have read (which is very little), there is no known reason for this phenomenon. Some say it only occurs with slow burning powders with a high case volume to powder volume ratio. Though I've also read that ammunition manufacturers have not been able to reproduce it. Seems to be somewhat debated, though I'm not saying it isn't possible.
Fly
--- End quote ---
Detonation or Secondary Explosion Effects?
The knee jerk reaction is "double charge".
There were ten cartridges. The first cartridge shot exploded. The rest of the reloads had the powder charge the loader claimed he used. Bullets and primers in the remaining rounds were the same. Cases looked good. AOLs were the same on the remaining cartridges. IIRC, I calculated the charge volume to be only about 1/4th the volume of the cartridge, taking into account the part of the volume taken up by the bullet in the casing. I don't think anyone spiked it with granulated TNT...
http://www.reloadammo.com/liteload.htm
--- Quote ---Date: Sun, 29 Dec 1996 12:22:51
From: One Horse clochmul@chem.duke.edu
Subject: Re: Detonations
This is an important thread because the more people try to use popcorn poppers { light loads} the more chance there is for more destructive events. Far be it for me to argue with FBI Ballistics but as a Ph.D. chemist with more than the average knowledge of explosives and such:
1. There are studies that show that essentially all the powder in a typical pistol load combusts before the bullet leaps the gap into the forcing cone.
2. The expansion that occurs is the expansion of the gases produced in the combustion not the expansion of the powder.
The best argument for why detonation occurs rather than the simple burning and slow burning rate of smokeless propellant is that very light loads expose a larger surface to the primer jet, By analogy, granary explosions occur when finely divided dust is suspended in air-the effect is a detonation. If you have never seen a granary but saw "Outbreak", the sterilizing bomb in the beginning of the movie is a fuel aerosol bomb { once called Daisy Cutter}. The rapid combustion/explosion/detonation is the result of the high surface area of the aerosol fuel droplets {total area of all the droplets}. The effect is dramatic and large landing zones for helos can be created where no stumps are left but no crater is formed. The analogy is to a the high surface area of a flake or ball powder expose to ignition if it is spread as a thin layer over an entire case length. More powder gets burning sooner and ....
One way to make a lab experiment fail is to load and keep the cartridges bullet up and then load so as to not spread the light charge over the length of the case? If the theory is correct, that is. There is a pertinent article in the last issue of The Cast Bullet - the Cast Bullet Association journal.
--- End quote ---
newfalguy101:
--- Quote from: SemperFiGuy on August 03, 2014, 09:41:56 PM ---
Pic of the handgun after the blow up is posted earlier in this thread.
Regarding the cartridge case: Parts of it went in my face. And then were picked out. Other pieces were spread around the firing line by the blast. I did find a remnant on the ground that could have been the culprit, but not sure. Front part of the case was blown off at an angle. The base appeared to have been scraped very hard across the slide face, scarfing off part of the metal off into a flashing.
--- End quote ---
Your description ( in my mind anyway ) seems to support my theory that you experienced an out of battery detonation.
I neglected to mention that I am glad you weren't hurt.
SemperFiGuy:
--- Quote ---Your description ( in my mind anyway ) seems to support my theory that you experienced an out of battery detonation.
I neglected to mention that I am glad you weren't hurt..
--- End quote ---
Second Thing First: Once again, I sincerely appreciate all the solicitous comments received here in regard to my personal safety.
Back to First Thing: I'd really like to believe that this event resulted from an out-of-battery detonation (rather than from a powder overcharge) because my reloading practices are about as meticulous as can be carried out on a single-stage press setup. Nevertheless, it happened.
I'll be back on the shooting range again soon. And most definitely do not want a repeat of this experience. Probably couldn't bring myself to mention it to anyone, especially this Forum.
[/size]
sfg
OnTheFly:
A few questions:
How many rounds through this gun?
Not to be insulting, and possibly a REALLY stupid question, but did you ever lubricate the firing pin channel?
Fly
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