P22 went BANG !

[Jedi]

Here is a little background. AK model (purchased 9 months ago) with about 3000 rounds through it. It has been very reliable, I keep it both the gun and the mags clean, not spotless but clean. I use dry molly powder to keep it smooth running. Been using Remington Golden Bullets without a major problem. Occasional dud, and occasional failure to feed (nose of bullet hangs up on top of the barrel while breech block pushes on back end of bullet. Last range session I fired about 50 rounds and had one failure to feed. No problem, simply tapping the mag, and racking the slide cleared the problem. Fired another 25 or so rounds and the it happened … the P22 went BANG ! And then my left thumb hurt.

The slide was locked open. Looking at my hands I had black marks on my left thumb which lined up with the gap between slide and the frame between the take down lever and he slide stop. I also had black marks on the fleshy part of both hands as they wrap around the gap between the grip and the base of the mag. I also had black marks on my right index finger from my knuckle to my first joint, again right along the gap of the slide and the polymer frame. (no pictures, old school cell phone with no camera at the range and I did not bring that other kind of shooting gear) Looking through the top of the ejector port on the top of the slide I saw what was left of the primer and I also was only able to find three pieces of shrapnel. I removed the slide and confirmed from the rear that the barrel was empty. At that point I also noticed that the slide stop spring had “sprung” out of position.

You can see in the photo the spring sticking out of position as well as the shrapnel. And I find it very interesting that the back end of the case is exactly the same shape as the breech block. Outdoor range in the woods, unable to find any other parts of the case.



Anyway, I have no idea what happened … any thoughts ?

One of many questions … is it possible for the failure to feed scenario as I just described to have happened again but this time with the slide still open, the firing pin was able to strike the cartridge primer and the bullet goes off outside of the barrel ?

I do not see any cracks anywhere but I am still concerned that the P22 experienced enough over pressure to allow the slide stop spring to be “sprung” out of position. I am now concerned about the structural integrity of the weapon. Does this sound like a simple warranty return to S/W ?

By the way … the afternoon was not a total loss as I was able to run about 150 rounds through my PPS with no problem what so ever !

[Rabbit]

I'll take a shot in the dark and say they accidentally loaded too much propellant in that round.

[Jedi]

I did not notice any significant flash with the bang. Like the difference when shooting Mini-Mags vs Stingers. Although I am not sure I kept my eyes open during the event. (I was wearing shooting glasses) ... Loaded to much powder in the cartridge ... I did not think of that.

[1917-1911M]

Glad you weren't hurt, Jedi you must be. This is why eye protection is a must when firing any firearm. Looks like you had a defective rim that blew apart. The blast blew out the polymer housing just enough to let the spring get loose. It is important that a round be fully chambered in any caliber before it fires and that the rim or rear of the case not fail. +P rounds cannot be fired in the Ruger LCP as the bottom of the round is not fully supported even when fully seated. +P ammo will blow out the unsupported casing and destroy the pistol and perhaps severly injure your hand. Even a .22 developes tremendous pressure. This is why it must be fully contained inside the chamber before being ignited.

I recently asked a question about .22 ammo at RFC, specifically is it necessary for the rim to be crimped hard and fast in order to ignite the primer. No was the answer. A couple of people had slowly compressed empty cases with reloading equipment and the primer would ignite even with slow deformation. So it is possible for the nose of a round to jamb into the chamber entrance and have the breech face impact the rim hard enough to fire the round....??? I expect just about anything could happen. Has an extractor ever set a .22 round off when someone was pulling the bolt back and a live round was stuck in the chamber? No one knew.

What exactly happened is hard to tell but from similar pictures of blown out rims I expect you had a bad round. Too much powder, possible. Defective rim, probably. I've seen pictures where the case stayed intact but significant portions of the rim split letting hot gasses fly out between chamber and bolt. Revolvers routinely blow a lot of gas out of the gap between the cylinder and barrel. Some of the magnum loads will severely damage your hand if you hold a finger or thumb too close to this area.

I'd put the slide stop arm spring back in position, make sure a round easily seats all the way into the chamber and go back to shooting making sure I kept the pistol at arms length and with eye protection on until I was certain this was simply bad ammo. You should be able to tell if the pistol was damaged. I doubt it was, but inspect the frame at the chamber area, make sure the barrel is tight, inspect the slide front to rear, that the breech block is securely fastened and that the firing pin moves freely. Good luck and glad you didn't get in case stuck in your hand. M1911

[MGMike]

Originally Posted by 1917-1911M

...+P rounds cannot be fired in the Ruger LCP as the bottom of the round is not fully supported even when fully seated. +P ammo will blow out the unsupported casing and destroy the pistol and perhaps severly injure your hand. ...

If that were true, how does Ruger manage to proof-fire them?

[1917-1911M]

Originally Posted by MGMike

If that were true, how does Ruger manage to proof-fire them?

I don't know, call em and ask. All I know is that Mr. Ruger makes it very clear that +P or more powerful ammo is not to be used in the LCP. Some folks didn't believe em, fired +P ammo and then pictured their destroyed pistol and damaged fingers. This is a very compact pistol, a very reliable one, mine has 2,500 failure free rounds through it. I suppose due to the compact nature of the pistol, the location and shape of the feed ramp required a portion of the rear of the cartridge to be open, probably 3/8". M1911

[MGMike]

Originally Posted by 1917-1911M

I don't know, call em and ask. All I know is that Mr. Ruger makes it very clear that +P or more powerful ammo is not to be used in the LCP. Some folks didn't believe em, fired +P ammo and then pictured their destroyed pistol and damaged fingers.
...

And where did these pictures appear?

M

[1917-1911M]

Originally Posted by MGMike

And where did these pictures appear?

M

I don't remember, too many gun forums but a good start would be the ElsiePea forum. They should have the lowdown on this issue. M1911

[MGMike]

Originally Posted by 1917-1911M

I don't remember, too many gun forums but a good start would be the ElsiePea forum. They should have the lowdown on this issue. M1911

Well, if you read it somewhere on the internet, it must be true.

M

[Jedi]

Hmmmm ... I put humpty dumpty back together again ... well the spring is back in place as it should be but when I go to make sure a round easily seats all the way into the chamber .... the bullet will not fit ?!?!?

I try Mini-mags, Stingers, and Golden Bullets none of them fit.
I try to feed them in by hand and I use a mag to feed them in, still wont fit.
That is all the brands that I use, I can see the rifling inside the barrel (dont ask for a picture of that right now)

I even try to slide in spent cases ... no joy !
so I pull a bullet out of an un-fired round and that un-fired case will not go in either.
I do not use a bore snake, to clean out the barrel. But I am not to keen on the idea of simply loading er up and letten er rip !

Even with the pressure created when the bullet exploded I do not think it could have distorted the barrel.

Hmmm ?!?!?