Pay Attention!!!!!!!!

[George Denys]

I want to pass along my experience so someone else won't make this mistake. About 6 Months ago I started to were contact lenses. I have been meaning to get a pair of shooting glasses but.....haven't got around to it. So today I wanted to sight in my 1991 Colt 38 Super.  What the heck can go wrong right? I'm shooting factory ammo so it should be ok. After all I am only going to shoot a few rounds. At factory round 17 this happened.........................
And also..........
and this..............
Sooooo....It won't happen to me, It will be ok, I'm only shooting a few rounds. George

[stimpylu32]

George

I hope you are ok , that could be nasty , i would be on the phone to both Colt and the ammo company to find out what would have caused it and why it happened .

stimpy

[George Denys]

Yea, I'm OK. I lucked out BIG TIME. George

[Lloyd Smale]

wow your a lucky man. Id like to know the details of the cause when you find out too!

[Mikey]

George:  what the hay happened to take that slide and barrel apart like that?  Do you have all the parts so you can reconstruct it to see where the failure was???  I notice you didn't show the barrel in those pictures - does anything remain of that? 

This was a catastrophic failure.  What did the factory do, load one of their rounds with C-4?? 

I agree that we should all wear eye and ear protection while shooting but nobody really expects the barrel and slide of a 1911 to come apart like that.  I wonder if shot #16 didn't leave part of the jacket in the barrel causing an obstruction???  Please let us know what you find out.  Mikey.

[drdougrx]

Hollllllyyy   Crapppp!!!!

Man I hope you're OK. Talk about nightmares!

[George Denys]

Believe it or not I didn't even get a scratch. I remember something glancing off my head but there was no marks on me old noggin. I had 16 holes in the paper so it wasn't a squib. It also cycled normally from the last round. All seemed OK until BANG!!! I haven't posted the brand of ammo because I don't want to jump to conclusions. It was high quality (I guess) high $$$$ anyway. I have the gun apart. The frame is salvageable for a defense gun but the frame rails will never be match. I have one other small piece of barrel. It shows no clues. The rest of the barrel and bushing is lost to parts unknown. It probably is 50 yards away. The ironic thing is this.... I have been shooting competitively for 10+ years. I always hand loaded. Even my hunting loads are hand loaded. This was the first gun in who knows how long I bought factory ammo for. It was just to be a defense gun. A house gun if you will. How's that for luck?? George

[Lloyd Smale]

George id try to borrow a metal dectector and even if you had to hire some neighbor kids to run it and find the rest of the barrel so that it can be looked at professionaly

[williamlayton]

I would agree with Lloyd--find the barrel.
I think this is a case where a good deal of professional investigation needs to be done. There are others like this one out there.
The investigation should at least lead to the responsible party and have the gun replaced.
It has got too be in the ammo though I am not an expert.
Blessings

[Del]

WOW,  I had never seen or heard of a 1911 coming apart like that!!! 

Glad to hear you didn't even get a scratch, you are one lucky man!!
A person can replace a damaged / lost gun, but we only get one set of eyes, take care of them!

I would bet $$ the ammo is at fault, I'd be talking w/them about replacing your gun!!

Best of luck,
Del

[tanoose]

WOW do you have #17 brass is it possible #17 wasn't of the right caliber? And got mixed it by the factory. Glad your ok

[Questor]

George:

I'm glad you came out unscathed in this potentially serious failure. What brand of ammo was it?  Is this a gun you've shot a lot?

[George Denys]

If the ammo company keeps refusing to even return my calls or e-mail then I will show the whole thing. It is in there best interest to contact me. You know, that really ticks me off. I serve in an elected position and have had to fight to keep stupid ill conceived gun laws off our local books.....and this is how the industry that I fight for treats me. I guess they love our support when the money is flowing their way, but as soon as a problem arises..........nothing. At least call me back and express concern for the other folks who may have a potential time bomb in their magazine.  As Charlie Brown would say...Good Grief!!!!  George

[Lloyd Smale]

Have you contacted colt yet. It might be best to tell them about it and let them contact the ammo manufacture and get to the bottom of this.

[George Denys]

I found most of the rest. The barrel was empty as expected.

and
and
the ammo company said they would make it right. We shall see.