Deer Hunter in Clearwater has this fine example of a S&W Model 29.
Chuck, the owner of the store, says the owner of the gun dropped it off and said, "Keep it!"
The gun's owner told a story that when it'd blown a buddy of his says, "I'd wondered where those Ruger only loads had gotten to! Sorry."
So... the cartridges were a tad bit overpowered? Yikes. What does it take to do that? And, no, I am not wanting to replicate it, just want to ponder in fascination the utter material failure of cylinder and top strap.
ReplyDeleteGrab a reloading manual and you're going to find a different set of loads for super strong .44's like a Ruger Super Redhawk and everything else chambered for .44 Magnum.
DeleteThe manual will list which guns the higher pressure loads are safe in. Don't use these loads in guns not shown on that list or you will get a gun like I've shown above.
Ah. My knowledge on reloading is from reading my dad's old 50's era Lyman. So lots of fun modern stuff is outside my ken.
DeleteThanks for the info.
Musta been a scary, poop your pants moment for the shooter and everyone around him (that was paying attention.)
That's why I never use anyone else's reloads. You never know what you're going to get. I shouldn't say that I never did. There was one time. I bought a Ruger M77 in .338 Win Mag to take on my first bear hunting trip to Canada. I also acquired a bunch of virgin brass, bullets, various powders and dies to work up some accurate loads. A buddy who has a .338 Win Mag gave me a box of his reloads to do my initial sight in. I shot exactly one of his loads. I had to hit the bolt handle on my rifle a couple times with the heel of my hand to get the action open and it was a bit sticky getting the casing out of the chamber. I came to find out later from a mutual friend of ours that Joe loads everything as hot as he can. And many hotter than he should. His philosophy is "more is better". I also found out that he cracked the stock on his .375 Weatherby Magnum with his super loads. Me? I'm quite a bit more conservative. When I'm working up a load I start at the low end and go from there until I find one that I'm happy with. It doesn't matter if it's at the lower end of the book velocity specs or toward the higher end. If it's to my accuracy standards then I'm happy, but it will be a published book load...........
ReplyDeleteFill to brim, pound in bullet!
DeleteI think that he filled to the brim, tapped the casing on the bench a few times to settle the powder, then filled to the brim and pounded the bullet in........
Deletehe wouldn't be interested in selling it would he?? I would like to buy it.
ReplyDelete