A note to all you Gun Nuts: The photo below (and three more, which you can see by clicking here) came into my inbox attached to the following caption:

"For those of you who load your own ammunition...
 
A guy came into our department the other day to ask a favor. He had a Smith & Wesson Model 629 that he wanted to dispose of after a mishap at the range. He said there was a loud bang when he tested his new load and the gun smacked him in the forehead, leaving a nice gash. When the tweety birds cleared, this is what he saw..."

Rather than comment on these photos myself, I decided they were serious enough that they deserved something intelligent said about them, so I sent them to my friend and ace pistolsmith John Blauvelt. Here's what he had to say.  --David Petzal

Begin forwarded message:
From: JC Blauvelt
Date: October 30, 2009 8:09:43 PM EST
To: Dave Petzal

Subject: BANG

Dave, Well you asked for it. I hope you find this useful. Thank you for the opportunity.

A graphic reminder of the art of home pressure testing. What I see here is typical of a vastly over-pressure round fired in a revolver. The in-line round of ammunition blew out the top of the cylinder, both adjoining chambers, and removed the top strap.  Most of the destroyed revolvers I have seen usually have the top strap of the frame still attached at the front, above the barrel, and it is peeled forward. The weakest point of an adjustable sight revolver frame is the back end of the top strap were the rear sight cut is. In this revolver the whole top strap is gone and most of both adjoining chambers. This points to a very strong pressure spike. How did it happen? One clue is the reloader’s quote that he was “testing his new load.” So, it is most likely the reloader's fault. He was either trying to make a “Super Magnum” load beyond the recommended loads or used the wrong powder - i.e.  grabbed a can of 231 instead of 296 or possibly changed powders and forgot to change the settings on the powder measure. A barrel obstruction from a squib round? I do not believe so. I do not see any indication of a bulge in the barrel. Unless it was a bullet from a squib round stuck just forward of the back end of the barrel.  In any case, these are sobering photos. Look at the amount of shrapnel that let loose. It could have caused grave injuries to the shooter and/or bystanders on either side of him. An expensive lesson learned, and fortunately no one was injured.

For all the millions of rounds of ammunition reloaded each year, it is rare to see this happen. That's why it makes news when it does. Always remember to check, double check, then check one more time that the recipe you are using is correct, wear your safety glasses, and ear protection.  Also, in this guy’s case, he likely needed a half of a bottle of aspirin for his headache. 

JC Blauvelt Gunsmith, Inc.
www.JCBgunsmith.com

Now that the news is all Ted, all the time (which at least is a relief from all Michael, all the time) and the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy is on his way to being Saint Teddy, we should remember that he was an implacable enemy of the Second Amendment, and that there never was an anti-gun law he did not like. Kennedy blamed guns for his brothers’ deaths. The reality is a little different.

John Kennedy was killed because the Secret Service, in a city where many people were known to hate him, allowed JFK to ride in an open automobile, and advertised his route in advance.

Bobby Kennedy was killed because, rather than employ professional bodyguards in Los Angeles, he used a former football player named Rosey Grier, plus a few others who were equally well qualified. Grier was an all-pro lineman, but he was not much of a bodyguard.

Condemning guns for a tragedy rather than affixing the blame to arrogance, incredible lapses in judgment, and incompetence saves one a lot of trouble, does it not? After all, how do you legislate against human failings?

A little while ago Dave provided an excellent and important public service post about how to spot concealed handgun. Unfortunately, it didn’t cover every concealed carry situation, as illustrated by the case of George Vera, arrested recently in Houston for selling bootlegged CDs. Vera was frisked on the scene by arresting officers, at the city jail and again at county, yet officers never found his hidden 9mm until he confessed to possessing a weapon to guards at shower time. How did he do it? Read on.

If that wasn’t enough to make you feel slightly ill, ask yourself: if the gun was unloaded,  where did he hide the bullets?

William F. Buckley, who was a Yale grad, once said that he would rather be governed by the first 400 people in the Boston phone book than by the faculty of Harvard. Cambridge, it seems, is still the place where common sense goes to die. I'm referring, of course, to Professor Wlliam Henry Louis Gates, who managed to get himself arrested in his own home because he apparently mouthed off to the cops. Professor Gates was ignorant of, or chose to ignore, the very same rules that all smart gun owners should abide by.

The first rule of police work, as spelled out by Sean Connery in The Untouchables, is to ...... come off shift alive. The average cop doesn't know if you eat people's livers with some fava beans and a nice chianti. That is why he or she is going to proceed with great caution in any transaction such as the one that involved Professor Gates, and may not accord you the reverence you believe is your due.

The second rule to bear is that the police are not required to listen to a bunch of your s**t, your race, creeed, religion, or unhappy childhood notwithstanding, and that they can make your life a lot more difficult than you can make their life.

The third rule, which applies to shooters more than any other class of citizens, is that the instant guns appear in the equation, the stakes are ratcheted way, way, up. That is why I always drive below the speed limit, observe all traffic laws, always wear my seat belt, and do not text while driving. I almost always always have guns in my SUV, and the last thing I want is an officer asking to see my license and registration and then inquiring if I have any weapons at hand.

Even if you do get caught, a calm word can often turn away wrath. A couple of years ago, I was doing 25 on a 10 mph road. The cop looked at my license and registration, saw that I was not drunk and that I was wearing my seat belt, and then said an odd thing:

"Maybe," he said, "I should just take you off into the woods and give you a beating."

Rather than screeching about my civil liberties, I said:

"Officer, if I have to take an ass-kicking from the cops, I guess there's nothing I can do about it, but you wouldn't happen to have a good-looking female officer who could do it, would you?"

He laughed, told me to slow down, and went back to his car.