
A note to all you Gun Nuts: These photos 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 the 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. Click on to see what he had to say. --David Petzal.

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.


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