Not so good .22 experience

[sjstill]

A couple was out at ECPR this morning shooting a variety of handguns. The lady kept having FTE issues with a SIG Mosquito, but she usually could clear it easily. At one point, I saw her hubby working on the SIG, trying to pry out a stuck. Being the helpful sort, I went over to see if I could help.



He handed me the gun, and I dug out my trusty little Swiss Army knife. I looked at the rim, and sure enough, there was an indentation, so I assumed it was another FTE.



NEVER ASSUME!!!!



I had the slide locked back, gun in left hand, knife in right, screwdriver blade under the rim prying against the breech face, muzzle pointed downrange.



BANG!!!!



Damn thing went off!!! My face got peppered by hot gas and powder. Thank God for eyeglasses, nothing hit my eyes.



I wound up dropping the gun on the deck and jumped a few feet backwards.



The bullet never made it out of the barrel, we knocked it out with a cleaning rod. Which brings me to the moral of this story;



Use a cleaning rod if at all possible to remove a stuck .22LR case from the chamber instead of prying it out. It could have been a lot worse.



In the 7 or so years I've worked the range, this is the first time something like this has happened. Murphy is always hanging around, waiting....

 

[hotfarmboy1]

Wow I'm glad to hear no one got seriously hurt.

Although you just said to use a cleaning rod. What if it had went off with the cleaning rod in the barrel and your hand on the rod. Might of hurt your hand pretty well.

 

[sjstill]

I'm 99.9% certain that prying on the inside of the rim is what set the round off.

A cleaning or range rod pushing from the muzzle toward the breach wouldn't touch the rim, only the bullet.

 

[mad618]

wow, glad your ok

 

[haldir]

Pretty lucky, better buy a lottery ticket.

 

[minuteman32]

Of course, if it wasn't the prying that set it off, and one were using a rod to remove the round, then one's hand/fingers would have been in front of, or @ least near, the muzzle. Just a thought.

 

[Shay]

Safety rules need to be followed religiously. Good on you for maintaining a safer muzzle direction while working on the pistol.

 

[snojet]

Thank you for sharing your story. That way we all learn from these events that take place. Glad your ok!

 

[hotfarmboy1]

Of course, if it wasn't the prying that set it off, and one were using a rod to remove the round, then one's hand/fingers would have been in front of, or @ least near, the muzzle. Just a thought.

This is what I was thinking. What if it wasn't the prying that set it off, but rather a late ignition of the powder? Its hard to say what could of happened if done the other way. But either way I'm glad no one was hurt.

 

[sjstill]

It was quite a while between when the malf happened and it went boom. A good 5 minutes, maybe more. I know the NRA says to wait at least 30 seconds for a hangfire tohappen.

One of those head scratchers...

 

[boman]

Thanx for sharing---I have pried rimfires out before without this result---will change my method from now on.

Steve

 

[Fenway]

Glad you are ok. I have never seen a mosquito run.

 

[sjstill]

Glad you are ok. I have never seen a mosquito run.

Helps to use DEET for lube...

From what I've seen at the range, they're a crapshoot.

 

[Josh Ward]

Wow, glad no one was hurt.

I can't think of a single good thing I've ever head about the mosquito...the gun or the insect.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I had a a case stick on me on day, in my Marlin 925M. Thankfuly The bullet had been already discharged.

 

[minuteman32]

I once had a 22 explode in my face, from the breach of my AR w/ a conversion unit. I saw the prettiest red/yellow/orange flames! I wasn't wearing eye protection @ the time & it's a miracle I didn't get any damage to my eyes. I am glad you were not hurt!

 

[Indecision]

Glad it worked out ok for you, that would've scared the hell out of me.

 

[LeeStreet]

Holy crap. I will remember that the next time I have one to pry out of my Walther P22.

 

[Colt]

With the benefit of hindsight, based on the experience you had sjstill, the safest way to handle the situation (after waiting awhile for a hangfire) is to lock open the breech like you did, put a towel or sandbag over the breech, and push the cartridge back out of the chamber with a cleaning rod held on the sides with a towel or glove. If the pressure didn't push the bullet through the barrel, it would move the cleaning rod even less. Just in case, keep the muzzle pointed down range and don't put your hand in front of the rod.

Thanks for sharing the experience.

I've had a similar situation with a cap and ball revolver. The cap went off but didn't ignite the powder (black powder substitute). The ball moved enough to lock the cylinder and prevent disassembling the revolver. This is a worse situation since there is no breech to open to limit the pressure. After waiting for a hangfire, I have used a cleaning rod held on the sides with a glove or towel to push the ball back into the cylinder. If anyone knows a better solution, I would like to hear it. I don't believe putting another cap on the nipple is a good approach, since shooting with uncompressed powder can result in too high pressures.

Paul

 

[IndyBeerman]

I'm 99.9% certain that prying on the inside of the rim is what set the round off.

A cleaning or range rod pushing from the muzzle toward the breach wouldn't touch the rim, only the bullet.

Think again, when that round breaks free if there is enough force to strike and set off the primer rim that round is going some where.