[acparmed]

Last night (Wednesday) I went to my usual steel match competition here in Las Vegas. I have been shooting in this match every week for the last several months now, using MagTech 45ACP 230gr ball ammo.
During the last few weeks I have experienced a few misfires of this ammo, no matter how many times I hit the primer the round was dead. Out of a case of 1000 rounds I have found 6 misfires. Last night while shooting one stage I had fired at two plates and hit both, when I fired at the 3rd one instead of BANG! I got POOF!! The round hit the plate, all heard and saw it strike. My $3000 custom built Rock River 1911 was smoking and locked up tight. I removed the magazine and smoke came from the mag as well. Then examining my gun carefully I observed a crack down the length of the barrel hood. This is a BarSto ramped bull barrel with a fully supported chamber. The slide is bulged about .020. The gun is locked up tight.
I intend to have another long conversation with MagTech in the morning. I have already discussed the misfires with them and was told they would investigate that particular lot of ammo. After I get through talking to them tomorrow I intend to see that they have my top-end rebuilt, or I am going to have someone's butt in a sling.

I don't know if anyone else has experienced any problem with MagTech ammo but if you have I would love to hear what you have to say.

 

[Bud White]

That really sucks . Im taking it that it was a over charge?

My only use of magtech had been in 454 casull and i can tell you its hot the max loads i worked up to in 255 and 300 grain loads with h-110 pale in comparsion to the mag tech 260's i bought man were they a handfull

 

[P95Carry]

Bob - bad news! I am trying tho to equate the ''POOF'' with the apparent gun damage. I thought at first you meant a squib load that still ejected bullet. How hard was the hit on the steel?

Damage tho seems to match an over charge or some sorta case failure! Be interested to know more re your impression of the actual ammo fault as you see it.

Most of my MagTec ammo useage has been 44 mag - which has been 100% and I like it. I have yet to try the .454 offering, tho I wouldn't think it could be much hotter than Hornady stuff - cheaper for sure (or shall we say - ''less expensive''!).

With a gun like yours Bob and this problem - I am thinking big Ouch! Let us know what they say about this.

 

[Tangle]

Sorry to hear about that, acparmed; that's really baffling that a "poof" caused all that damage. The fact that it went poof instead of bang indicates to me that all the power was burned before the bullet got out of the barrel. Makes me think the bullet was oversized and caused excessive pressure.

I know that was disappointing to say the least. Please keep us posted.

 

[QKShooter]

acparmed

Sorry to hear that. I'm glad that you were not hurt due to "flying gun metal" though. I would be pretty POed at MagTech
Six out of 1000 rounds bad.
That is totally unacceptable for any brand of ammo.
That ammo has big QC problems in 45acp...obviously.
I shoot the worst of the worst, lube covered, dirtiest, .45 ammo.
I buy up all of this guys cast lead round nose "final reloads" made up of "last reload" mixed-lot beat up crap brass" & I do not have nearly that ammo failure rate.
I shoot the most pitiful looking 45 ammo you have ever seen & "maybe" 1 round in a thousand is problematic.
That is with "shot out" shoot-it-and-let-it-lay-there-brass

BTW - Bar-Sto might be really interested in taking a look at your barrel also.
One small plus is that I'm pretty sure the Rock River slide is Forged Steel & not cast so that could probably be easily put right back into spec.
What a doggone mess though!
I know your heart falls somewhere "down into your boots" when you look at your pistol.

 

[rocky]

poof sounds more like a squib load, than a overcharge. An over charge should ahve blew out the mag ., grip panels ect. and recoiled violently. Perhaps a squib , followed by a standard load? Is the barrel bulged? Hope ya get your problem resolved anyhow.

 

[rfurtkamp]

I've had good luck with the Magtech in .44 mag, 38 S&W (not special), and 9mm.

The .44s occasionally have dud primers (about 2 in 1k), but I haven't seen that in a few years. The .38 S&W is the best I've found for a very good price ($10ish a box) that actually lets me shoot the Webley affordably, and the 9mm runs fine in my Uzis and blowback guns, which is my arbiter of whether it's done properly in 9mm.

Sorry to hear about the experience - be curious to see what the verdict is.

 

[Bud White]

Do ya happen to have any pics? Also have you heard anything from mag tec about this yet

 

[armoredman]

Ultralight loads can also blow up a gun - sounds like what you had. That bites, sir. I reload all my own rounds now, and I know for a fact what goes in. Factory is for self defense loads only....
I hope MagTech makes it right, or they might discover the power of the Internet....

 

[Bumper]

Dang, Bob, I'm sorry to hear that about your custom RR. I, too, think I would send the barrel to Bar-Sto and have them take a look at it. They may be able to give you more insight into it and an "expert" opinion for you to hand over to Magtech. If they don't come through maybe we can help make them re-think their decision....

 

[acparmed]

I Spoke to Erik Leslie the General Manager and Vice President of MagTech he wants me to send the gun back to Rock River for evaluation. He told me that he would speak to Chuck at Rock River. Chuck says he hasn't heard from him But gave me a return merchandise number to send the gun back to him.

After thinking about his long and hard as well as talking to the others who were present at the time it happened as well as a few VERY knowledgeable people here, the conclusion we have arrived at is that the "poof" I heard was actually the gases "jetting" through the crack in the barrel hood. There was the bang that you'd normally expect, but at the same time this "poof" the only word I can come up with to explain the experience.

I really appreciate the support of all of you in saying that you would use the "powers" of the internet and Combat Carry to make MagTech remedy my predicament.

I will attempt to take some pics of the gun and see if my digital camera can show enough detail to make out the fracture.

Now I have a question for all.

This is the third time this gun has blown up. The first two times were with my handloads. I have been loading for over 30 years and all ammo on both occassions was made on a Dillon XL650. I was told that I must have double charged the load in order to blow it up and although I consider this next to impossible on a smoothly operating 650 because of the automatic indexing, accepted the verdict as being within the realm of the "possible" (attached are pics of the first 2 times) how many of you have ever heard of one gun blowing up 3 different times? It makes me wonder if there is some inherent flaw in the design of this particular gun. I don't know how this would be possible, but thought I'd get feedback from all of you.

I'll appreciate any feedback you guys can offer.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[P95Carry]

Shucks Bob - double ouch!! Which with recent trouble is triple ouch.

I'd find it hard to blame the gun from what I have gleaned thus far and these pics don't suggest that. Is case support as one would expect for the platform or is it also slighty ''Glocky'' with greater relief. I am thinking here of the ''poof'' element which seems to be gas release from wherever it came. You refer to ''barrel ''hood'' - are you meaning the external and visible part of the chamber?

Yep - a pic or two would be more than interesting.

 

[Bud White]

Bob question for ya were you loading lead bullets at the time it went nuclear with the loads off the 650 ...?

 

[acparmed]

No lead loads. All ammo from my handloads was with Montana Gold 230gr Ball with 4.0 grains of Hodgdon Clays powder.

Chris, yes the fracture is in the exposed area of the barrel hood at the ejection port. I will try to take some pics with the digital either late tonight or tomorrow morning.

Keep the questions coming guys, between all of us maybe we can find a reasonable explanation. I appreciate all the years of experience that this board has on it and value your opinions.

 

[Hotelcharlie]

I've never blown up a handgun, but I did demolish an M1A. The most curious thing I remember is the absence of a violent explosion or noticeable recoil. The bullet left the barrel but did not make a hole in the target. I was using new, never fired Rem brass and this particular case blew out the bottom right at the head. Overcharge? Maybe, but I would have expected a louder than normal report. Anyway, it split the E-2 stock in seven pieces, and peeled a strip off the side of the bolt where the ejector hole is. (was?) A new bolt and I was back in business. I got peppered here and there on the face and took a sliver of steel in the end of my nose, which came out a few days later.Thank God for good glasses. It even blew the magazine in several pieces, and destroyed the top 2 rounds in it. Surprised me that such an anemic sounding report did so much damage. Sorry to hear the bad news, Bob. I hope the remedy is as seamless as mine was.

 

[acparmed]

Pics of my Barrel

OK guys here are the best pics I could get tonight of my cracked barrel from the MagTech ammo.
I'll try to get better ones during daylight tomorrow.

 

[armoredman]

Oooh, ouch. Three times it's blown up? Sir, have you tried a CZ lately????

 

[acparmed]

MagTech has decided that I should send the gun directly to them to examine and they will forward it to Rock River Arms. I get the impression that they are going to pick up the tab to rebuilt the top end of it. I hope that's the case. So far Erik Leslie and Troy Duerr of Magtech have been very thoughtful and considerate of what happened. Needless to say, I'm pleased with their response so far and the gun will go out to Magtech in the next day or so when I have time to get to my local UPS center. I'll keep you posted as to what happens.

 

[rocky]

hope all goes well for ya. Taurus fixed my PT for the price of shipping , but never sent or gave and explaination for the failure.

 

[Bumper]

I wish I could offer something, Bob. Knock on wood, I have never had anything even near that happen to me, personally. I have heard of it and seen some pictures of similar failures but never seen anything firsthand. And I hope I never do, quite frankly. I would guess if the MagTech people look at it and pay to have it rebuilt, that will tell the story even if they don't disclose their opinion, officially. If they don't fix it but Rock River does, that will tell a similar story. My question is what if neither of them assumes responsibility. I would maybe inquire of some of the 1911 smith's and see if they would take a look if you don't get satisfaction. I hope, however, they get it fixed up for you right away.

Keep us informed.