Shotgun shell exploding (pic included)

[Huntin&Fishin]

So the first time ever buying heavy metal and the 3rd shell i shoot id had a differnt kind of bang, so i looked and it exploded some how???? No barrel blockage, no gun misfunction, shooting a SBE II, I e-mailed heavy metal so any ideas how this could happen? faulty shell?

[Huntin&Fishin]

Heres the picture

[tracker x-2]

never seen that before keep us updated when you here back from them.

[96trigger]

I have no idea, but the way that shell looks, I'd say you were lucky. How did you get it out of the gun, it didn't eject like that did it?

[Huntin&Fishin]

it ejected like half way and thrn it was holding the bolt from going forward again, yes i feel lucky, it scared me. The shell was smoking and burning when it came out, I hope i get an email back from the company.

[Dave S]

This is only a guess so here goes:

It looks like a bad powder charge which didn't have enough pressure to fully eject the empty case and when the action attempted to shut, that's where the case was mangled.

The other option is the casing is undersized and blew out when the round went off. Again not enough pressure to eject the empty round completely.

[pureinsanity]

That is why i stick to the proven shells that i know work! Sorry this happened. I wouldn't buy them again.

[96trigger]

I am right with LEP on this one, low powder charge, not enough inertia from the shell to completely cycle the benelli and the action came forward without extracting the shell, smashing it against the reciever. I think the only reason it looks exploded was because the action smashed it and split it open. I've seen them get a pretty good crease down the front, but never smash one like that, but all my semi auto guns are gas operated.

Two years ago I heard a shell pop in my gun and I had the experience and quick mind to not fire the second round that chambered. I had a light powder charge and the wad was stuck half way down the barrel. I literally pound it out with a dowel and hammer. I would have blown my gun(barrel) up most definitely had I pulled the trigger one more time. Years of shooting trap and reloading my own shells saved me a gun, and possibly more that day.

I was always going to send it back to winchester and never did. I still have the shell and wad in my hunting coat pocket.

[Huntin&Fishin]

Thats what i thought at first too, but only reason I dont think that, is the shell came out half way by being perpendicular to the action (should have been clearer above) so the only part that got smashed was the brass part, the shell was also smoking and got burnt/melted a little too (very small amount), I have no idea what the deal was and was very strange in my opinion, but they emailed me back right away and said they would be calling me sometime today.

[Dave S]

I'll stand by my earlier statement. The powder charge could have been enough to cycle the shell out of the chamber but not the action.

[Transporter]

I have had numerous shells fail to eject, primarily in a Remington 1100 in subzero weather. Some, but not many from a Brownng A5 and enough from an SBE that I sold the gun after two trips. I reload all my own shotshells and have never ever had a result even close to this. If it were to clear the chamber but not the action it would take tremendous force to distort a casing in that fashion, much more than the spring is capable of, and it would have to be in the process of ejecting or it would simply rechamber like most shells that don't cycle do. Was there anythng different about the way it fired other than the sound, any eveidence of powder residue around the bolt or receiver? This almost looks as if it may have fired out of battery, not completely chambered with the bolt not fully closed. There have been cases of this with other firearms.

[96trigger]

I didn't think it was possible for the firing pin to strike the shell with the bolt open. Another possibility could be a burr on the bolt or even a burr on the primer that prematurely fired the round without it being chambered.

[SmilinBob]

I have seen this a couple of times in the shop and talked to the shell companies, you had a faulty primer. It's what is called a "slow burn". basically the primer charge doesn't explode and ignite the powder, it burns slowly (relative to the bang that is) and causes the shell to heat up and melt the plastic before igniting the powder, then the powder goes off and since there is no solid shell to contain the 12,000 psi involved it destroys the hull. My guess is you heard a "sizzle" for a brief second prior to firing, thats the slow burn phase. It happens about 1:100,000 primers is what both companies involved explained. If you have any more shells from that lot number don't shoot them, the company will probably want them back to take a look and analyze the powders. It happens even with big name companies, and they want to know about it and want to make you happy so you will keep buying their shells, so most of the time they are willing to talk about such things.

[broken_line]

smilin bob nailed it! or wet powder or a wet primer or there possibly could have been too much of a powder charge for that primer to effectivly light it all at once in a pump you will get a tick bang in a semi auto shell would probably come half way out then go off..