Squib round shoots through magazine of competitive shooter's rifle - GIF and video

[olderdan]

Had a bad experience in my pistol shooting days with a BRNO target revolver,

a superb gun. A club member was handing out some 38 special rounds he had been given, I took six. These were target wad cutter loads that we all used and rolled our own. At the fourth shot my revolver exploded and split the chamber and recoiled more than my Blackhawk 357 magnum, I had a ringing in my ears for a few hours despite using ear defenders but otherwise unharmed. Obviously someone had double charged this round. On closer inspection apart from the split chamber it had bent the top frame upwards and turned the cylinder pin into a mini crankshaft, it still had two live rounds loaded. Our local gunsmith declared it scrap but as I love a challenge I decided to try and repair it. First task to was remove the cylinder, and as it was scrap I managed to hacksaw though the front boss and pin, slide it forward and saw the other end of the pin, with sigh of relief the cylinder was now out and unloaded. Careful use of a fly-press got the frame straight again. I now had to make a new cylinder and the metallurgist at work recommended a chrome moly steel called 552 unhardened. To cut a long story short I managed to make a new cylinder on my lathe after making a faceplate fixture

which I still have,
unfluted as I had no mill and it was proofed and stamped at Birmingham Proof House. The gun performed as well as ever and was sold a few years later as thanks to the IRAs activities we lost access to our military shooting range. Just small bore shooting after that but not so much fun. This was about 45 years ago so no photos as we did not record everything back then. As it is the only one with a plain cylinder it would be amazing to hear of someone who now owns it.