Bad day at the range with the 357

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9B8BAB8C-12D2-41B5-94F4-40BADE54F782.jpeg Considering my options. Hopefully won’t get sued, or scare the people away from firearms.
Was at the range yesterday introducing a husband and wife team to the shooting sports. They want to get a home defense gun. I started them out simple. Hard to screw up a revolver, especially with a new shooter and a panic situation.
Ran a couple cylinders of low power 38 special each. They were comfortable with it. Loaded up mild 357’s. Wife didn’t want to try it, was affair of the increased power. Husband fired a round. No issue. Wife watched intently. Second round sent the barrel 20 yards down range, and injured his trigger finger.
Factory range ammo purchased last week at Cabellas.
 
I wouldn't have expected that from a Ruger. Definitely contact them, the company needs to make this right and then some. I can't tell, is that an SP101 or a GP100?
 
View attachment 242519 Considering my options. Hopefully won’t get sued, or scare the people away from firearms.
Was at the range yesterday introducing a husband and wife team to the shooting sports. They want to get a home defense gun. I started them out simple. Hard to screw up a revolver, especially with a new shooter and a panic situation.
Ran a couple cylinders of low power 38 special each. They were comfortable with it. Loaded up mild 357’s. Wife didn’t want to try it, was affair of the increased power. Husband fired a round. No issue. Wife watched intently. Second round sent the barrel 20 yards down range, and injured his trigger finger.
Factory range ammo purchased last week at Cabellas.
that's scary , you know the history of the pistol?
Hopefully does not scare them away and you don't get sued.

I have only seen 5 revolver failures in person. All failed at the cylinder or top strap area? That barrel almost looks like it failed at the threads. Possible over torqued and weakened those few thread where the barrel shoulder meets the frame face?

what ammo ?
 
contact both the gun and ammo maker, save the ammo you haven't shot and the spent cases!
 
damn, ripped off at the threads. just askin'...those low power .38 rounds factory or reloads?
 
DE7DC5D5-92C3-4115-9BFA-16F92AC60207.jpeg D4A21476-D6B3-4CB7-9A88-3305E94EE56B.jpeg 6A45420C-7494-45EC-8C18-635094477FCA.jpeg No squibs. Barrel is clean. I checked every round. Only fired 17 Herter’s .38 Special 158 gr FMJ. All fired fine, all brass checked (after the fact) for overpressure signs. All good. Then loaded Herters .357 158 gr FMJ and boom. Spent case is fine. No overpressure sign. Weighed each round after and they were all close. The barrel failed about 2 threads in from face of mount.
 
that didn't just blow off for no reason, something was lodged in that barrel. new shooter, he wouldn't know enough to stop at a squib, he'd just haul back on the hammer and let another one rip. not his fault, didn't know any better. of course with all great minds, opinions may vary.

eta: well...now that i see the photos...???
 
that didn't just blow off for no reason, something was lodged in that barrel. new shooter, he wouldn't know enough to stop at a squib, he'd just haul back on the hammer and let another one rip. not his fault, didn't know any better. of course with all great minds, opinions may vary.
Nope. This didn’t happen. I unloaded the spent .38’s. I looked down the barrel as I ejected the shells into a small container so I was visual with the entire process. I loaded the .357 into the cylinder and handed it to him. Never was I more than 2’ away. I watched everything closely. I mis stated my OP. This was the 1st and only round of .357 fired.
 
they haven't made that gun in maybe 30 years. if they had parts i doubt they'd slap a new barrel on that frame after that failure. best case, looking at a new gun.
bet the poor guy needed a change of clothes after that.
 
I think this was a combination of a MIM casting flaw and over-torquing. Ruger owes you a custom GP100 and reimbursement of your friend's medical bill.
 

That may be a stress failure, metallurgical. Did the single round of 357 sound normal? Is there any damage to the inside of the forcing cone? I doubt it was a timing issue if the forcing cone is still in tact. Looks like the threads on the barrel sheared off. Without a squib, this should never even happen. Strange failure for sure. Can you please post the make and type of ammo you used and batch numbers, just in case? I think I'd like to check if I have any of that in my inventory.
 
It looks like a brittle fracture. Perhaps an over hard barrel. It could also be an over torqued barrel caused by out of spec frame and/or barrel shoulder. If these dimensions are too 'long', clocking the barrel would result in higher torque/greater stretch of the threaded section. Improperly clocked threads on either element would have the same result.
The few threads left on the barrel where not engaged as they sat in the counter bore.
 
Will be a true test of Ruger's customer services, hope they step up and do the right thing! Keep us updated please
 
I was unfortunate enough to have a S&W AirWeight Snubby kaboom while shooting many years ago. Looked a lot like that..with additional damage to the frame. I was shooting some "personal defense" boutique ammo that was made locally...no doubt I got a double charge.

Lesson learned...don't shoot someone else's reloads. I haven't since.

BTW, S&W gave me a replacement even though they would have been perfectly justified to tell me to pound sand. Hope you get the same from Ruger.
 
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