Nighthawk blows up

nstassel

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I don't think I've seen this before.

 
Lol Armscor (armschkorrrrr) ammo is dooooodewww. Wonder what Nighthawk has to say.
Thankfully the shooter was not harmed in this incident. NHC owner, Mark Stone, myself, and one of our gunsmiths spoke to this customer yesterday evening after receiving the pistol in for inspection and he explained what all had happened. We've never seen anything like this in the 12 years we've been in business. We assured the customer that we would be taking care of him and we will be replacing the pistol with a new one at no charge to him.
Based on what the customer had told us last night we agreed to replace the pistol at no charge. The pistol was given to him by his wife for his birthday, he loved the pistol and told us it was the most accurate pistol he had. Mark Stone, owner of Nighthawk, questioned him about the possibly of a squib load or an over charge and he told us to his knowledge everything was normal. We believe based on his knowledge he told us the truth. Mark told him that we could not explain what happened based on his answer. We would not disassemble his pistol, we would use it for a display piece.
This morning pictures and blog content started appearing online and at that point we decided to investigate further due to the photos on the blog showing pictures of the pistol in a different condition than we received. Our customer did not put these pictures online. The pistol that we received had been pried and beat open. The owner of the pistol said a gunsmith had done so to remove the spent case. We did not receive the spent case when the pistol was returned.
When we broke the pistol down and examined the barrel, we saw clear evidence that a squib load caused the damage. We have taken numerous photos to document these findings.
Last night we wanted to give the customer a response as soon as possible. Mark agreed at that time to replace his pistol free of charge and we will stand by our word, but we wanted to present these facts.
Here are the pictures.

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Squib indeed. AHRMSCOAH kehd.

I'd have shit my pants.
 
Wonder what Nighthawk has to say.
it's still factory ammo...that aside i have read accounts of what felt to the shooter under and over powered ammo. but it's always been 3rd person accounts and kind of hard to prove without the proper measuring devices.
 
it's still factory ammo...that aside i have read accounts of what felt to the shooter under and over powered ammo. but it's always been 3rd person accounts and kind of hard to prove without the proper measuring devices.
It's still shit though. If i even had a DW at under 2 grand there's no way i would let armschkorr near that gun. Hell i wouldn't use it in my G20. Not when i got plenty of decent shit (fed, cci, sig sauer) for under $25/box stocked up.
 
It's still shit though. If i even had a DW at under 2 grand there's no way i would let armschkorr near that gun. Hell i wouldn't use it in my G20. Not when i got plenty of decent shit (fed, cci, sig sauer) for under $25/box stocked up.
i hear that! don't think i've ever had the pleasure of using it but i do find tons of .45 armscor brass at harvard a lot of times and wondered how it ran. i'll wonder a little while longer.
 
Lol Armscor (armschkorrrrr) ammo is dooooodewww. Wonder what Nighthawk has to say.
Armscor is total shit. Had a brick of arms core 22 a few years ago and about 1/3 of the cases were split and there was powder in the bottom of all the boxes. 😳

I didn't even bother with a customer service call I just tossed the whole brick in the rubbish and swore I'd never buy that shit again.....centerfire or Rimfire
 
it's still factory ammo...that aside i have read accounts of what felt to the shooter under and over powered ammo. but it's always been 3rd person accounts and kind of hard to prove without the proper measuring devices.

I've had a squib with factory ammo. Admittedly, it was shipped from the factory ~50 years before it went in the cylinder, but it was factory. [laugh]

Military-headstamped .38 special, BTW.

I had a squib last year with PPU 7.62x39 soft points. Thankfully, it dumped powder all over the gun and shooting bench so I knew what went wrong. There's a fail rate possibility of a squib or other problem with ammo with every brand. But the fail rate is really small, like probably near 0.5%.

What I find odd is that the slide cracked basically right down the center but there's no discernible damage to the barrel. Could be bulged.
 
What I find odd is that the slide cracked basically right down the center but there's no discernible damage to the barrel. Could be bulged.

Looks like it started at the chamber given the frame split. Squib or a compressed load due to double/over charge.

Will not hammer or buff out.
 
Armscor is total shit. Had a brick of arms core 22 a few years ago and about 1/3 of the cases were split and there was powder in the bottom of all the boxes. 😳

I didn't even bother with a customer service call I just tossed the whole brick in the rubbish and swore I'd never buy that shit again.....centerfire or Rimfire
I snagged a brick during panic times and I have two broken cases -- in a PPK/S and a Mk III - for my troubles. It's taken both of my 22 pistols out of commission until I can take them to a smith as I haven't been able to get the cases out on my own. First and last time buying Arsmcor ammo.
 
I was just thinking that. Investment Casting?
Wow. Looks to me like a casting also. I'm an ME not a firearms expert - but I've done enough stress analysis / destructive testing on castings to see a potential problem.

Often, stress fractures will begin at an internal corner that does not have an adequate radii for micro-fracture prevention. I suspect the fracture started at the sight dovetail - once the tensile strength of the alloy was breached it simply opened up like a zipper. My understanding (from Colt literature) was that slides should be forged, heat treated, then finish machined including radii where required to prevent such occurrences.

Just my 2 cents, but still - wow.
 
Lol Armscor (armschkorrrrr) ammo is dooooodewww. Wonder what Nighthawk has to say.

Seriously? 10mm was one of the few ammos that was readily available through COVID. Edit: just saw the from 2016, which just makes this whole thing worse.
They said we don't warranty that shit, why would you shoot that in our gun you posing peasant? /s
Tell me more about how this person shoots Tula out of their custom 700 short action or something comparably stupid.
Even major brand factory ammo should not be assumed to be perfect. This was just one of several oddities in one box of WWB back in 2009. I guess even the machines occasionally have a "Friday." The box itself was pristine.

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You sure that's not a Monday where you're still a little drunk?
 
Even major brand factory ammo should not be assumed to be perfect. This was just one of several oddities in one box of WWB back in 2009. I guess even the machines occasionally have a "Friday." The box itself was pristine.

I've seen those types of manufacturing defects in WWB to the point where I don't consider it out of the ordinary, usually see one of those once a year.
 
You sure that's not a Monday where you're still a little drunk?
Heh. Pretty sure Winchester isn't handloading. Maybe the machines had a good weekend. :)

It's not uncommon. Every box should be at least glanced at before using. Dig the missing brass on these:

 
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