TexasCHLforum.com

It's your call on the gun, but if you sell the parts, be sure to disclose that they are from a gun that suffered a squib failure. You don't want someone complaining about it after the fact.

I've had Vanden Berg build or modify guns for me for many years (he's older than he looks!) and I know what I'd do. However, you have to be happy with the end product and if you'd rather have a Kimber than a hybrid, then go with a new gun. If you are going to consider market value, the Kimber probably would have a higher resale value, unless you have Ed build a true custom gun with a match barrel. That, of course, is more money!

One thing I would do for sure is mount that blown barrel in some fashion and put it on your reloading bench as a reminder to be very careful! I have an old J.C. Higgins (Sears) 12 ga. that I blew up when a 20 ga. round found its way into the barrel and lodged just forward of the chamber, followed by a 12 ga. I was 16 and that was a very exciting day. It's a great tool for firearms safety classes.

Regards,
Chas.

Seadawg:
Even if Kimber won't cover this under warranty, all may not be lost. If the slide has not been damaged, then you can either have Kimber put a new receiver under it and fit a new barrel. Or, you could have someone like Vanden Berg fit the slide to a Caspian receiver and fit a match barrel. (That would be my choice.)

Good luck,
Chas.

seadawg221 wrote:I load 5.0 grns of Bullseye powder with a 230 grn Barry's Plated Bullet and Winchester Primers. This 5.0 powder charge normally fills the case up about half.

That's either max. for a 230 gr. FMJ .45 ACP, or very close to it. Copper plated bullets “act� more like cast loads than true jacketed bullets and 5.0 sounds a little on the high side for a 230 gr. cast bullet. Either way, a double charge should have resulted in powder overflowing the case, but a 50% over charge may not. However, you should have felt the powder crushing in a compressed powder charge. Hmmmm . . .

Do you periodically recheck the powder charge during reloading? If so, does your powder measure hold to within 1/10 grain, or does it wonder? If so, how much? When reloading at the max. book load, you can’t afford to have a measure wander.

seadawg221 wrote:The other night while I was loading a batch I picked up a bullet, placed it in the casing and it immediately fell into the casing, aparently this bullet of another caliber had gotten mixed in (from the factory) with my bullets. I removed this bullet and I am assuming this is how I got out of sync. As a matter of fact I somewhat felt that I had made a mistake and the next mistake I had was that I did not stop and recheck everything.

The Square Deal B is auto-indexing, so you should not have been able to double stroke (thus double charge) a case, without going to the trouble of removing each case and setting them back on the shell plate. Did you do that?

I don't mean to be giving you the third degree, but this one has me stumped. I know you'd like to know how this happened and maybe we can help others new to reloading keep from making the same mistake.

Regards,
Chas.

seadawg221 wrote:I spoke with Kimber a few minutes ago and they asked me to send it to them and they would see what they could do for me, they did indicate that it was most likely ammo related.

I would have bet on that response and my crystal ball has been on the blink lately. I'd take it to Vanden Berg first and if he thinks it was the gun, see if he'd call Kimber or write a letter for you. They'll still want to see the gun obviously, but it would help for them to know a member of the American Pistolsmith Guild says they have a problem.

I'm not optimistic, as I think it was ammo related as well, but I'd sure have Ed check it out.

Regards,
Chas.

Seadawg221:

As others have posted, the first suspect for this type of damage is a squib load. Most squibs are primer-only rounds, not a reduced powder charge or contaminated powder. As some have mentioned however, a squib load caused by reduced powder/contaminated powder charge rarely has sufficient energy to fully cycle the slide and still leave a bullet in the barrel. A primer-only round absolutely will not cycle the slide with a .45 ACP. I have seen .45's fire a live round after a squib and the only result was a ringed barrel (ruined) with no damage to the pistol. I have also seen revolvers blown up, but those were high pressure calibers. I’m not saying you can’t blow up a .45 ACP 1911, but I just haven’t seen it caused by a squib. Now, put a .38 Super loaded for IPSC major behind a squib in an unramped barrel (maybe even with a ramped barrel) and touch it off and you’ll quickly become a member of the “super face� club, the grips will be blown off, the magazine will be blown out of the frame and your hand will be evidence of your mistakes! But .45 ACP doesn’t develop anywhere near the chamber pressures of hot .38 Supers.

I tend to think it was an over charge and most of those are double charges, unless you have a poorly functioning powder measure that "wonders." Most double charges are very noticeable, but depending on the intended charge, may or may not damage the pistol. For example, if you are using a slower burning powder and a light powder charge, then you may well be able to double the charge with no damage, but you'd sure notice the difference. However, if you are using a fast burning powder at a maximum charge, then a double charge will most likely damage the pistol, again with you being very aware! For this reason among others, I like loads in which the powder takes up well over half of the case. With such loads, a double charge will result in powder overflowing the case making the mistake obvious.

The only thing that argues against an over charge is the fact that you didn't feel anything unusual, but that also argues against a squib. What bullets were you using? Was the barrel leaded up close to the chamber? Could a copper jacket have separated and been left in the barrel at a point not visible in the photos? These are just things to consider at this point. Sorry about the gun.

Since you live in the area, I'd take it to Ed Vanden Berg and have him look at it. He can probably offer an opinion as to the cause. If he thinks it was a bad reload, then it was an expensive lesson. If he thinks the gun failed in some way, then you may have a good chance of Kimber replacing the gun.

As to not continuing to reload, my first reaction was to suggest you keep at it, but if you are AADD, then perhaps it isn't a good idea. Only you can determine if your condition will allow you to proceed safely.

Regards,
Chas.