Hangfires are real!

tccox

Got to our shooting range late today. Shooting buddy was already there and had started shooting. He had started with his 270 and had this tale:

He had fired several rounds and then one failed to fire. As he flipped the handle up, it went bang!! Blew the bolt backwards and knocked heck out of his hand. He also has a bullet lodged about half way up the barrel. Hopefully he can drive it backwards out of the barrel without damage.

I didn't ask but he was probably shooting reloads. I'll find out tomorrow.

I have always heard about hangfires, especially about military ammo but have never seen one myself. I have had several duds but never one that went off a second or so later. I guess I will be more careful from now on and give the round time to fire or remain dead.

Worse case, he could have gotten a face full of bolt. That could have smarted. Tom

p3skyking

Standard procedure for a misfire is to keep the weapon pointed downrange for one minute. After one minute open the bolt and dispose of the cartridge. I have some FN 7mm Mauser cartridges that came out of South America. They have about a quarter second delay and you can watch people flinch from the anticipated recoil.

n/a

I have never witnessed one myself.

n/a

Yes Hang fires are real. We teach even at the shotgun range to keep the action closed at least 30 seconds after a CLICK and no explosion..

Just had a young man that lost half his hand do to a Hangfire in a 30/30, reloaded ammo that his dad did.. Lever Action 30/30,, Click, operated the lever, Boom. Blew out the entire right side of the receiver..[:(]

RCrosby

1/4 second sounds about right for the 1 or 2 hangfires I've experienced over the past 50 years or so of shooting.
I'm wondering if there might be another explanation?
Some of my bolt actions will not fire if the bolt is raised more than the slightest amount. (In fact I have a couple that operate like this and also have noisy safeties. When I'm on stand I'll sometimes raise the bolt handle about 45 degrees and then quietly lower it when a target presents itself.) At any rate, last night I discovered that my Ruger Hawkeye will drop the firing pin when I pull the trigger even when the bolt is raised by the same 45 degrees or so. I plan to try this with a primed case sometime to see if the firing pin will fall with enough "oomph" to detonate the primer.
So, is it possible that the firing pin did not fall when the trigger was first pulled (faulty trigger? sear assembly? something?) and then dropped when the bolt was raised?
I guess what I'm wondering is if this might be a gun problem rather than an ammo defect. IF this is possible, it would certainly be something to look into before anyone gets hurt.
What say the experts? Any potential validity to this line of reasoning????

n/a

Hangfires occur for different reasons, Faulty primer(could have some oil in it, Oil is the enemy of primers) causing a delayed explosion..Faulty powder, dampness (again oil can cause this)

I see people with shotguns with enough oil on them I could change oil in my car.. They keep them loaded at home and then wonder why they get a lot of the "Click" and nothing happens.. (Oil infiltrated the primer dummy"..[;)][:D][:D][:o)]

11b6r

Went thru some older, poorly stored .303 Brit (*), and believe me, you WILL get hangfires- about a half second after the firing pin drops, you get a boom. Oil IS the enemy, but so is storage in temperature extemes, high humidity, etc. If you are NOT being shot at, and need to return fire, leave the bolt alone for at least 30 seconds. If you reloaded those rounds, use the time to reflect upon your potential shortcomings as a reloader.

e3mrk

I get more than My fare share when shooting 303 British with the P.O.F Head stamp.

mogley98

Never had a hang fire in an unlocked bolt however I would assume pistol rounds safer then rifle considering some pistols don't even really lock but fire from a dropped bolt

FWAddit

Confirmation of two potential causes of hangfires:


Poorly-stored primers.

I loaded some cartridges with primers from a partial box that had fallen to the floor. I hadn't noticed when they fell, but they must have been there on that cool, humid concrete for a long time. About half the cartridges hung fire--nothing as long as half a second, but a noticeable gap between the click and the bang.


Contaminated powder.

I followed a recommendation to load plinking loads with unsized, unlubed cast bullets with just a tuft of dacron over the powder and a dab of lithium grease under the bullet. They shot fine when freshly loaded, but after a few days the oil component of the grease crept into the powder. Sometimes the cartridges misfired, sometimes they hung fire. Lots of unburned powder in either case.