Shot in the face???

instrumentofwar

So I was out at the range the other week firing some handloads out of the 454. I stopped firing when I felt a sharp sting on my face, which turned out to be bleeding. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but had an idea it was one of three things. 1. unburnt powder propelled backwards, 2. some ice or gravel kicked up (the buzzle blast on this beast is AWESOME!), or the worst case scenario 3. some piece of the bullet. I couldn't find anything in my face when I got home, but after a day or so I squeezed out a small sliver of the bullet. Now I'm no gunsmith but the timing on the cylinder seems to loks up with relatively no slop, which was my first thought; that the chamber wasn't within tolerances and the throat sheared off a sliver. I fire predominantly hard cast loads out of this gun, a Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan, and have never had any issues like this before.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. -Josh

richbug

lead bullets? I have trouble on one of my revolvers with them. It is timed properly, but the forcing cone isn't opened up as big as it could be, and it shaves a tiny bit of lead. doesn't happen with jacketed or plated bullets, just lead SWC's. I suspect it was because noone was loading lead 10mm's at the time of manufacture.

This may be the case with your 454. Contact Ruger.

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gunguy30_06

what kind of target were you shooting at?

1911a1-fan

if you have been shooting the gun for awhile check the cylinder grooves, sometimes they will create a bur in the notches, and this will throw off the timing just a bit, and sometimes it will occur only on one cylinder, you may or may not find that the primer when hit will be slightly off center of the other primers

on the other side would be the barrel is off center, but i would look at the cylinder notches real close, on the inside of the groove, and on the outside, you may also {unload it duh!}, and dry fire it close to your ear, pull the trigger fast, but one cylinder at a time, you will develop a feel for the firing pin strike and lock up, if it is off it will be so close it is hard to tell, but once you think you have it mark the cylinder, then see if you can find it again just by your ear {it may take a few minutes of doing this to find the problem}


edit: did you get a lead build up on the cylinder?, sometimes if it is one chamber doing it, the lead will build up above that chamber the decrease on the two chambers one the side, as well as the front and rear of the top strap

drawn

Standing just left and behind a friend shooting 300 gr JHP's from my SRH 44 mag, I was hit with a piece of jacket that ricocheted off the back stop at 25 yards and stuck in my cheek.

"I don't want to spend my whole life trying to explain myself you either get it or you don't" FRANK ZAPPA