Unusual failure

[Darrell]

My brother sent me this photo without any information. It looks to me like some kind of outside mechanical force did the damage here. I can't think of a mechanism where this would happen during shooting, even with overly heavy loads. Interesting though...

I have the same model Kimber and it seems to be well built.

 

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Darrell

[Choatecav]

I agree with you that it was an outside force and not an internal shooting issue that did this.  The rod and spring does not even look damaged.  My son has one of these and yes, they are extremely well built and rugged.  

As to what did it, I have no clue.

[Chucktshoes]

That appears suboptimal. 

[BigK]

That is weird. Looks like the muzzle was forced backwards maybe?

[Darrell]

 Here's mine. I can see no way that damage could occur during normal use. Maybe the gun was dropped and just happened to land against the frame? Who knows?

 

.

[NoBanStan]

Kimber 1911 .45 with micro AFG

[Ronald_55]

A few minutes and a good vice and you are back to shooting. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Ronald_55
spelling failure

[Darrell]

50 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

A few minutes and a good vice and you are cack to shooting. 

Will you fire the first mag through it?

[TacC]

Possible over pressure in casing?

[Ronald_55]

35 minutes ago, Darrell said:

Will you fire the first mag through it?

Yep..

I have a long spool of string and said vice...

[Grayfox54]

Darnest thing I've ever seen. I can only guess something hit the frame hard while the slide was all the way back. 

I'd be curious if you could get some more info on this. 

[NoBanStan]

I feel like you could use a highpoint for hammer/pry bar, but the kimber probably won't hold up.

In all seriousness, maybe that's from a squib? perhaps over pressure caused the barrel to bulge and then burst. That pressure has to go somewhere. Might also explain why the slide never traveled back to full reset.

We've all seen the looney tunes shotgun barrels. That happens in pistols as well

[Chucktshoes]

55 minutes ago, Darrell said:

Will you fire the first mag through it?

I would. You could cut that dust cover off at its bend point and in theory fire it safely. The guide rails are aft of the bend.

I am very curious as to how that came about because I can’t think of how you could bend that in such a manner without either pretty severe mechanical force, or very substandard materials and workmanship. I actually lean one particular direction, and it isn’t the better of the two.
 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Chucktshoes

[Jamie Jackson]

Just tagging in with a WAG, and just a guess from the single angle photo, but my thought is towards a manufacturing defect.

As someone who has blown up a G21 with a double charge handload. All of the force of my detonation was in the chamber, grip and back of the slide.

Again, just a guess based on the single view.

 

Interested in hearing more details. Maybe seeing various angle photos...

I've put a lot of rounds through 1911's and never even heard of something like this.

[Ronald_55]

Found your answer. Someone screencaped it from FB

A .40 S&W cartridge detonated by a fired .45 from the chamber.... Super Sqib I guess....

 

[Jamie Jackson]

Well I obviously have reading comprehension issues 

@Darrell clearly stated

On 4/3/2023 at 7:43 AM, Darrell said:

My brother sent me this photo without any information.

My apologies as I misinterpreted that this was a photo of your brother's gun. My bad.

I guess lodging a .40 in your barrel and then following it with a .45 could have been much worse!

Teach me to comment until after I've finished my coffee...

Glad the shooter wasn't hurt.

[Garufa]

Is that an aluminum framed 1911?

[krunchnik]

Nope-the top end suffered no damage-nope-

Thats the dust cover and there actually is no force on that during any cycle-

If this were in fact a real incident the force would have blown the magazine out of the gun and ruptured the barrel and hood-

Someone my guess is trying to orchestrate a response from the Kimber haters-

I have seen first hand damage from such and can attest there is way more damage on the top end-

PS-A .40S&W round drops right thru the barrel getting stuck nowhere-

Edited April 4, 2023 by krunchnik
add

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, Garufa said:

Is that an aluminum framed 1911?

It appears to me to be.

[JustEd]

Possibly it was bent by someone trying to disassemble the weapon AFTER the failure.  It is hard for me to visualize the mechanics of a squib failure bending that part of the frame.

 

 

[NoBanStan]

On 4/3/2023 at 8:08 PM, Ronald_55 said:

Found your answer. Someone screencaped it from FB

A .40 S&W cartridge detonated by a fired .45 from the chamber.... Super Sqib I guess....

 

Ok, thinking this through.

User inserts the mag and racks the slide. The .40 is slung into the barrel. Now you have a closed breach with no round loaded. So they would have to rack the slide another time to get the .45 in there. I guess you could have really crap luck that the .40 stays in the barrel?? I guess you could then fire it and maybe there's a weak point in the barrel that makes the expansion just vent down. It could happen, right?

who knows.

Edited April 6, 2023 by NoBanStan

[krunchnik]

39 minutes ago, NoBanStan said:

Ok, thinking this through.

User inserts the mag and racks the slide. The .40 is slung into the barrel. Now you have a closed breach with no round loaded. So they would have to rack the slide another time to get the .45 in there. I guess you could have really crap luck that the .40 stays in the barrel?? I guess you could then fire it and maybe there's a weak point in the barrel that makes the expansion just vent down. It could happen, right?

who knows.

Anything is possible given that there are a lot of complete idiots that own firearms-

[Chucktshoes]

I went and pulled the individual images in full resolution and one provides the better picture of the view from the bottom where you can see the barrel’s failure point. It makes the overt damage make much more sense. 
 

[Garufa]

If these images are authentic then it only proves the awesome power of the mighty .40.  Not only did it blow out the barrel of a weapon that it should have easily slipped out of onto the floor, it bent the dust cover to a significant angle that defies my rudimentary understanding of metallurgy, physics, and engineering.

Or do Kimber’s suck that bad?

Edited April 6, 2023 by Garufa

[NoBanStan]

4 hours ago, krunchnik said:

Anything is possible given that there are a lot of complete idiots that own firearms-

True, but crap does happen.

I took took a couple to the range awhile back with a .380 and a 9mm. The husband decided to reload a mag while the wife was asking me questions. I just happened to glance back and realize he was loading .380 into my 9mm. luckily I caught him