Glock 20 10mm Auto KABOOM
A ARFCOMer noticed the spent cases from his 1994-vintage Glock 20 (10mm Auto) appeared to be very close to failing (see case photo below). The problem seems to be that the rounds were not sufficiently supported by the chamber. A replacement factory barrel gave the cases a lot more support. He decided to do some tests at the range with his old barrel … you know where this story is going … the second round caused a catastrophic failure. The magazine and part of the frame were blown out. Fortunately he only suffered very a very minor injury.
The moral of the story is not to shoot guns that are known to be unsafe. If you have to, construct a rig that allows you to remotely fire the gun from behind cover.
[ Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link. ]
I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!
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That case shows that SOMEONE had overcharged the case. I've fired many rounds that were "hot" in a Glock barrel. 11 grains of Long Shot behind a 165 Remington Golden sabre caused a slight bulging on 7 out of 13 cases. Notice I said SLIGHT. But it showed me to back off and I did. To 10.5. No bulging at all there and the velocity was still 1377 FPS vs 1404. After I installed a Bar Sto barrel that same 11 grains, it pushed the 165 Golden sabre at 1467 feet per second without showing ANY pressure signs on the brass. And obviously the Bar Sto barrel must have had more pressure in it to have that much more velocity. Glock claims that the "polygonal" rifling gives you more velocity. I'm here to say that is bs. The 10mm is a round that is typically underloaded with modern data. I use data from the early 90's and it works fine. I watch for signs. This guy had some MAJOR pressure issues. I had some VERY SMALL SLIGHT bulges at 11 grains. I'd say someone used too much of some kind of powder. That pistol also may have had a badly supported chamber due to some gun butcherer "throating" the barrel. I mean LOOK at how much of that brass is bulged. WAY more than the typical amount that you would see from the typical area that is not supported.
The problem is boutique ammo loaded to ridiculous pressure and ignorant owners who want to turn their 10mm into a 41 magnum because they're idiots. Instead of paying up the @$$ for dangerous slopilly loaded boutique ammo buy a bigger gun you morons.