50 cal explodes on video

[XL105]

Amazingly this guy survived a 50 cal exploding in his hands. He does a very good job walking through this horrible sequence of events.

 

[Bill Norris]

Amen to the fact that God was definitely on this dude's side for sure.

 

[SSL]

Now that'll leave a mark....

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I might flinch after that, or only shoot a bow.

 

[r bose]

Lucky to be alive. Be leary of surplus ammo of unknown origin, make, country of make, or year made.

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

These YouTube "Experts", will DO, anything for,.. a few, "Clicks" !
Next Video, will show a Kid, in some Foreign Country Handloading those 50 Cals with, Bulleye, Pistol Powder !
Seriously tho, the Bullet was probably "Welded" into the case, due to Age !
And,.. Steel, Metallurgy, Standards, in Foreign Countries,.. SUCK ( Except Tikka's of, course !! ).
Never shoot ANYTHING except, Modern USA Factory made Ammo or,.. YOUR OWN, carefully made, Reloads !

 

[hoz53]

Amazingly this guy survived a 50 cal exploding in his hands. He does a very good job walking through this horrible sequence of events.

Wow that guy was lucky. Sure reminds us all to be careful. I dont shoot any unknown anything.

 

[spencerhenry]

I wonder how a "better" gun would have done? One that is more than a barrel with a butt stock attached. Mine has 3 huge locking lugs, and the bolt handle is a fourth. And the receiver is a giant block of steel. I wonder if the threads had been weakened over time with use.

The guy is tough, a lesser person probably would not have survived.

 

[DRNewcomb]

This is a tragic accident and I don't want to seem like I'm blaming the victim but I would never approve of shooting a large bore rifle at an irregularly-shaped metal target, like that fire hydrant. You have no way to predict which way the bullet will ricochet. With a .50 BMG projectile, a ricochet could travel miles.

 

[ncageneral]

The Good Lord takes care people. Sometimes we don't understand. This gentleman now has a testimony to share. You never know who may be saved from this testimony. I wouldn't have shot that ammo I don't believe.

 

[rockrat]

S.L.A.P. rounds would have the plastic sabot touching the case neck, the bullet(penetrator) would not touch the brass so no "welding" of the bullet to the case neck possible.
Now, I have read somewhere that shooting a saboted round thru a muzzle brake is not the thing to do, nor is shooting a paper patch bullet thru a muzzle brake a wise thing to do. Imagine the rear of the sabot flaring out due to muzzle pressures and hitting the muzzle brake, deflecting the sabot/bullet. Imagine a bullet turning sideways in your suppressor. Bad JuJu!!

 

[GotRDid]

SLAP and Salvo ammunition have a nylon or polymer cup/sabot that contains the sub caliber projectile. This is an obsolete concept in most small arms ammunition today, however it is still used in larger bore cannons from 20MM and up.
The below images are of some in my collection for illustration. The 7.62X51 is a Winchester USGI SLAP round, whereas the .50 Cal is of unknown country of origin (will investigate).
The Salvo .50 cal is a St. Louis USGI 1945 round.
In the case of the SLAP rounds, some of the sabots had either disintegrated in the bore or otherwise failed allowing the hardened sub caliber projectile to score the bore. At best, it’s trajectory upon leaving the muzzle was anyone’s guess.

Even Remington’s Accelerator ammo using nylon sabots were little more than a blip on the ammunition development radar.




GotRDid.

 

[jackieschmidt]

This is a 20 minute video on human stupidity.

He says he will continue making videos. I suppose next will be testing war surplus hand grenades to see if they have the correct cook off time.

 

[David101]

Hey a bit of restraint people fire of surplus military rounds every day of the week. These may have been a little bit different to the standard run of the mill rounds but still I see tracers, incendiary and penetrateor rounds used all the time with no regard as to their safety.

 

[nakneker]

Sobering. A good reminder on many levels. Just glad he’s ok, that was serious. Glad his Dad was there, glad he was able to keep calm, glad God watched over him. We all decide what to shoot or what not to shoot, I imagine this video will make a few people take a harder look at the surplus 50 BMG surplus stash or harder look at the chances we are willing to take.

 

[DangerRanger]

I wonder how a "better" gun would have done? One that is more than a barrel with a butt stock attached. Mine has 3 huge locking lugs, and the bolt handle is a fourth. And the receiver is a giant block of steel. I wonder if the threads had been weakened over time with use.

The guy is tough, a lesser person probably would not have survived.

I was under the impression a threaded breech plug was one of the strongest means possible. Isnt that essentially how the Welin breech block works? That concept was used on 16” battleship guns

 

[robert8904]

That design aims the overpressure failure point at your face, no thanks! AR's and bolt actions seem to fail so that the bolt stays in the gun and not in your face.

 

[Evan]

I was under the impression a threaded breech plug was one of the strongest means possible. Isnt that essentially how the Welin breech block works? That concept was used on 16” battleship guns

A threaded breech is very strong, but I think the brilliance of modern bolt guns is not in how they seal up and contain the pressure, but in how they relieve it when the case ruptures.

That design aims the overpressure failure point at your face, no thanks! AR's and bolt actions seem to fail so that the bolt stays in the gun and not in your face.

There is no telling if it would have made a difference, but most bolt guns direct pressure out vents in the side of the receiver, away from your face, when a case ruptures. I don't think this rifle has any provisions to do that; it's a sealed up chamber.

This video is terrifying and reminds me of why I only shoot what I reload, and also why I buy rifles of known origin and safe design.

 

[davidjoe]

I was under the impression a threaded breech plug was one of the strongest means possible. Isnt that essentially how the Welin breech block works? That concept was used on 16” battleship guns

I shoot 50’s, have three of them. Freeze the video at 5:03. Just take it in for about 5 full minutes.

That threaded stub is maybe about 1/2 as long as it is wide, and the first two full threads didn’t even strip, as I see it. What does that mean. To my thinking, that’s really a problem, to engage such limited threading.

Kentucky believes the Slap muzzle fire ball was large indicating hot loads but it could also be that they simply exit the barrel before the powder is burned like light bullet 22-250’s, because they are light, and that one of the Slaps recorded with a smaller flash was the exception. I wonder what the brass looks like.

If this threaded barrel was offered to me as pictured with that stub being a proposed “tenon”, just to hold the barrel on a receiver, I wouldn’t feel very comfortable with its proportions for even that limited purpose, let alone containing pressure repeatedly.

This is just my opinion as a shooter and rifle user, but I’m going to want more steel in contacting engagement, and behind the contact surfaces, than I see, and not in angles to each other that rearward recoil thrust over time can work to lessen, either.

My personal opinion is if my action is going to fail, the brass better not still look good.

I think the interrupted threads used in cannon breeches, although also angled, are taller and deeper relative to their diameter.

 

[LHSmith]

Hey a bit of restraint people fire of surplus military rounds every day of the week. These may have been a little bit different to the standard run of the mill rounds but still I see tracers, incendiary and penetrateor rounds used all the time with no regard as to their safety.

Well, this is just one incident that was publicized - how many go unreported due to embarrassment? The "people do it all the time" reasoning has no place when it comes to safety awareness when handling firearms. The fact that the rounds accuracy and report were grossly erratic should have been a huge red flag. I also do not condone firing at any steel under 500 yards. What was the original point of the vid? Determine the effectiveness of the .50 on a fire plug?
BTW, Google (youtube) loves vids like this where it makes us look like ignorant redneck fools because their ultimate goal is to rid the country of firearms.