CPX-2 exploded after 15 rounds....pics

[lamarw]

I agree mogunner that reduced OAL of a round will increase pressure. I have my doubts to the extent or the amount of pressure in this situation.

Look forward to reading the results of your test.

[wrearick]

I have met the folks at the factory and I found them to be very honest and open and when I had constructive comments they were interested in listening and did not get defensive. Easy out here for the company would have been to claim it was a squib round. Most of us would not have known enough to known better although the trained metallurgist probably would have disagreed. Instead the company/gunsmith gave an honest assessment of the failure and his best estimate of what caused the issue. I can think of no incident or reason to distrust his analysis even though it points to a fault that is even rarer than a squib load. that is my 2 cents worth from 55+ years of reading people and actions. By the way, I too am thankful that no injuries (other than nerves) were suffered in this event.

[OldNorthState]

I agree with wrearick... and, importantly, this isn't a common occurrence for CPX's, to my knowledge. I suspect ammo as the culprit, also.

[MARINE DIVISION TWO]

Its been said already,But my 2 cents is a squib load ! It even could happen with factory ammo but not often because of quality control ! JMO/MDT

[foolzrushn]

I guess I'm a week late.... but SCCY's analysis of a 'hot' load seems plausible given the absence of a bulge, as shown in the picture of 'intentional blockage' from Hootmon's post.

I doubt if a 'hot' primer (the other minor explosive) could have increased pressures enough to cause a barrel split, so we are left with an unlikely overcharge, a powder switch or a failure of the barrel. One more possibility might be a mixture of powders.

What if there were some residual 'incorrect' powder in the system when they switched to the proper powder for 9mm? I am not familiar enough with various powders to know what kind of pressure can be had by loading a 9mm case to the max with a hot powder. Would that exceed the 212K pressures that SCCY has tested for?

I have no idea how TUL ammo is made. If the wrong powder were to be used on an assembly line, would it be possible that the handling after it was loaded would have mixed the cartridges, so that you didn't get a box full of hot loads, but maybe just one in any box. There would have been no way to tell which were defective after the fact. That's something for TulAmmo shooters to think about.

I agree with lamarw about not shooting the remaining ammo. However you might wish to leave it intact, so that it could be disassembled and analyzed later by an investigator, if need be.

Many good points have been made in this thread about a situation that really turned out great, considering (no injuries!). I love a good mystery.

[blu]

I also say squib along with many others ,even an overloaded round would not do that unless the barrel had a major obstruction.

[strider43]

Well first off let me say SCCY has awesome customer service, and a crazy fast turn around time! I dropped the weapon off for shipping on last friday, and by this morning (following wednesday) i was already getting a phone call from their gunsmith. He even tried to apologize for the delay. I had to stop and laugh at that because i would have never know that there was a delay. Heck, I though they skipped people in line to help me before he said that!

Their gunsmith said that it was NOT a squib round. He said that it looks like it was a over charged round possibly, but he couldn't confirm exactly. He said it didn't have the normal signs of a squib, as it didn't have a bulge in the barrel, nor did it have a dark spot near where the first bullet would have been lodged. However, it had issues at the back of the barrel where it looks to have split from.

He said that average 9mm 115g ammo has a pressure of around 32K-33K PSI. He said that the metal used in their barrels is tested to hold around 212K PSI. So, you can image how much it took to split the barrel dead in half.

They are sending me a new CPX-2 to replace the exploded paperweight that i sent them. I'm pleased with the results.

thats great they took care of you that quick. Now if we could get them to take care of the rest of us that would be really cool!

[Merc6]

I wonder how the original poster is since they only made 4 post and fell off the face of the earth.

FYI, a spammer bumped this post to the top just before they were deleted by mods about a day or so ago.

[Walnut Red]

No expert but I'd be willing to bet that bullet setback due to loose crimp could do that in 9x19 ammo.

[Grubb73]

I also say squib along with many others ,even an overloaded round would not do that unless the barrel had a major obstruction.

I was unaware of squib before reading this thread.

Here is a good video on them. (Hear and see a squib)