can someone please explain kabooms??????

[Rinaldo81]

:dunno:I must be mistaken. I keep hearing about kabooms and what causes them, but I keep getting different answers. Its never happened to me so i am interested in actually knowing what and how it happens. I would really like a straight and honest answer. please........

[Jael]

Wiki -

The explosive malfunction of a firearm, dubbed a kB! (or kaBoom!)[5] by firearms magazine writer Dean Speir, generally results from case failure in a cartridge. Explosive malfunctions in Glock pistols usually damage the firearm and can cause injury to the shooter.[5]

Controversy arose over Glock's safety standards when in 2001 several instances of explosive malfunction occurred in Glock pistols sold to police departments in the United States.[6][7] Upon pulling the trigger, the cartridge case would rupture and cause an explosion that would tear apart the gun and sometimes send fragments into the shooter's face.

The cause of this malfunction is unknown but may be due to issues with a purposely oversized (loose), and partially unsupported chamber in Glock's pistols chambered in .40 S&W, .45 ACP, and 10 mm Auto. The chamber lacks full support in the rear by the feed ramp in order to facilitate feed reliability. The lack of support in the chamber, usually combined with the use of lead (unjacketed) bullets, reloaded ammunition, or poor-quality factory ammunition (all in violation of Glock's recommendations), would cause the case to fail. The subsequent rapid expansion of gas into the chamber caused the cartridge casing to expand beyond normal specifications near the feed ramp at which time the casing would rupture, sometimes damaging the polymer frame and usually ejecting the magazine downwards out of the pistol grip.

Glock, in its own defense, says that the manual that accompanies each pistol informs the shooter of the dangers of using non-factory rated ammunition, and that the firearm will function safely if the shooter uses factory-loaded, jacketed ammunition and properly cleans and cares for the firearm.[8] Supporters also point out that this type of malfunction occurs in other firearms as well.[9][10] However, there continues to be controversy over the presence of an unsupported chamber, critics arguing that it is not necessary and is a liability for the company.

It has been stated (by Glock and at least one noted barrel maker, the late Gale MacMillan) that because of the specific design of the polygonal rifling in the Glock pistol, operators should not shoot non-jacketed lead ammunition. Lead residue can quickly build up, decreasing the bore diameter and create a dangerous over-pressurization in the barrel, leading to structural failure or warping in the chamber of the barrel.[8] One can notice a bulge in the fired case ejected from the pistol (even with target loads) to see the result of the unsupported chamber.

[cole]

:dunno:I must be mistaken. I keep hearing about kabooms and what causes them, but I keep getting different answers. Its never happened to me so i am interested in actually knowing what and how it happens. I would really like a straight and honest answer. please........

http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283479

[GMAN40]

Kabooms are a sterotype from Glock haters. Kabooms also can occur from bad ammo.:whistling:

[aimatdeer]

:whistling:reloaders have been blowing all sorts of guns for many years.

[sigcalcatrant]

Kabooms are a sterotype from Glock haters. Kabooms also can occur from bad ammo.:whistling:Also, since G22's are the most prevailent firearm in use by U.S. police departments, they only SEEM to occur more in them.

[ede]

a KB is a failure of the case often caused by an over loaded powder charge. it can also happen if the firearm in question fires out of battery ( it only takes a few thousandths of an inch out of battery for the case wall to become unsupported. to a degree all semi auto pistols are unsupported in the feed ramp area. i've seen KBs in 38 spl., 9mm, 40, 10mm, 45 auto, and 45GAP. fired in revolvers, glocks, and 1911s. it isn't all that uncommon.

[DannyR]

A dirty, leaded barrel can cause any firearm to blow due to excess pressure. A new casing can blow due to an overcharge. A reloaded casing can blow due to wear and excessive pressure.

By the way, there is no such thing as a fully supported semi-automatic barrel. If it were fully supported, it would be a single shot pistol.

The .40 caliber round is a maximum pressure round and used .40 caliber brass should never, ever be reloaded to new ammo velocities.

[3rdgen40]

:dunno:I must be mistaken. I keep hearing about kabooms and what causes them, but I keep getting different answers. Its never happened to me so i am interested in actually knowing what and how it happens. I would really like a straight and honest answer. please........
Its just an urban legend.It doesn't really happen...:whistling:

[GMAN40]

Also, since G22's are the most prevailent firearm in use by U.S. police departments, they only SEEM to occur more in them.

This is true!

[glock2740]

I thought kabooms were mostly associated with the .40, as it's supposed to have an unsupported chamber. And this could be fixed with an aftermarket barrel(like a Lone Wolf). I haven't heard of the 10mm's or .45's having this happen. I hope my G20 and G30 are safe, because my G20 eats alot of DT loads and the G30 eats a steady diet of +P's.

[DannyR]

:brickwall::brickwall::brickwall:

All Glocks are safe with factory new ammo, even +P and +P+. Reloading .40 caliber ammo to new ammo valocities should only be done with new brass due to the extremely high pressure of the round.

[Tweek's Turbos]

So its like a tire on a ford explorer. Its probably a mix of the owners fault, and the shear volume out there.

[220IAM]

Tweek's that would be the best way to describe it..

[English]

Two different phenomena are called kabooms but only one really qualifies.

The non qualifying type is cause by a faulty case, typically reloaded too many times so that the brass work hardens and fails under normal pressure. This vents the high pressure gasses down the magazine well and will usually blow out the magazine. It is frightening and might make the hand sting but rarely does more damage than that to shooter or pistol.

True kabooms are caused by over pressure events which stress the gun beyond its design limits. Since guns are designed to withstand about two and a half time the normal maximum pressure of the cartridge it takes a serios level of over pressure to produce damage.

Such over pressure can be produced by over charging a cartridge, by undercharging a cartridge, or by extra resistance to the bullet in its path up the barrel.

It is easy to believe that over charging can blow up a gun. In handguns this is more likely to happen in revolvers because revolver cartridges tend to date back to the black powder era which have bigger capacities than they need and so it is easier to double charge them without noticing.

It seems counter intuitive that a low charge can also blow up a gun but it is so. The gas laws tell us that for a constant mass of gas P = kT/V, where k is a constant, P is pressure, V is volume and T is absolute temperature. So if you double the absolute temperature you double the pressure and if you halve the volume you double the pressure. Equally, if you double the pressure and keep the volume constant, you double the temperature.

There is more to it than that because the propellant is producing more and more gas.Propellant is designed to burn at a rate that is matched to the speed with which the bullet moves down the barrel because as it moves down the barrel the volume increases and prevents an excessive build up of pressure as the burning propellant produces more and more hot gas. Keeping the pressure down also keeps the temperature down and this is very important because the burn rate increases rapidly with temperature. So the bullet is in a kind of race to keep the temperature down because if it doesn't the production of gas will go too fast and the pressure will rise too quickly.

A major secondary effect also comes into play because the propellant granules are designed to burn progressively from the outside in. This is OK as long as the propellant is not held at a high temperature for too long because then it can burn simultaneously through the depth of the granule rather than just from the surface as the temerature on the outside of the granules has time to be conducted to the interior.

With too light a load the pressure is not high enough to accelerate the bullet fast enough. This means that the propellant burns in too confined a space for too long. This "cooks" the inside of the propellant granules and produces a very sudden pressure and temperature increase in a small space. This does, of course, start accellerating the bullet down the barrel, but too late! The bullet can't move fast enough to increase the volume and so reduce the temperature and pressure and so an over pressure event occurs. This will typically bulge or burst the cylinder, chamber or barrel close to the chamber with too light a charge.

If the bullet in front of a normal level of charge is delayed in some way, such as an oversize or overweight bullet or an obstruction such as leading or a bullet left in the barrel by a squib load, then the same process of charge overheating and very sudden increase of pressure can also produce a serious over pressure event.

The results will depend on where the obstruction is in the barrel and how obstructive it is. The barrel might bulge within its elastic limits and return to shape or bulge beyond its elastic limits and return only partially - that is, it will remain bulged. It might simply burst.

Since most auto pistols are operated by recoil, what happens to the bullet governs what happens to the recoil and the unlocking of the slide. If the bullet is slowed enough by the obstruction there will not be enough recoil to unlock the barrel from the slide and the barrel will simply burst or bulge. If the bullet moves fast enough to unlock the slide before the bullet is out of the barrel, the case will partly retract from the chamber while pressure is still very high and the case will burst.

Note that such an over pressure case burst will happen under much higher pressure than with a simple faulty case but the two different things are often mistaken for one. This will usually blow the extractor into some distant place and blow out the magazine. Because the pressure is so high the chamber will have bulged if not split. The brass cartridge case will have bulged with it before it burst but since brass is less elastic than steel, when the burst releases the pressure the chamber will spring back and grip the case very tightly as it squeezes it back to chamber size. With an over pressure event which bursts the case, the front end of the cartridge will usually be locked into the chamber. With a simple case failure the cartridge case will drop out of the chamber since it has not been stretched beyond its elastic limit. A simple case failure is not really a kaboom!

In practical terms, all kinds of fireams suffer over pressure events. There is no magic safe caliber or pistol. The over pressure levels are so high relative to the designed limits that thicker barrels or better metalurgy do not offer significant protection. One very high quality target pistol was made with a thinner than usual barrel and was discontinued after several KBs but whether this was anything to do with the thinner barrel or simply that people blamed the thinner barrel for something which was not the cause is an open question. Leading is the most common cause of over pressure events. Leading increases with slight roughness of the barrel, higher bullet speeds, polygonal rifling and in rather indeterminate ways with the hardness and crystaline structure of the lead used.

Since Glocks use polygonal rifling, this puts them at special risk with lead bullets. Since all machining varies at least minutely, some barrels will be more susceptible than others. Gentle target loads will be less likely to lead but it is hard to predict which lead bullets will be "good" and which will be "bad". The end result is that some people have shot Glocks with lead reloads for years without problems and that some seem to have produced significant over pressure levels within less the 50 rounds and have produced over pressure events within less than 300 rounds. It seems that some have produced over pressure events within less than 50 rounds.

I know of a revolver which produced seriouly stuck cases within 18 rounds. This was a conventionally rifled .38 Special with a light target load and was owned and fired by someone who was meticulous about cleaning. He had not had previous problems but had changed the make of bullets with which he reloaded to a different but reputable brand. He should have stopped shooting after 12 rounds when extraction became difficult but he was in a competition!

Advice? It can happen with anything. If you must shoot lead bullets in a Glock then check for leading every ten rounds with any batch of bullets and loads until you know that it is either not leading or the level at which leading becomes serious - in which case you will probably be OK if you don't shoot more than half that number before you de-lead. Much easier and safer to shoot plated or jacketed bullets! If you get hard extractions from revolver or auto pistol, stop shooting and investigate.

There are also lots of KBs with factory ammunition so it is not just reloads that cause the problem.

English

[PAGunner]

Also, since G22's are the most prevailent firearm in use by U.S. police departments, they only SEEM to occur more in them.

Maybe I was too young, but when the G17 was the most common police sidearm in the US (back in the 90s), I don't remember hearing about Kbs. Also, Kb's that have been documented aren't just with police departments, and from my understanding civilian sales of 9mm Glocks is still larger than .40 Glocks.

[usmcnam6869]

Any firearm on the market can have this Phony Phrase called "KB"",,,
Give me your firearm & I'll give you a "KB"........trust me:supergrin::rofl:

[mickdundie]

It's when you put too much lighter fluid on your kabobs...ya get kabooms:eat:

:grill: