22LR Hangfire

[somefred]

Had my first hangfire today - waited 15s, started to pull the charging handle, then *boom* - got a very mildly shrapnelled hand, and this:

[510GUY]

What kind of rifle/handgun where you shooting?

[somefred]

Sig 522

[uxo2]

what brand of ammo?

[defcon]

so how can you tell if its a hang fire? what causes a hang fire? maybe its safer to wait more than 15 seconds?

[somefred]

It was some german high velocity target ammo, don't see a brand on it :/

If you pull the trigger and it doesn't go bang, pick one:

- malfunction
- no cartridge in chamber
- dud cartridge in chamber
- hang fire

Hang fire is when the primer gets hit, but doesn't immediately properly detonate the gunpowder. Depending on the weapon there might not be a good way to tell the difference, so I was taught to assume it's a hangfire as it's the most dangerous, despite being incredibly rare.

I was also taught 30s... though I don't know anyone who actually does wait that long.

[defcon]

ah ok.

got a picture of your hand? maybe its better to wear a glove while shooting?

[Izzy43]

Hang fire definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_fire

I experienced one as a loader on a 3" gun when in the Navy in 1966 off the coast of VietNam. I was 19 yrs old at the time. After a couple of attempts to fire the round we unloaded the remainder of the shells. I was sent down one deck and told to clean up the fodder from the previous rounds that were shot. About 10 minutes later the Gunner's Mate attempted to fire the shell and much to my detriment it went off. I was standing 15 ft below the muzzle of the barrel. Couldn't hear a thing for a week and to this day I still have high pitched ringing in my ears.

Picture of the same gun: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...9QEwBg&dur=384

Wife gets upset because I answer most of her questions with "What did you say".

[defcon]

Yuck. When I pull the trigger and the gun doesn't go bang I just clear it for the next round.

ya that what i do too.

[JackRydden224]

Yuck. When I pull the trigger and the gun doesn't go bang I just clear it for the next round.

[Davinho]

Thanks for posting this. It's good to be reminded that hangfires are still a risk with modern ammunition.