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My P30 blew up.

37K views 150 replies 77 participants last post by  Sinnius 
#1 ·
Had a scary one at the range today. Took my P30 out to put a quick 100 rounds through it, 3rd shot caused a fatal malfunction, neither myself or the guys at my shop are quite sure how or why it happened.





It scared the bejeezus out of me, the switchable side grips actually came halfway off the frame as it expanded in my hand. Slide, barrel, and recoil spring appear perfectly intact. The frame has absolutely had it, guide rods are out of place, and I'm pretty sure the trigger no longer functions.



Was using Winchester range ammo, not reloaded.

Thinking I'll call HK tomorrow as their office is closed Sunday.
 
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#4 · (Edited)
wow! we are glad you are not injured.
I just bought another p30 in .40 s&w. now I'm nervous.

ive not heard manyt other manufacturers guns doing this, not to this extent anyway.. hhhmmmmm
even my Mom carries a P30s, maybe its time to re consider........


i hope the service dept will get you a new firearm, this is UNACCEPTABLE.








would it be safe to say, only a firearm made of solid stainless is safer? instead of this polymer, which can dryout, crack, and cause permanent injury?
I frequent several firearm forums, and have seen a few which came close to this, but not quite as bad as this one, there is some serious damage here, it looks like you were lucky in not being injured.
 
#9 ·
First and foremost, I'm glad you weren't hurt! This looks like an ammo issue from my limited experience. Two of my shooting buddies have had kabooms caused by overloaded factory rounds. One was White Box .45 that blew the grips off a Sig 1911 the other was some Blazer .40 that killed a M&P. Both pistols were replaced by the ammo companies.
 
#11 ·
i honestly had no idea, this was possible. WOW. 1 round can cause a pistol to blow apart like this?? dude, this is horrible !
now that its in my head, I'm going to be nervous all the time.
 
#14 ·
No squib. Barrel is 100%.

Here's pictures of the brass, I think it was an ammo issue as well.





 
#15 ·
HOLY #@!!* totally exploded. wow, and of course, i just purchased that same gun in .40 as well. Thanks for making me nervous now.
that is terrible, you could have been really hurt. ill use the lightest bullet i can then for my .40 (unless it don't matter?)





anyway, please keep us informed as per winchester and HK's excuses/claims as to this happening. I would like to know , as i am sure all on these boards. I didn't think this happens that often, i have heard of several now in the last several years, but YOURS looks the worst. Hard to b believe a single bullet can cause that much damage/possible injury.

We are glad your ok.
 
#20 ·
the 2nd photo, looks like the bottom of the round opened up, blowing the charge directly towards the right side of the gun which n turn did all the damage. man this is scary stuff, to see it.
 
#21 ·
My guess is ammunition caused this. I am sure you are documenting everything on paper and digitally (paper). Someone owes you a pistol. Most importantly you and those around you are safe and uninjured. When I saw this I immediately thought of a time where a sister platoon mixed live on a blank fire in a M60...they got very lucky that night as well. Three live round blew the blank adapter in half and burst the flash suppressor but nobody was injured. That was human error though not ammunition...Good luck as this progresses!
 
#23 ·
Glad you are ok!

If anything this gives me more confidence on HK guns.
I was just about to purchase Winchester 9mm NATO for my USP 9C from Classic Firearms and I will not go through with the purchase.
If that gun blows up, I cannot have it replaced!

I usually buy from a local small business who remamnufactures ammo and does custom ammo. However, the range I was going to only allows new ammo from the big factories. I guess I have to travel further for a gun range that allows me to decide what is best for me and my guns.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Dang, it's a good thing you're all right. Looks like you would have taken some damage to your off hand had you been left handed. I had a lottery-style accident last year (motorcycle), there's nothing comforting about those.

Good luck with the customer service side of things.

EDIT: OMG I just saw the huge crack running down the handle. That probably did not feel good.
 
#30 ·
Glad you're ok. Sucks the pistol is done for though. I agree with the poster above who said if anything this gives him more confidence in is HK. Any pistol can go boom if subjected to stress beyond its design parameters. And HK proofs there barrels right? So that was a hell of a lot of force. A friend of mine blew up his M&P 45 a number of years ago. Shot the magazine out of the bottom of the pistol and blew a chunk out of the side of the slide. That was with reloads on a Dillion press. Not factory ammo though. So it can happen. One of the dangers of our hobby/sport/life. Hope OP gets Winchester to pay for the repair costs.
 
#35 ·
If no bore or barrel deformity, your incident is most likely an over pressured/charged round, resulting in a case failure. This in turn caused the pressure to escape via the case breech, taking out the side of the frame and down through the mag well.

Save the case and the box the ammo came from. Someone else pointed out this sort a kaboom seems to have become more common in the recent past.....
 
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