Reply #19: If the "clip" (magazine) in my gun was bulging, I sure wouldn't shoot it! [View All]

:D

True story: many years ago I was plinking with a box of .38 spl wadcutter reloads a friend had given me that were old and not very well quality controlled. Put them in my S&W .357 which I seem to recall was called a "Highway Patrol" model...(?) Anyway I somehow failed to notice the last round in the cylinder did not exit the barrel! I was just shooting into a riverbank at some trash...cans and such mostly junk...it was a completely safe place to shoot. Anyway, I refilled the cylinder with .357 ammo and aimed - that first shot was one I'll never forget...it blew out the stuck bullet and followed it out with the magnum parabellum. It put a bulge in the barrel pretty close to .45 caliber halfway from the chamber to the muzzle. Yes, I was very very lucky it didn't split the barrel and seriously injure me but it held thanks to the good and strong construction of that old revolver it held. I traded it to a gunsmith for something else, I forget what at this late date.