I got a very good lesson on this last weekend. I went shooting with my dad and he experienced a catastrophic failure. Still not sure exactly what happened, but his 9mm ruger pistol is totally fucked. The receiver is cracked and the slide won't budge. However the most impressive part was the gouge taken out of his safety glasses and only a very small laceration on his cheek.
I've always neglected safety glasses while shooting due to my normal glasses. However, I would strongly advice anyone else with this train of thought to reconsider as I myself have. Normal glasses are not a proper replacement for safety glasses.
Just a friendly PSA to wear your proper safety gear while shooting.
Always good to survive those reminders.
My guesses are squib load followed by a regular shot. Or an improperly loaded, too much powder, round. He’s lucky to have his hand. Hopefully he didn’t accidentally shoot at +p round.