[Divebum]

Upon further review of the pistol above, I see the slide is cracked near the muzzle. First thing that comes to mind is a squib. That isn't necessarily the fault of the gun, but more likely the ammo. It also looks like a PT709 which isn't quite 15 years old...I don't think.

I was thinking squib as well. Or a round exploding in the mag, but I've never heard of that happening. In any case, it sure looks like an ammo problem not a gun problem. And I still carry my non-drop proof 145MilPro.

Squib?

Under powered round. Usually, the primer creates enough force to push the bullet into the chamber. Acts like a failure to fire. If you are unaware that you've just had a squib, and chamber another round behind the bullet lodged in the barrel, and fire that round, you are going to have a bad day - if you're lucky, just your gun is ruined. A squib sounds like a fart and not a bang.