Over a half a century ago, I became aware of a load that was  ubiquitous in nature. It was the 38 Special load of 2.7 grs of Bullseye with a 148 gr full wadcutter. As usual there were a few blowups and they could not solve the mystery. I would suspect there were not any confessions forthcoming. The popular conclusion: detonation.
Until this day they have never been able to produce the same results in any lab. And the internet is rife with tests ran. 
SASS/Cowboy Action Shooting has the same (somewhat) circumstance.  We are noted for our light (woose) loads and it was determined that it was detonation. No confessions here either. 
I must admit that I strongly believe when this happens, then it is the reloader and not the load.

It was said that the pictured blown up Ballard was loaded with 5744, and a wad over the powder. The combination of the 5744 double base powder, with a wad against it certainly was more than a lot of receivers could hold. 
Since this incident the Quigley has banned the use of 5744 or some other double base powders. I don't think 5744 is a bad powder, just bad when you put a wad down against it.
As I type I have to admit I have a couple cast action Ballards chambered in .32-40 caliber, and have shot them too many times to count. They are certainly strong enough for sane people to reload for. They might not be safe enough for everyone, as some just like to push the limits. And I wouldn't build up such a gun, as these both came to me having been shot for many decades, and I hope to shoot them just as long.

Mick B wrote on May 1^st, 2020 at 10:12pm:


None of my dozens of Ballard rifles have ever seen BP in them since I've owned them. They're not complaining about being fed with smokeless.

It's a shame that things like this happen. I used to warn unknowing people especially when they are trying to sell. Most of the time they think you're trying to lowball them. There's a cast ballard frame that's cracked on Ebay now. 
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Can it be fixed, yep. Would it make a dandy .22, you bet. May it become someone's new BPCR, who knows.

To bad he didn't have the cadmium plated Parkenfarker fix installed.

John, who are you asking?

Yes sir, we should only use smokeless in modern actions;-)
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The topic of old BP era guns, and BP vs. smokeless powders is always a hot topic. The purists are always saying BP is the safest and only way to go with any gun built before 1898 or there about. Those smart enough to know which smokeless powders to use, and how to load correctly also will never have any problems. 
There are numerous cases of shooters using smokeless powders to blow up brand new guns too, so maybe smokeless shouldn't be used in any gun, regardless of age if the person loading them doesn't have some special training, and a state license before he reloads? I'm sure some government agency could make us all safer, and we wont worry about what others are doing.