The latest news (5 days ago) suggests they were firing an AP round at a steel plate.

Not knocking him on his experience with the vehicle. Just curious to know the crew proficiency in gunnery. The tanker vets here can attest to the annual requirements of training needed to stay up to speed in that area. Other things to consider, amount of rounds previously fired thru the gun in question, as well as serviceability of the rounds fired. All have a service life, and eventually pass a safe usage point. 

this guy was high up in the MVPA,got an email about it the day after it happened.very sad,but this man was very experianced in military vehicles

stikpusher

Even training rounds can do some serious damage, let alone HE, AP, or HVAPDS.

Horrible...I hope the families pull through this ok. My condolences and prayers, R.I.P. fellow hobbyists.

This M18 has been on you tube for awhile.Thought everyone knew about it lol :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMbI22Uya8A

I wonder if this is the same Hellcat that was featured on a show a couple of years back where they actually found its WWII Commander nearby and took him for a ride in it. The old man looked like a little boy in a candy store!

Poor guy spent all that time and effort and this awful thing happens. I would also have guessed that it was de milled. You don't mess around with that big gun. I too blieve it may have been a dud and went off during extraction.

Thoughts and prayers for the family. 

A sports car in a collision is one thing... wether antique or todays cutting edge sports car, like lets say Paul Walkers fatal ride it is still, in the end, a vehicle collision. An average citizen in possesion of a fully functional Armored Fighting Vehicle, complete with ammunition for the operational main gun is a few levels above that in potential for mayhem. Even training rounds can do some serious damage, let alone HE, AP, or HVAPDS.

I saw the initial report, but couldn't find any info on it yesterday. Thanks for the update.

Well @##@ happens, and when you're dealing with that much firepower when @#$@ happens people get maimed or die...

Really sucks the poor guy went though so much work to obtain the M18 and restore it and then something like this happens. Like restoring a vintage sports car and then taking it out on the road and getting killed in an accident. I guess he went doing what he loved- but it still blows...

Yes, misfires are VERY hairy! Procedures for dealing with them require constant training by crews. Which again makes me wonder how any civilian has an operational weapon on this sort. The 76mm gun is no deer rifle. It is some serious firepower. 

One guess wqould be that they had a dud and didn't wait long enough before extracting the round and it went off outside the breech.

again, just a guess.

Well from what I can tell it isn't like they were at the range punching paper. There was this film being shot, the thing was wrapped in smoke from a smoke generator, and whatever they were doing to make the gun "shoot" I haven't read.

I am saddened to hear of their deaths, but quite curious as to how they got live ammo and an operational 76mm gun. I was always under the impression that the guns on any vehicle of this sort had to be de militarized. In other words, non functional.

Here it is.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article41658840.html