SPRINGFIELD -- A city man who went on a 2012 hunting trip in the Blandford State Forest is suing firearms giant Glock Inc. plus ammunition manufacturers and retailers for $1 million after a pistol exploded in his hands and launched shrapnel into his face, according to a complaint in U.S. District Court.

While the lawsuit was filed in 2015, the case and a flurry of cross-complaints has wound its way through the court system without a single hearing. The first was Tuesday before federal Magistrate Judge Katherine Robertson.

Originally named in the complaint were Georgia-based Glock, Inc., which manufactured the 10mm semi-automatic pistol at issue in the complaint; Guns and Gear, a firearms retailer in Agawam, where the gun was purchased; Buffalo Bore Ammunition, Inc., manufacturer of the ammunition and based in Lemni County, Idaho; and Cabela's Wholesale Inc. in Nebraska and a local subsidiary, a retailer in East Hartford, Connecticut, which sold the ammo, according to the lawsuit.

Guns and Gear was later dropped from the lawsuit as it interfered with federal jurisdictional issues for the plaintiff's case, according to court filings.

Thomas J. Rooke, an attorney for plaintiff Rodney MacDonald, of Betterway Street in Springfield, writes in the complaint that MacDonald was lawfully hunting with a party in Chester on Dec. 2, 2012. The group began hunting with rifles and eventually began target shooting with pistols, the lawsuit states.

MacDonald borrowed the Glock belonging to another member of the group, Rooke states.

"The Plaintiff fired two shots from the gun without incident. On the third shot, the gun exploded/blew apart while the Plaintiff was holding the gun and firing it," the lawsuit reads.

"The recoil and force from the exploding gun violently spun around the Plaintiff's body and knocked him to the ground. Shrapnel from the gun struck the Plaintiff's face and body," it adds.

MacDonald was seriously injured, the lawsuit states, although the complaint does not detail his injuries.

The remaining defendants deny the allegations and have filed cross-complaints against each other. Put simply, Glock and Buffalo Bore are pointing fingers at one another, and the plaintiff is taking aim at both.

As a backdrop, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey in 2016 took aim at Glock and Remington, another prominent gun manufacturer. She invoked her powers under the state's consumer protection laws to investigate the firms and demand reams of safety complaints from customers, arguing the Glock models were "prone to accidental discharge."

Healey suggested Glock had been warned and ignored red flags to that point, and cited gun violence as a "public health crisis" in court papers.

Glock and Remington fired back in Suffolk Superior Court with lawsuits against Healey's office.

Lawyers for Glock said her intent was merely "to harass an industry that the attorney general finds distasteful and to make political headlines by pursuing members of the firearm industry."

Healey disputed those claims as "incorrect and irrelevant."

Contacted regarding the status of those civil actions, a spokeswoman for Healey's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

A lawyer for Glock in the MacDonald case told Robertson there have been no settlement talks thus far.

"Glock intends to defend its case," Robertson prompted, noting that such lawsuits are numerous and not uncommon.

Both sides are still lining up depositions and securing expert witnesses, lawyers informed the court.

Rooke said a "dissection" of the weapon in question and the ammunition by a ballistics expert is pending. He also said his client, who was not in the courtroom Tuesday, suffered hearing loss, loss of sensation in one of his hands and an injury to his leg.

A trial date has not yet been set in the case.