What blew up my gun?

[keithcandler]

I have seen cold welding twice in my own reloads since I moved back South. Powder degradation was apparent also. Bullets had to be gripped with a pair of vise grips and crushed to get them out of the cases. I use the Rock Chucker with a large over size washer sitting in the die hole, run the bullet up to where it sticks up above the washer, then using a pair of pliers or vise grip, lock onto the bullet, and lower the Ram on the press. In several cases, I thought that it was going to tear the neck off the case in order to pull the bullet. I have been loading since 1968 and have never seen anything like this.

I was very, very lucky in that I noticed The brass around the end of the case, on the loaded round, had become green, ever so slightly. When I pulled the bullets, powder had become, what looked like, grey snot attached to the bottom of the bullet and inside the case walls. Much of the powder had degraded but about half of the powder charge was still intact, certainly enough to cause a detonation.

It took me around 2 years to find the answer that I believe fit my situation. The cases had been fired many times, 223 AI, IMI brass. The brass had been loaded for around 3 years, , stored in Case guard 50's. The brass had never been wet, never. The brass had never been in a tumbler or vibrator cleaner.

What is believe is that the powder residue inside the case caused the contamination. Contamination reacts with both the coating and the powder it's self causing a chemical reaction with the brass alloys of the bullet and cartridge case.

So, the answer is that if you want to use brass that has been fired many times, and this brass is going to be loaded for long term storage, it is best to use a sonic cleaner.

No doubt that the types of powders used, the chemical composition of their various coatings is a huge factor including the type and amount of powder residue that was in the case prior to loading.

 

[sw282]

To get my cases squeaky clean l abandoned the old ''shake n bake'' tumbler too. l use Lymans' wet tumbler with steel pins. My brass comes out looking like ''NEW UNFIRED''..

 

[KY_Windage]

It is real easy to have the gun go "click" and you open the bolt and a fired case falls out. You think the reason it went "click" was because you forgot to put a fresh cartridge in. You think you opened the bolt, but then closed it again on the fired case, or something. With ear plugs in on a shooting range you will probably not hear the primer go off. You will not feel that a bullet got pushed a few inches into the barrel.

I saw a guy do that last year on a range and announce, "Oh, I guess I forgot to reload," and reach for a fresh cartridge to put in. It was only because the guy beside him said, "You better check to be sure your bore is clear" that a blow-up was averted.

I've also seen guys blow guns up and I am almost certain that is what happened. If the gun EVER goes "click," check the bore immediately. It takes only a few seconds. Remember, you will likely not hear the primer go off, even though it did.

It is also more likely to happen to a guy that is carrying on a long, loud conversation while shooting, which I see I lot of guys doing at the range. He isn't paying enough attention to what he is doing, because he is focused on his chat with the guy beside him.

 

[David Emerson]

You need to be careful with the bigger stick powder about bridging in the powder measure but varget is fine enough it shouldn,t happen. Only 2 things could cause this. A squib load and the bullet didn,t clear the barrel. Or a hung charge and a detonation.

 

[fiftybmg]

Possibly a powder drop only partially dispensed, putting much less powder in the case. Small quantity of slow powder in big case explodes. Eyeball that powder level before seating every time.

 

[wbm]

OP has not replied in over two months. What's up with that?

 

[keithcandler]

He may have figured out that the grabbed the wrong can of powder after a long day at work.

 

[sw282]

When loading its Most lmportant to weigh EACH powder charge lndividualy.

As a final check EACH loaded/completed round should be weighed too..

 

[Inkoosikas]

Ouch!! Glad no one was hurt!! Sorry about your setup!

 

[JAYgs8163]

Maybe he's waiting for what he said in his last post.

"I agree with John 264.
I'll update if/when I get rifle back from Savage.
Thanks again for all replies"

Give it a rest already guys!

 

[Old Rooster]

keithcandler that cold weld stuff is scary reading.I have reloads I loaded back in the 80's still sitting in my cartridge safe.
Maybe I'll pull the bullets and check them.
Old Rooster

 

[Hal The Slayer]

Went shooting yesterday, shot about 5 shots and on 6th shot this happened.
Reloads from a couple years ago , store in ammo box in a shooting bag.
Rifle is a 22-250 Savage Model 10
Bullets are 55Gn Hornady V-Max
35GN of Varget Powder
Been doing this recipe for approx. 4 years, have never had problem.
No signs of over pressure until this incident, happily no injuries/casualties (except gun,LOL)
Any Ideas out there

View attachment 148591 View attachment 148592

Normyt;glad no one was hurt, At least I hope you had a lifetime warranty on scope,vortex has replaced even worse than that,but I think that's a keeper for a conversation piece.Checking on the cause with a lot of my friends,be in touch if we come up with anything

 

[WildRose]

Went shooting yesterday, shot about 5 shots and on 6th shot this happened.
Reloads from a couple years ago , store in ammo box in a shooting bag.
Rifle is a 22-250 Savage Model 10
Bullets are 55Gn Hornady V-Max
35GN of Varget Powder
Been doing this recipe for approx. 4 years, have never had problem.
No signs of over pressure until this incident, happily no injuries/casualties (except gun,LOL)
Any Ideas out there

View attachment 148591 View attachment 148592

You are a very, very lucky man.

Most likely cause is a barrel obstruction of some sort.

Much less likely is a big buildup of carbon in the throat and around the neck but I've never seen one go from shooting fine to exploding due to a carbon buildup.

 

[WildRose]

I doubt an over charge of varget would do that, I dont think you can get that much in a 22-250 case...
Case/bullet weld shouldn't do that either-- if it was a barrel obstruction I'd think you would see a barrel bulge and usually the barrel will split/blow before the receiver ....looks like the bolt lugs got shoved back into the receiver, thus the banana'd receiver. Still think it could be an out of battery, wrong powder, or case rupture/failure-- it takes alot of energy to split a steel receiver like that.


Looks like I can see the bolt handle at the rear, but I dont see the bolt through the vent hole in the front of the receiver--- did the bolt shear in 2 pieces? Or am I looking at the picture wrong

My thoughts exactly. A case will only hold so much powder and he's already using a very fast burning powder.

About the only way I can see something like that happening would have been to have used maybe a pistol powder by accident instead of the intended powder.