What blew up my gun?

[WildRose]

Yeah that's what I'm going to do is pull remaining loads. These bullets were reloaded probably
3.5 to 4 years ago. Wonder if something in reloaded case/bullet can change after that much time in store? I feel I'm pretty careful when reloading but I guess a guy can get complacent when doing this repetitious routine. i also always check for what's "incipent head separation" of each case.

Just a thought Norm but check the remaining loads for case length before you do anything else.

Theoretically if the case is enough over spec in length chambering it could put enough pressure on the bullet to create tremendous pressures leading to such a failure.

You should however notice some difficulty when closing the bolt however giving you a fair warning that something is wrong.

Never force a bolt closed and fire the gun.

 

[WildRose]

I personally don't think It has anything to do with the age of the ammo because when ammo goes bad, it normally becomes acidic and starts to eat through the case. Also when you open a container of old powder you can smell the degradation. and should not use it.

I have shot 50+year old ammo and it was fine. even some of the corrosive ammo that was 75+years old, and as long as the cases looked good it worked fine. As I said, if it looks bad I don't shoot it in anything and usually just pull the bullets and throw the rest away. But if you are not sure about the quality or the powder charge or even someone else's reloads, Dispose of it in a safe manor.

J E CUSTOM

This is true. We shot tons of surplus WWII era ammo in the sixties and seventies growing up. Even after I went into the service we were still shooting some Korean War Era ammo with no problems as well as some WWII era mortar rounds.

 

[soundwaves]

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

Probably happened again and wasnt so lucky this time.

 

[jbs2014]

Have not heard from the OP on this thread in a bit, anybody know if he found out what caused his rifle to detonate?

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Old thread but thats a heck of a chamfer at the back of the chamber, I wonder how much unsupported case head there was.

 

[Pdvdh]

I'd like to know if he recorded projectile MV?

 

[JAYgs8163]

Have not heard from the OP on this thread in a bit, anybody know if he found out what caused his rifle to detonate?

Being it's a thread from 2019 we probably won't hear anything again.

 

[Pdvdh]

Being it's a thread from 2019 we probably won't hear anything again.

Yup. Still... did he measure the barrel's forward velocity, or that of a bullet?

 

[MTBMaine]

Didn't he say it was old reloads? Maybe the brass wasn't totally cleaned and there was some bullet weld. I've heard of that happening if dirty reloads sit for a long time.

 

[jbs2014]

The case weld was mentioned in this thread a bit. But phorwath brings up a good point about the MV, that could be a good indicator if his loads were too hot.
Could there have been a pre existing fault in the metal in the action/chamber? Or maybe a bad heat treatment?

 

[Tripodmvr7]

Fusion of the bullet with the case neck might be a possibility, if wrong powder is excluded. Bullet with neck attached is then forced down the barrel. What kind of lube was used?

39gr of Varget = a 110% fill. Quick Load calcs a 80K psi pressure which is in the proof range. Unlikely that this was the cause.

 

[Lapuatom]

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

Barrel obstruction?

 

[chris ross]

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

Good thing that you weren't hurt!

 

[capona]

Bullet weld.

?