FYI, Ruger Mini 14 blow up

B

badriver

New member
Late last fall I reported on a Ruger Mini 14 that I saw blow up. Well, the range has open for the year and I met the owner of that rifle again last Saturday. The latest:

He sent the rifle in to the Ruger company. They said that there was no malfunction of the rifle. They extracted the ruptured case and said that the problem was due to a "soft" brass.

They were new Norma cases and the shooter sent the spent case that was fired before the one that exploded, and the exploded case, and the loaded one next in line to be fired, to the Norma company. He has not received a reply to date.

Has anyone heard of any problems with Norma brass?
 
I haven't heard of any problems with Norma in particular, but any brass, new or used, can rupture. Just an unpleasant fact of metallurgy.
 
Notwithstanding abuse, industry standard is to "proof" the firearm and mark it after proofing prior to introducing it into the stream of commerce. Ruger proof loads all their firearms and immediately hand stamps it afterwards.

If no parts were replaced on the Ruger (which would result in firing prior to the action closing and locking), then it could indeed have been bad ammunition.

BTW, I did get a couple of quarters proof marked at Ruger. One went to my brother and the other I'm keeping. Nifty souvenirs.
 
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