My Blown Up Rifle

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Jesse Tischauser

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After about round number 20 of a two day rifle class with Red Neck Tactical's Kurt Miller I had a round fail to fire during a drill. I thought maybe I ran out of ammo and the bolt didn't lock back. So I changed mags rapidly and racked a fresh round into the chamber. That next trigger pull was one I will never forget! :surprise:

I heard a big BANG and felt a huge POOF of air in my face. I instantly closed my eyes and tossed the rifle away from me. I suffered two tiny cuts on my face. My right eye was a little irritated but not as irritated as both eyes were the next day from dust in 25-30 mph winds. The shooter next to me took a piece or three of debris in the right arm and back which drew a little blood but neither of us was injured seriously thankfully.

The scope and mount still were still attached to the picatinny rail and were blown about 5-8 feet forward. The upper is completely destroyed. I should be able to save the hand guard but I will need a new barrel nut and collar. The comp and gas block should be OK too. Surprisingly the lower receiver is still in good shape despite the mag being destroyed when it was blown out the gun. My scope and mount appear to be OK as well.

After talking to the rifle manufacturer we think what happened was the round that didn't go off had a damaged case neck (as well as some reason why it didn't fire) which caused the bullet to get pulled out of the case and stuck in the chamber. I racked in a fresh round and it chambered but the bullet that was left in the chamber pushed the new bullet down into the casing causing a BIG problem when I pulled the trigger.

Lessons learned...ALWAYS WEAR YOUR RUDY PROJECT GLASSES WHEN SHOOTING and ALWAYS DOUBLE/TRIPLE CHECK YOUR RELOADS.

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Well its good that you nor anyone else was seriously injured. Did the manufacture say if they would replace it? Was it factory ammo?
 
How come there are no quote buttons?

The manufacturer said the failure sounded similar to on that some LEO experienced during malfunction drills. Not sure yet if that is really what happened but it was a much better explanation than we coudl come up with.

It wasn't a squib as the damage is all in the upper and not in the barrel it appears.

I am sure I will find out more when it is torn apart by the manufacturer.
 
Buffer spring pressure was enough to push a crimped bullet (with a cannelure?)back into the case?
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I did the same thing with my rifle a few months ago. The crimp on it wasn't hard enough. Had to mortar the gun to remove the cartridge, though...
 
Jesse Tischauser:

I agree with you to never shoot without eye protection. When I was young and I thought that I new more than the reloading manuals, I blew up a M-98 short action Mauser. I pulled some bullets from .308 Winchester and I saved the powder and the bullets and then I sized the cases to .243 Winchester. I didn't ream the case necks and I interpolated the saved powder to charge the .243. I loaded the formed cases with 100 grain bullets. I was shoot off the hood of my car in a 110 degree desert sun. The first five or six rounds sounded normal. The next round wouldn't chamber without a lot of pressure on the bolt handle. When I touched off the chambered round, I felt a gush of hot air. The car's hood was splattered with blood. When the rifle blew the stock was blown into three pieces an one piece had cut one of my finger. It didn't require medical attention but I was rattled. The hot gasses melted the brass and the bolt was welded shut. I don't know how he did it but P.O. Ackley was able to replace the bolt and I was back in business.

Semper Fi.

Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
 
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Reload questions....

Was it factory ammo?
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ALWAYS DOUBLE/TRIPLE CHECK YOUR RELOADS.
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I'm taking that as a no.

So ...... you/the mfr surmise that a bullet that was chambered stuck in the throat when chambered and was pulled from the case when you did your immediate action drill?

What weight of bullet?

What chamber spec?

How long were you seating them and did you crimp them at all?

Did they have a cannelure?

There are lessons to be learned here for those of us who have not hand fed an AR but are planning to in the near future.

Also, did you find the ejected case that belonged to the lodged bullet? Primer popped on that? Powder in it?

Inquiring minds want to know, and mine is one of them because I am contemplating dropping 1K+ on an AR and rolling my own for it ...... I don't want mine looking like yours!
 
Certainly glad no one was injured.
But I'm having trouble understanding the probable cause...
The round we're talking about was defective in two ways? It failed to fire, and the bullet was so loose it somehow just fell out and got lodged in the rifling rather than being extracted when you racked the bolt?

Sounds more likely that it was a squib load, rather than the bullet "getting somehow pulled out of it's case"- you didn't hear anything at all from the defective round?

Lesson learned should also be to always check the barrel after any "unusual" sound or event.

FTF's will happen...
 
Sounds like a squib, with a full power load fired into it.

No shame, it happens to a lot of us. (I won't say all of us)

I blew the barrel on my Ruger P90 that way. It just bulged, being a lot lower pressure than your 223. Rifles are scarier that way; the works are right close to one's face.

The moral is if it doesn't sound or feel right, or eject, STOP. Run your cleaning rod down the bore to make sure there isn't a squib in there.
 
One thing I like about the open top designs, like M1 Garands, M1a's, M1 carbines, is that it is easy to see what is going on in the action.

Stuff happens, glad you are not hurt.
 
Rifles are scarier that way; the works are right close to one's face.
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The exact reason I have zero interest in bullpup designs.

One thing I like about the open top designs, like M1 Garands, M1a's, M1 carbines, is that it is easy to see what is going on in the action.
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Even with the M-16's I was issued, IIRC, the immediate action drill was to slap the magazine up, pull the charging handle, observe the ejected round/chamber, release the handle ...... there was a reason for that, I am guessin' ......
 
I'm taking that as a no.

So ...... you/the mfr surmise that a bullet that was chambered stuck in the throat when chambered and was pulled from the case when you did your immediate action drill? Yes

What weight of bullet? 55gr

What chamber spec? .223 wylde

How long were you seating them and did you crimp them at all? not info i have off the top of my head

Did they have a cannelure? yes

There are lessons to be learned here for those of us who have not hand fed an AR but are planning to in the near future.

Also, did you find the ejected case that belonged to the lodged bullet? Primer popped on that? Powder in it? no

Inquiring minds want to know, and mine is one of them because I am contemplating dropping 1K+ on an AR and rolling my own for it ...... I don't want mine looking like yours!
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see the red
 
You don't know if you crimped them at all?
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My good friend who is a professional shooter and instructor helped me setup the machine for .223. The fact that he has loaded 100's of thousands of rounds allowed me to trust his experience. I do not know how much crimp he setup on my machine if any without going and measuring.
 
Before I even opened this thread I thought it had to be about an AR
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It's always an ar15 because it's the most common rifle used in training classes with reloaded ammo.

Not a whole lot of 308's being used, and when it's an AK class or such, shooters just use the steel cased stuff.
 
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