Ruger Hawkeye catastrophic failure......

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Sure looks like an overpressure event to me.

Now how did that happen? :confused:

Good thing modern breech actions take into account gas release and try to block it. If you had been behind some of those WW1 era actions, it would have been bad.

With the exception of the M98 Mauser. All the others, not so good.
 
After reading all the posts, it still looks like the powder was the culprit. You say it did not look like H335...probably wasn't.

Otherposters have noted that you can't put enough H335 in a .223 case to cause that problem. I use a slightly hotter load all the time. 27gr H335 under a 40gr. V-Max. 26 gr. should be copacetic.

I CAN imagine a pistol powder doing that. 26gr. of TiteGroup, for example, would surely be a hand grenade.

Tag to hear results from Hodgdon.
 
Copacetic

— adj
slang ( US ), ( Canadian ) very good; excellent; completely satisfactory
Origin:
1915–20, Americanism ; of obscure origin; popular attributions of the word to Louisiana French, Italian, Hebrew, etc.
 
Update time- Sorry it took so long, work has been really busy.

Sent in some ammo for testing, they puled it down and did a visual inspection on some and they came to the same conclusion.... didn't look like it was all H335.

They loaded some up with my powder and their control lot of powder in .222 rem, which is the cartridge they test the H335 with.

They experienced pressures of over 62,000.

The individual doing the testing said it appeared my powder had been mixed (contaminated) with W296 or H110.

The same individual also stated it was impossible that it could have happened on their end.

In a polite way I basically got "bite me, not our problem".

I have placed a couple more calls to different people at Hodgdon, and asked for a written report of their testing.

I got a call while I was at work today (couldn't answer), the message was from one of their customer service people stating that he wanted to talk to me first thing monday morning. So I guess I'll see what he has to say and let you all know.

There is a little more to this, but until this is resolved one way or the other I don't want to make any unfair accusations or generalizations.
 
The individual doing the testing said it appeared my powder had been mixed (contaminated) with W296 or H110.

The same individual also stated it was impossible that it could have happened on their end.
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It's hard to imagine how a single container of mixed powder could get out of their plant. Or how it could get mixed in their plant in the first place.

If it had been more than a one-time occurrence, they would know about it, and there wouldn't really be any way for them to hide it as they would have to do a public warning and recall to prevent them from incurring any more liability than they absolutely had to.

I'm inclined to agree with them that it didn't happen on their end--that it was mixed/contaminated between the time it left their plant and the time it got to you. Have you contacted the entity that sold you the powder?

By the way, any word from Ruger yet? I'm curious to know what their "official" assessment of the rifle's condition is.
 
The container of powder didn't have "made in China" on it did it? You are lucky you weren't more severely injured. The first thing I thought of was that the powder was contaminated.

When I used to reload I always knew whether I was using extruded or ball powder and would look in the powder measure to make sure that part was correct. It's a good habit to get into when reloading.
 
No word from Ruger yet, they got the rifle last week.

Like I said in my last post there is more to this story, but I can't elaborate right now, including the possibility of the powder being contaminated in the factory.
 
This is why I wish that powder companies would start sealing their containers better. This could have happened to any of us.
 
I was wondering a little bit about why every container of food is sealed so well that it is near impossible to break into it but a potentially explosive product has slim to no seal at all. The only thing that I could think of is perhaps the sealers that are used for food require high amounts of heat. I could see how a powder company may not want to use a sealer that uses an extreme amount of heat to seal a powder can. I don't know this to be true, but this is the only reason my feeble mind could come up with. It can't be cost prohibitive to do so since little 2 cent packages of fry sauce are sealed well enough that they don't need lids.
 
They could use the same type of seal used on motor oil jugs I would think. I have always wondered how long it would be till some nut case or anti gun nut went to powder mixing on store shelves. If this ever got to CNN we can expect a wave of copy cat blow ups.
 
That's very disconcerting. I am going to start paying more attention to new jugs of powder. Keep better records, and maybe even make a photo log of powders. Easy enough with digital camera.
 
I was wondering a little bit about why every container of food is sealed so well that it is near impossible to break into it but a potentially explosive product has slim to no seal at all. The only thing that I could think of is perhaps the sealers that are used for food require high amounts of heat. I could see how a powder company may not want to use a sealer that uses an extreme amount of heat to seal a powder can. I don't know this to be true, but this is the only reason my feeble mind could come up with.
Click to expand...

Western Powders has no problem sealing their products (Accurate and RamShot brands). It's Alliant and Hodgdon (IMR/Hodgdon/Win/Hornady) that don't have real seals. (I've never opened a new canister of Vihtavuori powder. I don't know how well they seal theirs.)
 
I havent bought any accurate or ramshot powders recently because I have plenty but unless they have changed their methods in the last year then they still are sealing their stuff poorly.
 
Talked to Ruger this morning......... they are not willing to repair it either due to liability or damage:(, but did offer a new rifle at 20% off wholesale price.
I can't really blame them for not wanting to repair it though, their lawyers would probably have a stroke.
 
As it does not appear Ruger was in any way responsible,and,indeed,their product performed great,seems like an honest offer of good will and support.
They are not a non-profit organization.
Seems positive
 
Good on Ruger.

You'll likely never figure out what happened with the powder. Factory says it's it's impossible it was mixed there, you said you know for certain that you didn't do it, I'm sure Cabela's or Sportsmans' Warehouse will say the same.

However it happened, it happened, thanks for the post, I check my powder more closely now....
 
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