My Blown Up Rifle

[Jesse Tischauser]

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.

 

[SpeedRacer]

Damn glad you weren't hurt!

So you were shooting reloads?

 

[USMC-Deano]

Dang, man. At least no one was hurt.

 

[oleheat]

Damn glad you weren't hurt!

Ditto!

 

[southerner985]

were you able to salvage anything?

 

[tactical723]

I dont think by pulling on the charging handle you pulled the round out of the case. There would be more damage in the chamber / barrel with a trapped extra round in the chamber / barrel. Also you would have noticed how tight and hard it was to pull back the handle. All the excess gas when rearward and blew the carrier apart. My opinion is this was a brass case failure. 2 questions, 1) did you get to look at the previous round that was ejected to see the primer, seems by coincidence you had a bad primer as you did not hear a report from the primer. 2) did you get the subject brass case apart. You will be able to separate these two with opposing hammers. Be interesting to see the condition of the case.

Rule #3 its always Kurt Millers fault. Had not seen him in a while. Hopefully we will shoot with him again this year at the MS state 3 gun Championships

 

[Later]

Hey Jesse

Glad you are ok and no serious injuries!! Are you going to put this info on your FB page? If so I link it to mine for everyone to pay attention to. Man as much carbine as you shoot with 3 gun nation and such this shows it can happen to anyone.
Rudy project glasses are awesome!! Best photocromatic lens shooting glasses ever used!!

Thanks

 

[goteron]

Glad you were not hurt.

You spent some time making that rifle light weight. Relief cuts in the Larue Mount, no FA, lightweight carrier. What did that gun weigh?

 

[Speedlace]

What ammo were you shooting?

 

[artabr]

That's interesting.




Art

 

[Leonidas]

Glad you're okay. Sounds like you should plan a Thanksgiving dinner about 5 months early.

 

[sandman7925]

 

[BayouSlide]

Bummer on the rifle and glad you're OK.

+1 on the Rudys. Every time I need to change out the prescription for the two pairs I have (one normal for rifle/shotgun, one with a different right focus for pistol) and think about the hit to my wallet, I just remember that eyesight is irreplaceable.

 

[Akajun]

did you recover the round that did not fire? was the primer indented and was there loose powder present in the case? How about in the rifle? Possible the primer popped, you did not hear it, no powder in the case, and shoved the bullet into the bore? If the primer did not detonate and the bullet was pulled from the case and stuck in the throat I dont think the next round would have chambered.

 

[RStewart]

did you recover the round that did not fire? was the primer indented and was there loose powder present in the case? How about in the rifle? Possible the primer popped, you did not hear it, no powder in the case, and shoved the bullet into the bore? If the primer did not detonate and the bullet was pulled from the case and stuck in the throat I dont think the next round would have chambered.

No powder in the case was my thoughts, too.

 

[RyanW]

Sounds like an audible pop, lucky the charging handle didn't break your cheek bone.

 

[Sin-ster]

The manufacturer's deduction seems pretty far fetched. What ammo were you shooting, exactly?

Sounds like a standard squib, honestly. And I can see how easily you might not notice it during a carbine course, with the adrenaline pumping and several other shooters blasting away on either side of you.

 

[tactical723]

Here's whats left of my buddy's S&W M&P carbine after kaboom, the upper looks identical to the post. As you can see, the gases went rearward through the bolt/carrier. What he did was being new to reloading was jamming primers into 5.56 crimped cases without deburring or swagging the primers. It seems the side wall of the primer was damaged when rammed into the pocked, but did ignite, since the primer was not seated correctly and did not seal the hole completely, the gases came back through the case. If there is no damage to chamber and bulge in the barrel (as it does not look like it), there is no way it was a squib. The only way to autopsy the scenario is to separate the bolt/carrier and pull the blown up brass casing/ Also need tio check chamber

 

[bsdubois00]

Damn JT - I think this thread is on about 10 gun boards right now....Glad your OK buddy - not sure who would help me run BoomerShooter.com if you wern't around - I can say I'm a tight ass - but as soon as Jesse told me this happened - I got online and started looking for Rudy's local - I'm no longer shooting in my script glasses - time to pony up and buy something worth while...

 

[Hitman]

What brand rifle is this?