How to blowup your rifle

[kaveman1]

Same thing happened to a friend of mine in Montana. We went out to confirm zeros in our rifles and he was shooting a Win model 70 in 300win mag with some reloads when after a few rounds the gun sounded weird on the last shot with some extra recoil. Smoke blew out of the receiver from around the bolt and he could not open the bolt. The round hit several inches high. It was cold out, freezing but still above zero degrees. We couldn't free the bolt from the chamber so he took the rifle to a smith and he was able to tear it apart and thankfully there was no damage to the gun. He shoots Hornady interlock bullets. This was a very reliable load for him that he had used for several years. It was not a max load either. He shot some factory loads just to see how they would shoot just prior to his event also. The rifle was warm.

If it happened on the first shot, then maybe the steel shrinkage from the cold weather might have caused the increase in pressure, especially in a hot load, but I suspect that the shrinkage is minimal or gun manufactures would have warnings for shooting in cold weather. So the only explanation is an anomaly in the load itself and it is possible that the operator did nothing wrong. That would seem to be the case here listening to the story and the fact that all of the remaining loads checked out. This is just a reminder that nothing is 100% reliable. Whether it is a fouling issue as has been stated earlier or a component failure. No one got hurt and that is the most important thing of all. But it would be nice to know which component contributed to the incident. My buddy never did figure out what caused his issue and he chalked it up to complacency when reloading that doesn't make much sense considering you can't double charge a case without noticing the spillage. While you can't rule out operator error, you can't rule out component failure either. I hope you are able to figure it out and share.

 

[mtmuley]

Update? mtmuley

 

[Craig Prentice]

Glad the rifle held and you are ok.

Do you know the velocity from before when that load shot ok with no pressure signs? Seems a clear flag that the round that stuck the bolt with 230s was faster than the 190s...

I noticed the faster speed also, major flag for a 40gr difference...

 

[mrmax]

This is a problem when you use a very slow powder in cold temperatures and the primer does not have enough guts to get the burn going as needed.
Next you can see how well the Remington held up , you should think Remington for that and the fact that you still had the original extractor in, if you had a Sako or M-16 extractor you would not be in good shape , I have photos of accidents , in fact that is my hobby along with range accidents and range safety. NZ is a shocker !!!
So the lesson to all is this, that action did NOT need to be cut up on the band saw even if it would not have been usable after wards, but it might have been. If you can't open the darn bolt why keep going till you do ? I get bolts out of locked up actions with out all that damage . If its a fired case ship it to for disassembly there might be some salvageable parts. Take the trigger assembly off and ONLY if its a fired case send it to me .

 

[cfbauerjr]

Well. I destroyed my 300 RUM today.

Yesterday I was testing some load development on my 300 RUM with Berger 230 with Retumbo.

Everything went well and found a load that appeared to group well. 86.8 gr. COL of 3.600" Federal 215 primers on Hornady Brass.

The temps were 3 degrees and a slight breeze bringing the windchill temps down to -15.

I went home and loaded a few more rounds at that charge and try a couple other loads.

Today it was -10 with a 20mph wind. For some reason no one else was at the range. I fired 20 rounds of 190gr Nosler Accubonds to make sure that everything was working well and to warm myself up a bit. I am getting about 3100 fps out of the 190s with Retumbo at 91.5gr

20 rounds fired and not a single issue. I was firing a 2 rounds then I would let it sit for few minutes and fire other rifles.

About an hour into it I then switched over to the 230 grain rounds. I fired the first round. 3129fps and I couldn't lift the bolt. Something was seriously wrong. I broke off the bolt handle trying to open it at the range hitting it with my hand trying to open the action.

I took the rifle to my local smith and I attempted to get the bolt out. After three hours f trying everything under the sun, No luck. There is a picture of the results:

It was very difficult to put the gun on a band saw and cut it apart.

To say the least I am not happy. A perfectly good rifle is now a pile of scrap.

I went home and pulled all the bullets to check the powder charges. I used a two different scales and I was within .1 grain of what I loaded.

I don't know what happened. Obviously over pressured. It was 3 degrees out when I tested the rounds and it was only -10 today. There were no pressure sings, no cratered primers, nothing that would indicate that there were any issues on that same load the day before.

What a great way to end the year. I guess I will be looking for a new rifle in the new year.

 

[cfbauerjr]

Well. I destroyed my 300 RUM today.

Yesterday I was testing some load development on my 300 RUM with Berger 230 with Retumbo.

Everything went well and found a load that appeared to group well. 86.8 gr. COL of 3.600" Federal 215 primers on Hornady Brass.

The temps were 3 degrees and a slight breeze bringing the windchill temps down to -15.

I went home and loaded a few more rounds at that charge and try a couple other loads.

Today it was -10 with a 20mph wind. For some reason no one else was at the range. I fired 20 rounds of 190gr Nosler Accubonds to make sure that everything was working well and to warm myself up a bit. I am getting about 3100 fps out of the 190s with Retumbo at 91.5gr

20 rounds fired and not a single issue. I was firing a 2 rounds then I would let it sit for few minutes and fire other rifles.

About an hour into it I then switched over to the 230 grain rounds. I fired the first round. 3129fps and I couldn't lift the bolt. Something was seriously wrong. I broke off the bolt handle trying to open it at the range hitting it with my hand trying to open the action.

I took the rifle to my local smith and I attempted to get the bolt out. After three hours f trying everything under the sun, No luck. There is a picture of the results:

It was very difficult to put the gun on a band saw and cut it apart.

To say the least I am not happy. A perfectly good rifle is now a pile of scrap.

I went home and pulled all the bullets to check the powder charges. I used a two different scales and I was within .1 grain of what I loaded.

I don't know what happened. Obviously over pressured. It was 3 degrees out when I tested the rounds and it was only -10 today. There were no pressure sings, no cratered primers, nothing that would indicate that there were any issues on that same load the day before.

What a great way to end the year. I guess I will be looking for a new rifle in the new year.

 

[cfbauerjr]

I ran into a very similar issue with a .338 Lapua Mag, I had George Gardner at GAP put a new heavy profile barrel on my rifle and was getting bolt lockups at minimum starting loads. One locked hard like yours and I too broke my bolt handle. I sent the barreled action back to George for him to replace the bolt and check his previous work. He sent it back assuring me all was good. Same thing happened on my first "starter" load. I gave up on the gun for a long time, not knowing what to do and thinking I possibly had a bad lot of powder (H1000). After the gun sat in my safe for over a year it dawned on me that maybe the problem may be with my brass (Lapua cases). I had some new unused Lapua brass that I prepped and again started at minimum and gradually increased the loads to maximum loads. The gun had no issues with any of these cartridges. The problem that was discovered after this was that I had over annealed the other Lapua cases by getting the torch flame too low on the case shoulders. Had to destroy about 80 Lapua cases but finally found my problem. Like you, there were no signs of to hot of a load, primers were all normal but the gun with the over-annealed brass would lock-up tight. Scary stuff! By the way, George Gardner and GAP are some of the best gunsmiths in the country, none of my problems were due to them at all.

 

[johngibbs222]

Going back to the OP I, too, am real happy winkfish didn't get injured in this incident.

 

[Daveinjax]

My thoughts are that a weak primer combined with extremely low temperature and hard to light Retumbo created a hang fire. The initial fire pushed the bullet hard into the barrel then stopped then the rest of the powder lit off in an under filled situation with a lodged bullet. All happened in a millisecond. Just my guess which is all any of us can do at this point. OP , find a competent gunsmith. There's no reason to have cut the action up like that. There's a very good chance the action was fine. A competent smith would have cut the barrel not the action.

 

[sarge retired]

I read that it may be possible to get hangfires in extreme cold like this. This may explain why so much pressure out of the blue and the 230 being so much faster than the 190. It may have been a very slight hangfire and possibly related to Retumbo (as the pattern seems to indicate). It may not happen with every round even. Could be the powder stuck to the front of the case or a small space in the powder column due to the extreme cold.

Might not take much to have the primer not ignite the powder uniformly in extreme cold with a bulky slow powder like Retumbo. Would be interesting to talk to Hodgdon about it.

Three suggestions, first contact and after a positive reply send it and a quantity of your unused ammo to both Remington and Hodgon

A call to Berger would be in order as well.

This forum is interesting, but you need to talk to the companies.

 

[Susquatch]

I took the rifle to my local smith and I attempted to get the bolt out. After three hours f trying everything under the sun, No luck.

I feel for you.....

At a minimum, I would fire your gunsmith. That is an unbelievable path to fixing the rifle.

I know you say you tried to remove the barrel, but the witness marks on the barrel and receiver suggest that this was not done properly. A good barrel vice and receiver wrench would twist that brass apart like butter and cost way less than replacing the receiver. With these tools, a little heat and a few good raps with a mallet will break almost any joint friction.

If by some wierd cause that didn't work, I'd mount the barreled action in a lathe and cut through the recoil lug. The barrel should come off easily after that. Then the chamber can be easily cleaned out, the lug replaced with a slightly thicker one, headspace redone by cutting the barrel shoulder, repair or replace the bolt (PTG sells one piece bolts that are used by military snipers - no need to silver solder or TIG any handle on and it will never come off), and you are good to go. If that didn't work, I'd keep right on going and cut through the barrel and then bore out the barrel stub & true the receiver at the same time. A great excuse to install a new match grade barrel.

Another pitch for the PTG bolt - they can be had in half thou diameter increments to eliminate bolt Slop and improve accuracy... And you can get them with Sako or M16 or Std Remington extractors in various styles to fit your receiver.

Best of all, you end up with a custom rifle that you can justify to the wife.

Tell us who your Smith is so we can all avoid that shop.

 

[Nitroman]

Pressuretrace is your friend.

 

[George Koch]

Well. I destroyed my 300 RUM today.

Yesterday I was testing some load development on my 300 RUM with Berger 230 with Retumbo.

Everything went well and found a load that appeared to group well. 86.8 gr. COL of 3.600" Federal 215 primers on Hornady Brass.

The temps were 3 degrees and a slight breeze bringing the windchill temps down to -15.

I went home and loaded a few more rounds at that charge and try a couple other loads.

Today it was -10 with a 20mph wind. For some reason no one else was at the range. I fired 20 rounds of 190gr Nosler Accubonds to make sure that everything was working well and to warm myself up a bit. I am getting about 3100 fps out of the 190s with Retumbo at 91.5gr

20 rounds fired and not a single issue. I was firing a 2 rounds then I would let it sit for few minutes and fire other rifles.

About an hour into it I then switched over to the 230 grain rounds. I fired the first round. 3129fps and I couldn't lift the bolt. Something was seriously wrong. I broke off the bolt handle trying to open it at the range hitting it with my hand trying to open the action.

I took the rifle to my local smith and I attempted to get the bolt out. After three hours f trying everything under the sun, No luck. There is a picture of the results:

It was very difficult to put the gun on a band saw and cut it apart.

To say the least I am not happy. A perfectly good rifle is now a pile of scrap.

I went home and pulled all the bullets to check the powder charges. I used a two different scales and I was within .1 grain of what I loaded.

I don't know what happened. Obviously over pressured. It was 3 degrees out when I tested the rounds and it was only -10 today. There were no pressure sings, no cratered primers, nothing that would indicate that there were any issues on that same load the day before.

What a great way to end the year. I guess I will be looking for a new rifle in the new year.

 

[George Koch]

Well. I destroyed my 300 RUM today.

Yesterday I was testing some load development on my 300 RUM with Berger 230 with Retumbo.

Everything went well and found a load that appeared to group well. 86.8 gr. COL of 3.600" Federal 215 primers on Hornady Brass.

The temps were 3 degrees and a slight breeze bringing the windchill temps down to -15.

I went home and loaded a few more rounds at that charge and try a couple other loads.

Today it was -10 with a 20mph wind. For some reason no one else was at the range. I fired 20 rounds of 190gr Nosler Accubonds to make sure that everything was working well and to warm myself up a bit. I am getting about 3100 fps out of the 190s with Retumbo at 91.5gr

20 rounds fired and not a single issue. I was firing a 2 rounds then I would let it sit for few minutes and fire other rifles.

About an hour into it I then switched over to the 230 grain rounds. I fired the first round. 3129fps and I couldn't lift the bolt. Something was seriously wrong. I broke off the bolt handle trying to open it at the range hitting it with my hand trying to open the action.

I took the rifle to my local smith and I attempted to get the bolt out. After three hours f trying everything under the sun, No luck. There is a picture of the results:

It was very difficult to put the gun on a band saw and cut it apart.

To say the least I am not happy. A perfectly good rifle is now a pile of scrap.

I went home and pulled all the bullets to check the powder charges. I used a two different scales and I was within .1 grain of what I loaded.

I don't know what happened. Obviously over pressured. It was 3 degrees out when I tested the rounds and it was only -10 today. There were no pressure sings, no cratered primers, nothing that would indicate that there were any issues on that same load the day before.

What a great way to end the year. I guess I will be looking for a new rifle in the new year.

Did you anneal your brass by any chance