How to blowup your rifle

[Trickymissfit]

This may have been said before, but you should find a better gunsmith because there was no reason to cut that reciever. You mentioned the plumber tried to unscrew the barrel but it would not come loose so out comes the bandsaw, the right tool at that point was either a better vise and action wrench combo or a lathe.
The barreled receiver could have gone into most lathes used by actual rifle smiths the first step would be to relieve the shoulder and try to spin the barrel off. Use a cutoff tool to cut the barrel off close to the recoil lug and carefully use a boring tool to cut the barrel out of the reciever. I say carefulbecause if you bore to far back you will have to buy a new bolt because you could hit the bolt with the bar.

You would have been money ahead even if the bolt was ruined while boring the barrel out because the receiver, the most expensive component, would be fine.

wade

most correct Sir! Take a .10" parting tool and cut the barrel into the thread relief. Then you can probably remove the barrel with a nylon strap wrench and three or four layers of emery cloth. Upon tearing it down, I'd still opt to have everything x-rayed for safety purposes.
gary

 

[jdmecomber]

I didn't read the entire thread. A couple of thoughts

Did you see a carbon doughnut build up? That could easily damage the rifle. There are usually warnings sign of a steady build up of pressure before something catastrophic happens.

Another possibility, shooting with those hot rounds in that cold of conditions could cause some sweating that froze in the chamber which could easily cause pressure issues.

 

[bigngreen]

bng, you have the rifle parts don't you? mtmuley

Yes.

 

[Timeout]

I am seriously doubting it's any fairy tale issue such as condensation or bridging; It's a 300rum, not a 17 or 22 where a bit of extra load from a drop of moisture could be a problem; it's burning nearly 100 grains of powder too with a primer (215) that'll shoot flames a couple of feet past the barrel...
It could be partially caused by what Bigngreen is talking about... ie. a combination of fouling issues...
I suspect though that his casing lengths are rather long, and if he got one that stretched a bit more than the norm he got a serious crimp situation when he chambered the round... The bullet has a hell of a time getting free of the casing in such a situation, and could easily beat the snot out of everything with an otherwise normal load. I've had blown primers in my Ruger#1 in 338win for this very reason... Metal is also stiffer as the temp. drops, so the rounds that were simply fast in warmer weather may well have gone past fast and into dangerous when shot in a colder temp...

I can't say that the possibility of condensation in the barrel or chamber of a rifle that had been fired in extreme cold is some kind of fairy tale. I would rather think it is one of several plausible explanations. That being said, another possibility is a carbon ring built up in front of the cartridge neck. I have no idea of the cleaning regimen the OP uses. As for myself, I use a bronze brush that is slightly larger than the cartridge case neck along with Iosso at least every 60 firings to prevent a hard carbon ring from forming in that area, in all my rifles. A carbon ring in that area can cause excessive pressure because the neck is unable to release the bullet normally.

 

[Orange Dust]

This may sound stupid, and it is, and I am going to mention it only because I was guilty of doing the exact thing to a new Remington Varmint .222 40 years ago. The sin was I was loading shells and was one short of a box. I simply grabbed a case from a coffee can, sized and loaded it. This particular case had been shot several times in another rifle and not trimmed to the proper length. When fired, everyone here knows what happened. Ruined a brand new rifle I was just getting to know. After that I check every case before I load it. Is there any chance???

 

[WildRose]

This may sound stupid, and it is, and I am going to mention it only because I was guilty of doing the exact thing to a new Remington Varmint .222 40 years ago. The sin was I was loading shells and was one short of a box. I simply grabbed a case from a coffee can, sized and loaded it. This particular case had been shot several times in another rifle and not trimmed to the proper length. When fired, everyone here knows what happened. Ruined a brand new rifle I was just getting to know. After that I check every case before I load it. Is there any chance???

That's definitely one way to get a catastrophic overpressure by putting a severe crimp on the bullet but in order to do so you'd expect the bolt being rather hard to close.

Unfortunately there are lots of ways to "clog the pipe".

 

[Orange Dust]

That's definitely one way to get a catastrophic overpressure by putting a severe crimp on the bullet but in order to do so you'd expect the bolt being rather hard to close.

Unfortunately there are lots of ways to "clog the pipe".

Yes, there are! Bolt wasn't difficult to close either. Opening it back up was a whole nuther story.. Guess the moral is to check EVERYTHING! One little slip can easily ruin a rifle. It is very easy to get complacent with this hobby, especially if you load and shoot a lot. Handloading can easily become just another chore you have to get done before you can play with your toys. Everyone pays close attention to detail when working up a new load, or learning a new toy. Mistakes usually come from that which we are most familiar.

 

[Pdvdh]

Just to be clear. The OPs rifle did not blow up.

If he'd taken it to a qualified gunsmith, instead of a band saw, he'd likely still be using it.

 

[Orange Dust]

I know, he froze the bolt, just like I did. My gunsmith fixed my rifle. I was scared of it after that and sold it. It was 40 years ago and taught me an important lesson. I have no idea how this happened to him, just speculating like everyone else. From what I have read, I would suspect the round, more than the rifle. It had been fine with another load. Leaves the case, powder, primer, bullet, or seating depth when it was fired. Something, somewhere was wrong. One thing I did learn is it is just as easy to freeze a bolt with 20 grains of powder as 100. I hope he can get to the bottom of it so history does not repeat. I have used nothing but Retumbo and Fed 215's in my 300 Ultra with no problems for a couple of years, but that means nothing as everyone well knows.

 

[JDD]

I am sorry I was not able to review the entire thread. If you get a stuck bolt on a rem 700 do not hit the handle in any way. The bolt handle will come off! They do a poor job of river soldering them on. Take a rod and run it down into the case head and tap it back toward the receiver and lift the bolt handle with normal pressure. That will solve most problems. Next step would a action wench and barrel vise maybe a little heat. If that does not work, cut the barrel off a 1/2" in front of the receiver . put it in a lathe and borebar remove the case and chamber then unscrew the old barrel extension.

 

[Timeout]

Just to be clear. The OPs rifle did not blow up.

If he'd taken it to a qualified gunsmith, instead of a band saw, he'd likely still be using it.

In the original post that started this thread, he says that he took the rifle to a local "gunsmith". Far be it from me to criticize the "gunsmith" without being there and determining everything that was done, and the problems he may have been up against. The easiest thing in the world is Monday morning quarterbacking. That being said, there are definitely some "gunsmith's" that are not qualified. I'm not prepared to make that judgement at this time with the facts I have. Now I did see pictures on this site some time ago of a bedding job completed by a "gunsmith", that I have no trouble in commenting on. That was a total botched up bedding job done by someone who has no idea how to competently bed an action.

 

[Riflehunter1776]

I know, he froze the bolt, just like I did. My gunsmith fixed my rifle. I was scared of it after that and sold it.

you were scared of using it, but sold it to the next guy. Did you tell him what happened, and the reason why you were afraid to shoot it yourself?

 

[Pdvdh]

In the original post that started this thread, he says that he took the rifle to a local "gunsmith". Far be it from me to criticize the "gunsmith" without being there and determining everything that was done, and the problems he may have been up against. The easiest thing in the world is Monday morning quarterbacking. That being said, there are definitely some "gunsmith's" that are not qualified. I'm not prepared to make that judgement at this time with the facts I have. Now I did see pictures on this site some time ago of a bedding job completed by a "gunsmith", that I have no trouble in commenting on. That was a total botched up bedding job done by someone who has no idea how to competently bed an action.

No qualified gunsmith would use the band saw on a salvageable action.

Have you not read all the gunsmiths' posting in this Thread? Did a gunsmith use the band saw?

This isn't Monday night quarterbacking. I'm not only prepared to make that judgement. I already have. It's common sense.

The only warm, fuzzy, feel-good powder puffing justification is the OP was ready for a new custom action. What else could explain the certain destruction of the Rem 700 action with a band saw. The true answer is frustration. Simple human nature. Time to get real.

There's been no post claiming gas torched through the case head and welded the bolt to the barrel or the action. I specifically asked. There was no response... Unless that happened, this action could have been salvaged in one piece. Maybe bigngreen will provide the information on the presence of any melted metal.

 

[pondskipper]

The answer to this is fairly simple, it wasn't the powders fault, it wasn't the bullets or the primer or secondary explosions, it was the barrel. Likely the barrel was improperly stress relieved or wasn't stress relieved at all, metal contracts in cold temperatures and if the barrel was either incorrectly stress relieved or not at all this contraction at -12 can be pretty severe. The bore of the barrel shrunk down enough to cause a load that would be safe normally in warmer weather to not be safe in colder weather especially if the bore shrunk by .001-.0005" it doesn't sound like much but trust me, it's enough to cause tremendous pressure spikes and things like this to happen. As for the gunsmith destroying the action, I would be ****ed, all it probably needed was a little heat around the threaded area and would have likely come off with little fuss and been fine. Possibly could have even salvaged the barrel by cutting off the case head and collapsing the case in on its self and removing it though I probably wouldn't worry with it given what it did. Look up an interference fit between parts like a shaft and bearing, it is the same principle only in this instance it worked backwards where the bearing (barrel) was cooled and the shaft (bullet) was heated and then someone tried to press them together.