What blew up my gun?

[Deezel]

Just throwing some more ideas out there.
Could it be that the rifle had a microscopic fracture, that got overlooked, and every shot continually weakened it to the point that it was actually a safe charge that caused this? Are the threads stripped (or partially stripped) from the barrel where the action screwed on or did the action just explode? Can you post a better picture of the threads and their condition?
What's the rifles history? Is it stock from the factory or has it been re-barreled or worked on?

 

[keithcandler]

35g of Varget with a 55g is no where near a max load. The primers have backed out of the cases, lettering depth on the case head is intact, not flattened.

I can't tell in the pictures, does the top two rounds have pierced primers?

 

[SergeantD]

Went shooting yesterday, shot about 5 shots and on 6th shot this happened.
Reloads from a couple years ago , store in ammo box in a shooting bag.
Rifle is a 22-250 Savage Model 10
Bullets are 55Gn Hornady V-Max
35GN of Varget Powder
Been doing this recipe for approx. 4 years, have never had problem.
No signs of over pressure until this incident, happily no injuries/casualties (except gun,LOL)
Any Ideas out there

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Glad no one was hurt.....I'd say barrel obstruction. No reason for this load to fail since you've been loading it as long as you have.

 

[cohunt]

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I see several things here--1st is you are using the same change in multiple brands of brass--R.P, nosler, FC, and the one that blew was hornady
next is I do see beginning signs of pressure--1st would be some primer flattening and FP extrusion and just a bit of the bolt face machining marks imprinted into the bottom primer (I think, its kinda hard to see the pic on my 'puter), also on the outside of the case body you can see circumferential lines/markings in the case-- those are from the inside of your chamber from the brass extruding into tooling marks in your chamber as a die will put longitudinal marking on the case not circumferential marks.

also would like to see the length of those fired cases

 

[Mowgli Terry]

What would happen if you returned the rifle to the maker for an assessment. My take on it is that there was the event was related to that cartridge. Accumulated damage may be the cause but the other rounds look like heavy loads. It just blew up is not the way it works. My feeling that the cause was a grossly overloaded round. The melt and obstruction would not wreck a rifle like that. That damage has to do with that one round. Lets see what Savage has to say about it.

 

[greenejc]

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All of your brass shows horizontal striations, possibly from the reamer used to ream your chamber. Also, your primers are flattened and at least three of them are cratered from flowing around your firing pin under pressure. These are signs of high pressure. I wasn't being very observant when I first looked at your brass, but you're mixing brass, which gives you brass that varies in strength. As a policy, that's not too good. You might write or email Hodgden and ask them if Varget is sensitive to exposure to high temperatures. Your loads are about 4% under max, so that shouldn't register as over pressure. Was your ammunition subjected to high temperatures? Also, some of the people here have suggested that your brass might have been too long. If it is, that would cause an over-pressure situation. Savage makes a pretty strong action, so for this to do that kind of damage, that one cartridge had to be seriously over-pressure, or have had something like a headspace problem. Note: I didn't say over charged brass. But if your barrel nut worked loose slightly and left the head of the brass unsupported, that would have certainly done it.

 

[cohunt]

I dont think it was a simple over pressure round due to reloading techniques--but just as an FYI for further reference --winchester cases are listed as holding an average of 44.6gr of h2o, and nosler holding 42.6, lapua 45.1 gr-- I could check a few more when home if needed as I think I have hornady, FC and RP on hand, but it shows that not all case capacities are equal and individual loads should be worked for each brand of brass

I really doubt this was the problem though as guns are proof tested to at least 1.5-2x the saami max pressures --what you encountered was wayyyy over that pressure

 

[MNbogboy]

First, glad no one was hurt. I'll try not to be critical because solving this will help all of us.

Second, if those were the 5 previous fired cases then it's hard to believe barrel obstruction from squib. Primers all appear too flattened for squib (but possible).
The flattened primers may have been from "hot" loads, excessive head space or primer cup material (I had a whole brick of WW primers that flattened like that, never used them since).

Third, I see three different brands of brass and what appears to be an ejector mark on the FC case. Probably not a good practice to be mixing brass with same charge.

Questions;
1. how many loads on this brass?
2. We're primer pockets getting loose?
Loose pockets can lead to blown primers and catastrophic case head failure as in your case. I blew a primer twice in 55 years. Once an overcharge with 221 fireball while working up a load. And once by overextending primer pocket life with "max" loads. Both were my fault and I should have known better!
Slight damage in both cases with hot gasses in my face & eyes. Nothing like your accident but often left me flinching for years and even once in a while to this day.
Safety should be our first goal with handloading.

 

[Rogelio]

I have an engineering background. If you can't explain any reason for this rupture, such as powder load or blocked barrel, then you need to look at the bolt. I would contact the manufacturer of the rifle or aftermarket bolt, if that is the case, and ask them to investigate why your rifle failed. My guess would be that there was a flaw in the material, manufacturing, or design of the failed component that could not handle the repeated stresses. It is important for the company to determine why this failed if this was a unique situation or if this rifle has a systemic problem. Rifles should be designed with a factor of safety that should prevent this from happening.

I'm glad you are safe and uninjured.

 

[Gcan]

Went shooting yesterday, shot about 5 shots and on 6th shot this happened.
Reloads from a couple years ago , store in ammo box in a shooting bag.
Rifle is a 22-250 Savage Model 10
Bullets are 55Gn Hornady V-Max
35GN of Varget Powder
Been doing this recipe for approx. 4 years, have never had problem.
No signs of over pressure until this incident, happily no injuries/casualties (except gun,LOL)
Any Ideas out there

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Was prior round a primmer only round that left a bullet in the throat?

Count your blessings. Weight every loaded round you have. If you use a thrower you might have some light loads.

 

[shortgrass]

I have read several post that say you should send the rifle (or what's left of it!) to Savage for evaluation. You know what their "evaluation" will be? That you were using hand loaded ammunition. Every firearms manufacture has a disclaimer in their owners manual for hand loaded ammo.

 

[Ckgworks]

I'm glad to hear no one was hurt!
Someone else mentioned 17 HMR.....Over the last few years, I have seen 4 of them with the mag blown out and stock split or cracked, and all but one of them the barrel was clear. I assumed squib rounds on these, but all of the people said that they didn't notice anything different in the previous shot, and the barrel was clear.....Then I got one in my .17, and thankfully I noticed something was funny and looked in the spent case and saw a lot of unburned powder before shooting again. I was amazed at how little difference there was in the shot, and could easily see how a guy could just chamber and shoot another round. The last one I saw, the man sent emails to both Savage and Hornady, but as far as I know both went unanswered....I need to touch base with him and see what happened. I also ran the Dillion Press out of powder and had about 25, 45 acp cartridges in the bin, some had powder, some didn't. Foolishly I decide to shoot them rather than pull them, and when I hit the first bad case, I was again amazed at how little difference there was between it and the last shot. I have no idea what caused this but I know how much damage a little tiny 17 HMR can cause with a squib, and I imagine any centerfire cartridge would take a gun apart like your pictures show. I have also had cold weld on reloads before, but I have never seen a pressure spike like this from one. I'm glad to hear no one was hurt!

 

[1953greg]

perhaps a combination of factors
1) 22-350 wil hold 41 to 43g powder depending on powder and if using powder measure 7 grains cud be bridged from last measure and added to next.
2) case could hav been too long and jammed the lands
3) a 5 or 10g heavier bullet could hav been unknowingly loaded.

put these 3 factors together and serious consequences wil happen
murphy is all around us
sooner or later the stars can line up
in the situation below 4198 was inadvertently substituted for 4895

 

[dana bodnar]

Went shooting yesterday, shot about 5 shots and on 6th shot this happened.
Reloads from a couple years ago , store in ammo box in a shooting bag.
Rifle is a 22-250 Savage Model 10
Bullets are 55Gn Hornady V-Max
35GN of Varget Powder
Been doing this recipe for approx. 4 years, have never had problem.
No signs of over pressure until this incident, happily no injuries/casualties (except gun,LOL)
Any Ideas out there

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Looks like maybe a double charge of powder or something in your barrel Varget is a great powder for 22-250 but has a very high and fast burn rate. To blow a Savage up like that it had to be a BIG problem. Also gun powder gets much more powerful if Humidity gets to it so when making rounds up that I don't shoot within a week or your making a bunch up for further use you have to always seal the bullet and primer to seal the cartridge up good to keep the humidity out. After seeing you pictures your lucky to have your face.