SAFETY REMINDER!!!

[elkaholic]

I had a client recently have a mishap that could have been deadly had he been directly behind the rifle.
He is a knowledgeable and accomplished shooter, so it can happen to anyone.
It was a freakish occurrence that sheared the bolt lugs off a custom action. A piece of metal went through his shoulder and another piece lodged in his hand!
The police found what was left of the bolt 40+ feet from where he pulled the trigger.
PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

 

[8x68s]

Cause??

 

[orifdoc]

Factory ammo vs hand loads? What does "custom action" mean?

 

[elkaholic]

Factory ammo vs hand loads? What does "custom action" mean?

Non factory expensive action. Meaning it should have been a good strong action, not from an Argentine Mauser, etc.
Hand load. It sounded to me like it was a fairly fast powder for the round and he had the muzzle tipped down. It wasn't, by his estimation, a heavy load at all.
He thinks, and I wouldn't doubt it, that he had too much air space and it caused an unusual detonation.
I wasn't there, so everything is second hand, but as I said, this guy is
No dummy!

 

[can1010]

years ago Kirby Allen use to warn people about this happening with low case fill mostly with ball powders and then having the muzzle pointed down caused a bad burn and massive pressure spike when all the powder ignited all at once. they use to have problems with giant cases necked down and not having the proper burn rate powders available at the time

 

[MagnumManiac]

This is very true! ^^^^^^^^^^.
Had it happen with my 338-416 Rigby Improved with H4831sc, no gun damage, but the case was fused to the bolt!
In this case, wrong powder, wrong density and case fill is a very bad idea.
I had to start load development with the Powley method...guess it wasn't good enough. Had to use 338-378 Weatherby data to start with and work from there.

Cheers.

 

[elkaholic]

This is very true! ^^^^^^^^^^.
Had it happen with my 338-416 Rigby Improved with H4831sc, no gun damage, but the case was fused to the bolt!
In this case, wrong powder, wrong density and case fill is a very bad idea.
I had to start load development with the Powley method...guess it wasn't good enough. Had to use 338-378 Weatherby data to start with and work from there.

Cheers.

II did the same thing as a green kid using too fast a powder for a reduced load.
4 went fine, 5 went hiss and fused the case to the bolt, as you said.

 

[can1010]

this tread should be a warning to a lot of members here. it don't have to just be a 100gr + case to have it happen. way to many people want to put this or that powder in every case with every possible bullet combination because they read on the internet that it can gain 75-100 fps. without any thought about case fill, burn rate, type of powder, grain shape, density or primer used. if this mistake can happed to experienced reloaders and wildcatters it can happen to you to.
thanks for this tread Rich hope people learn from it

this is my personal thinking so don't take it as gospel
stick powders 90% or better case fill
ball powders 95% or better
mag primers for all ball powders and stick powders over 90gr
std primer under 90gr and stick powders
benchrest primers for BR cases

 

[L.Sherm]

II did the same thing as a green kid using too fast a powder for a reduced load.
4 went fine, 5 went hiss and fused the case to the bolt, as you said.

This is exactly why I dont believe in reduced loads. If you want reduced loads get a different caliber.
I hear people all the time even on hear talk about loading a big 30 cal down to 30-06, if you want a 30- 06 buy one.
That being said I'm glad when he heals he will be o.k

 

[HARPERC]

I hear people all the time even on hear talk about loading a big 30 cal down to 30-06, if you want a 30- 06 buy one.

I was taking a youngster who was a bit recoil shy hunting.
We'd been using my 6mm with great success during the summer, but just before the season it began having trigger, and safety issues.
We didn't need a lot of power targeting small whitetail does, and I pulled out my .30-06, and the manuals. Multiple.
5744 is supposed to be ideal for this sort of thing and I chose a load listed from 3 sources, long story short it worked very well for more than a few rounds, then it didn't.
Fortunately minimal injuries to the young man, major damage to my psyche, and one of the best rifle I ever owned.
I have always been on the side of caution that said if you want magnum performance, buy the magnum. I learned the opposite is true as well. I now have a nice little bolt gun in 7.62x 39, that respects the limits and abilities of youngsters. It's also appropriately effective on the smaller game animals we target for their first experience.

Good post L.Sherm!

 

[1moredeer]

My grandad had an old Remington model 8 in 35 Remington. He loaded reduced loads and filled the empty space in the case with cotton batting. He cast his own bullets and used it for plinking. There was not enough gas pressure to cycle the action, he had to cycle it by hand. Had to clean it often, the lead and the cotton would plug up the gas ports. He gave me the " don't try this at home" speech about reduced loads, said it was too dangerous. I took his word for it and never tried it. Far as I remember, that's the only gun he ever shot a reduced load in.

 

[codyadams]

I have always heard not to run reduced loads in magnum type cartridges, anything over about 70 grains of powder, so I never have. I can absolutely see how in a wildcat cartridge or when using an uncommon/unknown bullet and powder combo, how, in the name of caution, you start lower than normal when doing a work up, and end up having this problem. Scary to think about, glad the guy is relatively ok.

My father had an old cock-on-close rifle in .308, as he was chambering a round, the firing pin dropped before he closed the bolt and fired out of battery....the bolt handle sheared off in my fathers hand, the bolt body flew about 20 feet back over his shoulder, and the rifle smacked him so hard in the chest it knocked him to the ground and knocked the wind out of him. I was 8 years old watching him, and though he had been shot he dropped so fast. He was ok after he caught his breath, but he had Winchester 748 powder kernals embedded in his face, hands, neck and arms, he would have likely lost his eyes if he wasn't wearing glasses, they had burn marks all over them. His entire right chest ended up with a black, blue, purple and green bruise about the size around of a soccer ball, and he had a cracked rib. I thought I had just watched my dad die after it happened....that has always been on my mind when handloading, so I do my best to stay safe, but I know that bad stuff can still happen to any of us, so I also try to stay on the lords good side ha ha.

This is likely unrelated to this guys intentions/circumstances, but I have always figured if I want less recoil, still load up to pressure, but just use a lighter bullet. If you want a light recoiling load in a 300 win mag, load some 125ish grain bullets at railgun speed, and recoil will be pleasant compared to a 200+ at 2900 or so. I have a Remington semi auto 30-06 that my son may use to hunt timber with when he gets older, I plan on loading up some 124 hammer hunters in it, recoil should be mild and will still be great for sub-400 yard deer and elk.

Back on subject, I'm glad the guy is ok. Reminders like this are always good for us to periodically read about. Any of us are just a single mistake away from turning a beautiful and precise piece of machinery into a handheld frag grenade with no time delay.

 

[elkaholic]

BTW, this was not a Sherman chambering. It was a 300 wsm.

 

[yorke-1]

Glad it wasn't worse! Reduced loads and faster than normal powders always make me nervous. I try to use the slowest powder I can get to shoot well to try and reduce the chances of stuff like that happening. I've seen powder "detonations" caused by low case fill and poor ignition and they can seemingly come out of nowhere.

I always go the opposite direction with my reduced loads, I find the slowest powder I can (within reason) and use that just so I get a good case fill. Or better yet, use Trailboss powder. That stuff literally works in everything and a 5# keg will last 3 lifetimes! LOL