How to blowup your rifle

[LRDSDMN]

I picked up another 300 RUM. I hope I don't make the same mistakes with this one.
Here she is: Nothing special but it gets me back in the game

Here are the first ten round down the pipe. Shot 1 was at 3 o'clock and the remaining 9 grouped pretty good to start.

This was Berger 210 sitting on top of 91.5gr of Retumbo, F215 primers.
Average velocity was 2962.

I can't wait to hear the final analysis to see what the root fault condition may have been.

Thank you to all those who have contributed to this thread.

Have you gotten any updates on your kaboom?

 

[Swiftkill]

Have you gotten any updates on your kaboom?

Well, I did not get your first post 2 years ago, but always go back to the manufacturer. If you would have sent your gun to Remington they might have replaced it for good will. You'd be surprised. And, you wouldn't have cut the receiver open. I don't blame you for trying to knock the bolt open. You can still try to send it to Remington. Don't tell them it was a handload though!

 

[Winkfish]

Sorry for the delay, I have been tied up the past few weeks. I have not heard back from the gentlemen that I shipped the rifle to. I think the last time I tried to contact him was back in April. I am assuming he may be busy right now and I didn't want to bother him too much.

Based on a whole series of factors I wouldn't feel right sending it in to the manufacture and expecting them to try and fix or replace it. I am going to stand by, my loads, my rifle, my fault and I hope that folks reading through the thread may glean a little useful information. I know it has been a good learning opportunity for myself and many of the forum members have been very helpful and have assisted me with my new rifle.

 

[cape cove]

Do we have an update on this.

 

[Winkfish]

Good morning,
I have made several attempts to contact the gentleman who I sent the rifle to. The last time I was able to get a hold of him was back in April. I have not seen him on this forum either. I hope is his well and just busy with other things.

Thanks to the help from other forum members here I did purchase a new 300RUM and I have been more than happy with the performance.

Using the same loads as the rifle that failed I have not had a single issue regardless of temp or usage. It was one of the rifles that I took on my WY antelope hunt this year and it performed as expected.

Thank you for your continued interest in this topic.

 

[cape cove]

@Winkfish
Did you ever get it figured out as to the cause of the blow-up.Just curious. TKS

 

[theosmithjr]

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.

BROKE THE BOLT HANDLE LIFTING IT! ARE YOU A GORILLA, OF BIGFOOT? ****! Did you CLEAN the BORE & CHAMBER before shooting the 2nd day? Temp was in the hood and should of been safe. Are you CERTAIN that when you loaded those 230's that you didn't ACCIDENTLY DOUBLE CHARGE a case? Sounds like your shooting quite a lotta rounds at the range, then reloading to go back again the next day. If you're certain your charge weight was consistant; and ALL the other components were The SAME; IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE A DOUBLE CHARGE to me! However I'm not certain a DOUBLE CHARGE is even possible on a 300 RUM. The powder would be OVERFLOWING OUTTA THE CASE!
MY ADVICE WITHOUT BEING THERE to you is "To CHECK YOURSELF, BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF, or DESTROY another RIFLE, Sir"!
Theosmithjr

 

[theosmithjr]

Thank you for the additional input and thoughts.

We tried to weld a rod onto the bolt but were not able to break the bolt loose. I actually broke the rod I welded to the bolt. We were unable to separate the barrel from the receiver, I tried that as well. Then I cut the tang and with a large channel lock I was unable to rotate the bolt. Then I cut the receiver again to be able to put the bolt in the vice so I could get more leverage. Once I got there, I was able to rotate the bolt and unlock it. It still took hammering on the receiver to separate the bolt from the receiver. The stuck case is still in the barrel.

What surprises me that the delta in temp is only about 15 degrees. I did the load development at 3 degrees so I wouldn't have expected such an increase in pressure. The Accubonds I have, worked from +30 to -10 with zero issues. The powder from all the rounds (Accubonds, Berger) are from the same 8 lb jug.

I also find it interesting that just the day before I shot that rifle over a span of 3 hours and put over 50 rounds down the pipe shooting 190 Accubonds, Berger 210 and 230s at 3 degrees with zero issues.

I will have to use this as a learning opportunity that is for sure. I have never experienced these issues with other powders and other calibers when shooting over a large temp range. I typically do my load developments at common hunting temps (10-30 degrees)

I guess I have a great deal more learning to do. I was not aware of the copper loading impacts between different round type on the barrel. in other calibers I am able to switch between rounds without negative impacts.

I have always shot Nosler, Hornady, and Sierra in the past. This is my exposure to Berger in the RUM. I had no issues with Berger in 308 and 30-06.

Any additional info you folks may have to help educate me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

Alot of the time Berger bullets cause pressure spikes and more time on the Bench at Home and the Range due to the LENGTH of their bullets. Ck to make certain you're not JAMMING them into the LANDS! Color a round with a Black Sharpie pen, the cue the bolt. You'll SEE WHATS GOING ON, or your Smith can confirm but ifn you're hellbent on shooting Bergers you might need to have your rifle THROATED!
Theosmithjr

 

[Muddyboots]

I think it is safe to say the op is an experienced reloader based upon the statements. Detonation still seems to be a possible culprit but how would it be possible under the conditions described? I read a long time ago about a detonation that might have been caused by sizing lube in neck causing the powder to cause a "bridge" down in the case thus air gap. I've tried to find this discussion but no avail but it was in a paper that I read probably before most here were born! So not likely on the interweb....

Copper fouling on how many shots? That would be more disturbing to me that a barrel fouled in that short order thus causing massive pressure spikes. If that was the case, bullet manufacturers would be adding a warning to their product safety to warn users to clean after so many rounds or prevent bullet mix at range. Not seeing that.

Bullet somehow got too close to lands? I measure every single round by the ogive not sure everyone does but I bet op does.

By chance was there a minuscule crack in neck that cannot be seen that allowed round COAL to shift back unnoticed into the case?

Bullet cold solder to the inside neck is a wild thought but is only associated with using certain neck lubes. What was the neck lube and how long was the load in case? Not long it sounds so probable cause not likely.

Any possibility something got into the chamber that coated the walls? Even water can cause potentially dangerous pressures since brass fails to "grip" the chamber walls.

Question for op: Were all the loads from same powder container, primer package, bullet box? I think I would send a sample to Hodgdon just to be sure it was Retumbo etc.

Since it was -10 I doubt a bug crawled up into barrel. I feel pretty confident on that potential.

This is another reason why this site is great for all. The op bared his soul by posting this up for all to see expecting the best and maybe the worse but with full intent to possibly find root cause and prevent re-occurrence. Personally I thank you for posting this, I bet many of us are double and triple checking what we assumed to be safe going forward.

 

[Timeout]

BROKE THE BOLT HANDLE LIFTING IT! ARE YOU A GORILLA, OF BIGFOOT? ----! Did you CLEAN the BORE & CHAMBER before shooting the 2nd day? Temp was in the hood and should of been safe. Are you CERTAIN that when you loaded those 230's that you didn't ACCIDENTLY DOUBLE CHARGE a case? Sounds like your shooting quite a lotta rounds at the range, then reloading to go back again the next day. If you're certain your charge weight was consistant; and ALL the other components were The SAME; IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE A DOUBLE CHARGE to me! However I'm not certain a DOUBLE CHARGE is even possible on a 300 RUM. The powder would be OVERFLOWING OUTTA THE CASE!
MY ADVICE WITHOUT BEING THERE to you is "To CHECK YOURSELF, BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF, or DESTROY another RIFLE, Sir"!
Theosmithjr

So it's been months ago that I followed all of this and obviously it hasn't been solved. I ran the numbers on QuickLOAD. 230 grain Berger Hybrids, 86.8 grains of Hogdon Retumbo = 96.4 % case fill, 56,932 psi max chamber pressure, 2748 fps muzzle velocity in a 26" Barrel. If he were to have by mistake used 90.0 grains of Retumbo, the case would be 99.9 % full and max chamber pressure would be 64,351 psi. Highly unlikely that would cause the rifle to self destruct. There is no way on God's green earth he could double charge the case with Retumbo.

 

[Timeout]

Alot of the time Berger bullets cause pressure spikes and more time on the Bench at Home and the Range due to the LENGTH of their bullets. Ck to make certain you're not JAMMING them into the LANDS! Color a round with a Black Sharpie pen, the cue the bolt. You'll SEE WHATS GOING ON, or your Smith can confirm but ifn you're hellbent on shooting Bergers you might need to have your rifle THROATED!
Theosmithjr

FYI, there are lots of good shooters running Berger's of many variations "jammed".

 

[SabreCross]

Just read through the entire thread. ****, I was hoping for a yellow-ribbon ending...This is going to end like the JFK assassination.

 

[bigngreen]

Guys, I honestly had some stuff happen and lost track of this thread and the OP and could not find it till it popped up this morning which I was very happy to see.
I'll update it tonight when I get home.

 

[Terry Scott]

Try a different Powder goes without saying My RUM Loves Vit 570