Got sprayed in the face today on the range

[Lumpybrass]

Was fire-forming brass (50 rds) and had one shot sting my face/neck just below the right muff and the rear of my cheek.
I pulled the bolt (Ruger RPR) and could not see any escape path for blow back. The brass looked fine. Happened only once.
Was thinking the muzzle break may have spit something back. This is my first break. Do they do that?
Why I always wear glasses.

 

[SuperSneakySniper]

That is weird. I've never had stuff come back and bite me while I was the one behind the rifle. No muzzle brakes shouldnt do that, assuming it was a quality brake and not some out-of-spec knock off. Does the brake have any deformed baffles?
If you cant see any damage youre probably alright but definetly keep an eye out if that happens in the future and wear eye protection.

 

[whatsupdoc]

What were you fire forming and what load did you use. Sounds like you had a small gas leak. Did you check the primer to make sure gas did not leak from there.

 

[...]

Bug bite?

 

[LongRangeLefty]

Be sure to take that brake off from time to time for a cleaning. I’ve seen some literally form small chunks of powder inside over time. It is the farthest part from your face so I’m not sure that is your problem. Just saying..

 

[Ranger188]

Were you alone, or was someone else shooting down from you?

 

[Lumpybrass]

I always wear glasses. Shot with a lot of guys (most all) in comp benchrest that wore no eye protection. Always amazed at that.
Was shooting virgin brass with mild loads (6.5 cm). Primer intact and no sign of gas leaks on the brass. The scope and receiver are between my mug and the muzzle. Can't see how I could have been sprayed.
Sure spooked me.

 

[Holliday]

Jesus, I saw the title of this thread and thought it was a new porn film.....

 

[ilmonster]

Ha, ha, ha...

 

[Lumpybrass]

If you heard my fussing when it happened, you would have thought it was a porn sound track.

 

[LeftyJason]

I thought it was that you met a skunk on the range.

 

[BigJimFish]

Was fire-forming brass (50 rds) and had one shot sting my face/neck just below the right muff and the rear of my cheek.
I pulled the bolt (Ruger RPR) and could not see any escape path for blow back. The brass looked fine. Happened only once.
Was thinking the muzzle break may have spit something back. This is my first break. Do they do that?
Why I always wear glasses.

It is possible for muzzle breaks to spit something back. I have heard of some of the more aggressively rear angled ones rarely doing this as well as a very aggressive prototype rear angled one that seemed to specialize in it.

 

[supercorndogs]

I always wear glasses. Shot with a lot of guys (most all) in comp benchrest that wore no eye protection. Always amazed at that.
Was shooting virgin brass with mild loads (6.5 cm). Primer intact and no sign of gas leaks on the brass. The scope and receiver are between my mug and the muzzle. Can't see how I could have been sprayed.
Sure spooked me.

6.5 comp match? Or are you fire forming 6.5 Creedmoor from something?

 

[Lumpybrass]

Found the problem. Was out on the range yesterday and was getting sprayed fairly often. The Ruger RPR has a tube (not sure of the name) in the stock assembly. It is inline with the bore and ends just where the butt pad adjusting assembly starts. This tube is capped, but has a very small hole (0.020" ?) in the center. The rear of the bolt has a clear shot all the through to the cap. There must be escaping gas and spent powder into this chamber with enough force to fly through the small hole and sting the face.
I never had a weapon spit crap on me.
The brass looks fine. No sign of blow by. No high pressure.

 

[One1Bravo]

Found the problem. Was out on the range yesterday and was getting sprayed fairly often. The Ruger RPR has a tube (not sure of the name) in the stock assembly. It is inline with the bore and ends just where the butt pad adjusting assembly starts. This tube is capped, but has a very small hole (0.020" ?) in the center. The rear of the bolt has a clear shot all the through to the cap. There must be escaping gas and spent powder into this chamber with enough force to fly through the small hole and sting the face.
I never had a weapon spit crap on me.
The brass looks fine. No sign of blow by. No high pressure.

Can you take a picture of what you're talking about? Just went to look at my RPR out of curiosity and don't see it. Also, mine has never sprayed me with anything.

 

[Lumpybrass]

You got it. I'll get it done tomorrow.

 

[One1Bravo]

Are you talking about the hole in the end of the buffer tube? If so you definitely should not be getting any sort of spray through there.

 

[Hollywood 6mm]

Found the problem. Was out on the range yesterday and was getting sprayed fairly often. The Ruger RPR has a tube (not sure of the name) in the stock assembly. It is inline with the bore and ends just where the butt pad adjusting assembly starts. This tube is capped, but has a very small hole (0.020" ?) in the center. The rear of the bolt has a clear shot all the through to the cap. There must be escaping gas and spent powder into this chamber with enough force to fly through the small hole and sting the face.
I never had a weapon spit crap on me.
The brass looks fine. No sign of blow by. No high pressure.

There definitely should NOT be any gas coming out of that section of your rifle.

 

[supercorndogs]

There shouldn't be any gas blowing in your face for that matter.

 

[19Scout77]

By any chance do you sport a beard of some sort? Short scruff? My guess is you got one of your whiskers caught in some spot or another on the stock. Bolt actions don’t behave that way.

 

[spife7980]

Found the problem. Was out on the range yesterday and was getting sprayed fairly often. The Ruger RPR has a tube (not sure of the name) in the stock assembly. It is inline with the bore and ends just where the butt pad adjusting assembly starts. This tube is capped, but has a very small hole (0.020" ?) in the center. The rear of the bolt has a clear shot all the through to the cap. There must be escaping gas and spent powder into this chamber with enough force to fly through the small hole and sting the face.
I never had a weapon spit crap on me.
The brass looks fine. No sign of blow by. No high pressure.

I dont really see how thats possible when the entire ejection port etc would be where the gas would go first.

Cover it with a piece of tape. Fire a few rounds, see if its still happening. Take the tape off and look at it, see if there is any gray residue on it. Then shoot it again and see if it starts happening again.

And its not just shooting with a muzzle brake you arent use to is it? I fucking despise muzzle brakes, seems like my body is being assaulted with every shot.

 

[Lumpybrass]

Buffer tube was the name I couldn't remember. I am planning, as suggested, to tape over that buffer hole.
I also agree with a bolt action not blowing back like this. Especially with out some signs on the br
ass.
Hope to shoot again tomorrow.
Maybe put a "don't lick you balls " type dog collar behind the muzzle break (lol).

 

[One1Bravo]

Man if you're truly getting powder spray through there then I would think you have some sort of pressure leak around your bolt. If it were me I wouldn't shoot it anymore until I contacted Ruger

 

[Kyskeet]

Could it be a pinch rather than impact from gas leak. When I first. Started shooting a RPR, on several occasions I got the skin pinched between the back of the cheek rest and my ear muff. Happened frequently enough I switched to a magpul PRS stock.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

I thought it was that you met a skunk on the range.

I thought the same when I saw the title. That is why I jumped in....To offer words of encouragement that can hopefully alleviate OP's absolute misery

 

[palmettoman]

Was Dick Cheney nearby?

 

[JimLee]

"don't lick you balls " , well that escalated quickly. I'll stop when someone tells me why. Never had any problem with this on my RPR, curious what the OP finds.

 

[LongRangeLefty]

Buffer tube was the name I couldn't remember. I am planning, as suggested, to tape over that buffer hole.
I also agree with a bolt action not blowing back like this. Especially with out some signs on the br
ass.
Hope to shoot again tomorrow.
Maybe put a "don't lick you balls " type dog collar behind the muzzle break (lol).View attachment 7019414

The physics of the way the firearm works mean that if gas is leaking from there, it’s leaking from somewhere else in your bolt/chamber first. If it were me I wouldn’t shoot it until the problem is identified and resolved. That’s just me.

 

[Velocity Chad]

How is gas coming out of that hole and making a 180 to sting you in the face? The hole should be behind your face, and I dont see gas coming out there to begin with.

 

[LongRangeLefty]

Like Spife said, it would come out the ejection port or somewhere else around the bolt first. Even if gas made its way through the firing pin hole in the bolt face, it wouldn’t make it past where it threads into the cocking mechanism. Even if it did, it would then go into the shroud. But the shroud doesn’t have a hole in the back and is not an air tight seal. It would come out around where the shroud connects to the bolt. Remember the gas is under very high pressure. It could leak from a hole you cannot obviously see. I’d get that thing fixed.

 

[footsteps]

Disassemble and inspect , video the process if possible... The manufacturer may be interested....Goodluck

 

[wade2big]

Maybe he is trolling you guys. Sure seems like it. ?

 

[19Scout77]

Cover the entire buttstock with toilet paper and shoot it again.

 

[19Scout77]

And post video.

 

[LongRangeLefty]

You guys are horrible. Picking on a newb like this. Especially when you know what should really be done. Send it to me and I’ll seal off the buffer tube and accept the rest of the rifle as payment.

 

[Lumpybrass]

Was load testing today and found the nasty cause. about halfway through the session I noticed blood on the stock. The sting was chewing my cheek up. Before leaving the house I stuffed some wedding in the buffer tube to block anything trying to get through. No help. I then wrapped a rag around the hole area. No help. The wrapped the rag around the back of the receiver. No help. Only then did I feel the edge of the metal where the hole lives while wiping some blood off the stock. Bitch was like a razor. Recoil was dragging the edge across my cheek. Felt like a sting from flying debris, but really was a scraping action. Moving the comb back solved everything. Now I feel like a dope.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Catching whiskers was a close suggestion.

 

[supercorndogs]

Glad you got it figured out. Should be more fun to shoot now.

 

[uffduh]

And the secondhand market for RPR’s didn’t just tank!

 

[Deleted member 10043]

What is the purpose of the hole?

 

[black5.3]

Nice hat too