Kaboom at Manatee today!

[Arbiter]

Absolutely! Reduced case volume. Rumor also has it that the cockroach survives the trip downrange.

Funny thing is, there was an incident out at Manatee last year that could very well have turned into a repeat of this thread.

A benchrest shooter was out on the line doing some load development, IIRC, and he turned away from the bench for a minute during a string of fire. While he was turned away, a small tree frog fell from the ceiling onto the rifle, and climbed into the open breech. Luckily the frog was spotted before the next round was chambered.

One does have to wonder what a half-ounce of Hyla squirella lodged in the back of the bore would do to the rifle upon chambering and firing a shot?

 

[Deadshot2]

One does have to wonder what a half-ounce of Hyla squirella lodged in the back of the bore would do to the rifle upon chambering and firing a shot?

Not to mention what it would have done to the frog. Another Major T. J. "King" Kong only riding a bullet, not a Thermonuclear Bomb.

 

[RHunter]

My guess would have been "squish"

 

[Queequeg]

Mount a mirror on your Dillion so you see the top of a case after you drop the powder. Have to adjust sight line depending on your set up but it works. I also polish the inside of the powder die and bar because RL15 would hang up once and awhile and that helped. Dryer sheet on the powder hopper too. Ran thousands of rounds through my 550.

Good stuff and these incidents are reminders to all of us as muscle memory and our own brains are our worse enemy. Glad the person wasn't seriously hurt and we all learn from it. The rifle loses this time...

Great idea on the mirror! I keep alight over my left shoulder to look down to see if the case is charged but distractions occur, brain farts happen, phone rings, Mrs. Q needs me for something, dogs start barking, etc., etc. I'll look into where and how to place a mirror that will ease the view into the case.

Thanks!

 

[auto10mm]

I saw the hole in the roof today at Manatee, pretty impressive. Really lucky that no one was hurt more seriously

 

[kctgb]

Well.... A couple of years ago I was shooting at a range and the guy next to me dropped his 7MM mag savage into the dirt muzzle down. I assumed he would check the barrel before shooting so I didn't pay much attention. Before I could scream at him he was pulling the trigger on another round and I was diving for the ground. Kaboom !!! The end of the barrel peeled back like a banana all the way back to the barrel nut. The forearm disintegrated and a good portion ended up in his left arm, the scope came flying off impaling itself in the roof. He ended up in the emergency room that afternoon. I heard later he sent the rifle back to Savage trying to get them to give him another rifle and they said no way. Can't fix stupid.

I think the good lord was watching over him on that day.

 

[PRDRIVER]

I have heard of a couple other guys having this same thing happen with their savages. Their .338 LM models are know for having stuck cases even with mild loads. The shooter obviously messed up on this, but Savage really should do a better job with QC so you don't have guys needing to frequently use cleaning rods to remove stuck cases in their Savage .338 LM rifles.

 

[jason161]

I'll agree that if that is a problem with the 338 LM models they should fix it but I would venture to say any Remington action would have the same result given the same circumstance... Savage makes great rifles. I own a remimgton and a savage but I think the fact team savage wins with stock savage model 12s speaks for itself. Of course they're will always be fan boys and die hards but this shooters mistake would have ended the same in a Remington...

 

[Roland A.D.]

receiver was split but lugs were still engaged. it failed exactly the way it was supposed to, up and out. that was the strangest sound i have ever heard.

 

[Frank Green]

Several years ago at a training match and every bench had an experienced shooter helping the new ones. All custom actions/rifles. I wanna say like 25-40 guys on the line. The new guys were being taught how to measure where the bullet would touch the rifling etc....of course how it goes sometimes the bullet gets stuck in the throat. They took a cleaning rod to pop the bullet out. No one noticed that the shooter left the cleaning rod in the bore of the barrel. Not any shooter next to him or the coach/instructor. The loads a live round and pulled the trigger. A piece broke off the bolt/rifle and went into his fore head and killed him.

I've seen cleaning patches left in chambers at matches and in the bores etc...I've seen barrels that have bulged etc.....

Also years ago (around 25-30 years) had a buddy and we were hunting. He slipped and fell and the muzzle of his rifle poked into the soft ground. Muzzle got packed with dirt/mud. He grabbed a tree branch and poked it into the barrel (that made me laugh). He goes there I can see thru it. I said no way. Go back to the cabin and push a couple of patches thru the bore. Breech to muzzle. The mud came out bore size for about 3'-4" long. The look on his face was priceless. He said glad you made me go back and clean it out.

More stupid stuff happens than what you think. Just pay attention to what you are doing!

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[MIKEONE]

Hahahahahaa. Sorry haaaaa.

 

[Doc68]

And people wonder why I bring my aid bag to the range with me! What could possibly happen they say! Well we all see now!

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

Check and then double check everything. Here's a Howa 6.5-06 Imp loaded with pistol powder.

 

[Queequeg]

Check and then double check everything. Here's a Howa 6.5-06 Imp loaded with pistol powder.

Christ!

I hope the person to the right of that rifle, at the time it exploded, was spared injury.

 

[Thumper580]

Seeing this makes my stomach turn. Reminds me of an incident several years ago during a 1000 yard match at Quantico. Guy shooting a 30/338 had a click.....but no fire. He waited then opened the bolt. The trigger had hung up, but released when opening the bolt. It went off, imbedding the bolt in his right shoulder. Also sheared off two fingers. We gave him aid until the Marines got a Medi-Vac chopper flown in to get him to the hospital. Seeing that bolt sticking out of his shoulder was very sobering.....

 

[Ljutic SS]

Another example of carelessness, the owner was using a laser bore sighter after installing a new scope on his Remington 7600 game master chambered in 243 Win. He did seek medical services as the wood blew in several pieces.

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

Seeing this makes my stomach turn. Reminds me of an incident several years ago during a 1000 yard match at Quantico. Guy shooting a 30/338 had a click.....but no fire. He waited then opened the bolt. The trigger had hung up, but released when opening the bolt. It went off, imbedding the bolt in his right shoulder. Also sheared off two fingers. We gave him aid until the Marines got a Medi-Vac chopper flown in to get him to the hospital. Seeing that bolt sticking out of his shoulder was very sobering.....

I was there. Don't blame the trigger. It wasn't a trigger problem. You can't strike the primer with an open bolt. He was shooting a 300 Ack with a light load and a slow powder. We watched all day as his son and he both were having hang fires. He shot fast trying to beat condition changes. It went click and he was fast enough to get the bolt 90%+ open before it went off. That last 10% or so of rotation applied enough force to the bolt to break off the bolt handle or this story would be a lot worse. The round shroud went straight through his shoulder socket pushing everything to the side. It's tough to see a friend with nothing more than the lugs showing on the outside. The shoulder is doing pretty good last I heard after some surgery. He had his hand on top of the butt stock and the bolt clipped several fingers on the way back. He lost one finger and severely damaged others. Again it was not a trigger problem. It was a brain problem. That unnecessary helo ride cost him $4300 and this was in '95.

Here's another freak self inflicted accident. I have a 30-378 Wby. here that sent the bolt back through a guys hand and wrist between his thumb and hand.
Of course he immediately wanted to sue somebody. I was brought the rifle to examine it and write a report. It turns out the firing pin never touched the primer. This guy has been known to run things very hot and do stupid stuff. The case head had 6 ejector pin marks on it. Norma brass or just about any other brass can't handle that much pressure and still hold a primer. As the story goes he was having problems getting this brass into the chamber on his NEW RIFLE. He slammed the bolt forward and the round went off. Again there's no way the firing pin could touch the primer. One of two things happened. First I believe powder got between the primer and the bottom of the primer pocket. Either he detonated the powder under the primer by compression or he detonated the primer by compressing the anvil. Again a brain problem not a rifle problem.

We hear about all these accidents and the one common thread where there were no severe injuries is the location of your head. As bad as it is when it occurs our head is in a safe zone as long as it's on the opposite side from the loading port. You lefties shooting right handed rifles are looking at the ass end of a bomb. If it goes off it's pointed at your face. Just something to think about.

 

[Thumper580]

Dave, thanks for the clarification on the specifics. It's been awhile... I was squeezing his wrist on the hand that lost the fingers. Almost seems surreal now. Thanks again.

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

We were there together. I got down there right after the initial first aid was given. Meaning a clean towel around his hand.

 

[lame deer]

Shooting rimfires suppressed, i is harder to detect squibs cause they are pretty quiet. One evening was trying to get some groups in before the light faded. A shot didn't sound right, thought maybe it was a complete dud, ejected it and tryinchambering the next one, wouldn't chamber. Lucky for me the bullet didn't travel far enough in the barrel and stopped me from chambering another round. Didn't take the time to examine the squib when i ejected it cause i was in a hurry. A best case senario would have had to buy a new 17hmr.