Gunsmithing Word to the wise. . .

[LRI]

If you have a Remington Sendero with a factory HS made stock and you ever get the itch to paint it know this:

The stock is hollow starting about 3/4 of an inch behind the rear of the grip all the way to the last 1/2" where the buttplate attaches. Yesterday we were sanding one to prepare it for a paint job. We scrubbed it first with hot water and Ajax to scrub out any oils/solvents.

Next was a quick blast with some compressed air to blow off the water and dry out the holes where the sling studs go. The kid was blowing it off as I'm talking to a client.

KABOOM! It literally sounded like a small bomb going off.

The stock overpressured in the hollow spot and exploded! It sent chit everywhere and put nice shiner on his face/stomach.

The autopsy on the stock revealed layers of fabric that had never been wetted with resin. It was as fresh as it comes from the roll.

I've repaired the stock and filled the void with filler. It's rock solid now so I'm not worried about its serviceability.

Just wanted to pass on some friendly advise to those painting stocks to be careful when they are hollow. I've never seen anything like this in 15 years.

Pretty crazy.

C.

 

[1shot2kill]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

pics?

 

[JJones75]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

wow , man im glad nobody was badly hurt , some of that stuff get in your eye and thats gonna be a bad day

 

[LRI]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 1shot2kill</div><div class="ubbcode-body">pics? </div></div>


Never took the time to photograph it. Were on a timeline so it just wasn't practical to do it.

Sorry, we'll post a few of it all finished though.

 

[Straight Shooter]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

What pressure was his blow nozzle set too? Mine gets up to 150 psi once in a while for some aggressive blow down action. If he sealed a rubber tip into a hole anywhere on a stock it would certainly blow it up flaw or not. How do I know this?

My dog had a 4" tennis type ball. When pumped up good she couldn't get a grip on it to pop it. One day I saw her packing it so I knew it needed air. I put the rubber tip up to the hole where you are supposed to put an inflation needle and gave it a quick puff. There all better, nice and hard. I tossed it out on the driveway for her and it blew up like a bomb. Rang our ears and had the neighbors coming over to see if we had an accident. Glad I didn't toss it directly to her. It would have took her jaw off for sure.

 

[LRI]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

I run the air on that side of the shop (finishing side) at 150 because of the blast cabinet. James swears he didn't have the nozzle "in" the hole.

Regardless it could have been really ugly.

Experience is never cheap. He's about ready to shoot the base color.

 

[GasLight]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

glad he is ok, scary stuff for sure.

 

[stangfish]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: C. Dixon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Experience is never cheap. </div></div>

In the industry I work in we say that every safety rule is written in blood.

 

[jbell]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: *Straight Shooter*</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What pressure was his blow nozzle set too? Mine gets up to 150 psi once in a while for some aggressive blow down action. If he sealed a rubber tip into a hole anywhere on a stock it would certainly blow it up flaw or not. How do I know this?

My dog had a 4" tennis type ball. When pumped up good she couldn't get a grip on it to pop it. One day I saw her packing it so I knew it needed air. I put the rubber tip up to the hole where you are supposed to put an inflation needle and gave it a quick puff. There all better, nice and hard. I tossed it out on the driveway for her and it blew up like a bomb. Rang our ears and had the neighbors coming over to see if we had an accident. Glad I didn't toss it directly to her. It would have took her jaw off for sure. </div></div>

Glad to hear the dog is OK, but I cant stop laughing at the thought of that!

Back to Chads episode, I saw a guy at work do this to his hand. He was blowing parts off with shop air @ 120psi using a snap-on blow gun and he had a pin prick in his hand from removing orings with a seal pic (not a big deal usually). When he got a little too close to the needle size hole in his skin his hand blew up like a balloon. I have heard stroys about this kind of stuff but never thought it could happen. That is crazy to see a hand 4X its original size! Good thing no one was hurt with the stock going off. Just one more reason to appreciate the Manners and Mcmillans hua.

 

[Powder_Burns]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

Hydraulic injection can kill you too (think blown oil lines). When working with pressurized stuff, one has to be real careful.

 

[shooter.dm]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

Man that could have turned out worse.

 

[E. Bryant]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

If nothing else, it's a good reason to be wearing eye protection even when performing the most simple of tasks in the shop.

What is it about HS stocks and their tendency to come apart under what is often pretty typical "stress"?

 

[Paulus]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

Yeah, man, i echo the guy above who said glad no one was hurt. Holy Cow i bet that was the surprise of a lifetime! i bet your heart stood still for a second.

I have to say, im impressed you could put that humpty dumpty back together again. as always, very impressive.

-Paulus

 

[LRI]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: E. Bryant</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If nothing else, it's a good reason to be wearing eye protection even when performing the most simple of tasks in the shop.

What is it about HS stocks and their tendency to come apart under what is often pretty typical "stress"? </div></div>

<span style="font-size: 20pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">
. . . </span></span>

 

[redirt78]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

Man, it's like almost stepping on a rattlesnake. It reminds you how nice those snake boots are and that you need to be wearing them. Sometimes it takes crap like this to remind you how quickly things can go bad.

 

[kennygss]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

You can always rely on remingtone to put out an average product. Warms the heart. You would thing HS would have a layup schedule. . . . .

 

[Casey Simpson]

Re: Word to the wise. . .


Mass production sucks - with guns and stuff that need to be really reliable.

 

[E. Bryant]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Casey Simpson</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Mass production sucks - with guns and stuff that need to be really reliable. </div></div>

True 'dat - which is why I've found that Glocks, mid-size sedans, home appliances, and Boeing 747s are tremendously unreliable. In each case, a one-off custom is going to be far more dependable.

I would humbly suggest that HS Precision should not be upheld as the paragon of modern mass-production techniques.

 

[Straight Shooter]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

I think we are getting off track. Since when is the ability to hold high pressure air a quality a stock must possess? It's not.

This thread is a safety notice when using the air hose. Not a warning about bad stocks. HS, McMillan, Bell & Carlson and every other fiberglass stock are made the same way. Whether the stock has a void or foam, if you air it up it will pop.

Just blowing off the stock would never make it go bang. Aim that nozzle at a hole in it and it can go critical in seconds. Being it held to a high enough pressure to make a bang is actually a testimony of how sound it was.

A low pressure excape sounds like a fart or hiss. A pop takes upwards of 10 psi or more to produce. A packing air bag being stepped on is a pop. A 2 liter soda bottle make a hell of a bang at 80 to 100 psi. A ring your ears bang.

Air is a powerfull tool. To move my safe around I built a base under it that has a seal all around the perimeter. Through the carpet is a hidden hole that if I put an air nozzle to at just 2 or 3 psi I can glide the safe all around like a 2000 pound air hockey puck. A punkin chunkin cannon uses just 100 psi to launch bowling balls at 600 mph over a mile.

What is the surface area of that buttstock. Just guessing. Say it was an average of 3" around for 10 inches. 3" x pi = 9.42" x 10" long = 94.2 square inches. Just 5.3 psi is 500 pounds of force. 30 psi over 94.2 inches creates 2826 pounds of force. Get my drift.

The moral of the story is don't try to inflate your rifle stock. Even just blowing at the hole could cause it to fail.

 

[former naval person]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

That sort of experience is how they got the idea for the air guns that the Military uses for immunization "shots". No needles, just a pressurized jet in the deltoid muscles.

 

[Red Belly]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

8000 hours in a Boeing. I would have to respectably disagree with that.

 

[Red Belly]

Re: Word to the wise. . .

Respectfully. Damn spell check.