Savage Kaboom at Angeles

[Divernhunter]

The brass could have been loaded too many times and had a case separation. The rounds with the missing primers could be a sign of that. Especially if there is too much headspace and he FL resize them.

[cz74]

The cartridge case was welded into the chamber but the case head was nowhere to be found.

My theories are case head separation due to weak worn brass maybe he lost track of how many times he loaded that brass or range pickup from who knows where when. Or wrong powder, for example, CFE 223 and CFE Pistol really look very similar to each other.

[sbo80]

Not 100% sure it wasn't a squib, however - when the RO retrieved the barrel from 10 feet downrange, it was pretty much entirely intact. I imagine with a squib that the barrel would have been bulged, burst, etc.

Just yesterday I was watching youtube vid of some forced kabooms (slow motion video guys) with Kentucky Ballistics. He forced a squib, in order to force the kaboom, on a 7mm. Rifle action basically disintegrated, and though they didn't show the barrel up close to see if there was any minor bulge, it wasn't obviously damaged. Modern barrels are pretty resilient.

[THBailey]

That bolt face and the locking lugs just grenaded. Wonder if there is a way to get ignition before the gun gets in battery?

[bigbossman]

The brass could have been loaded too many times and had a case separation. The rounds with the missing primers could be a sign of that. Especially if there is too much headspace and he FL resize them.

My theories are case head separation due to weak worn brass maybe he lost track of how many times he loaded that brass or range pickup from who knows where when. Or wrong powder, for example, CFE 223 and CFE Pistol really look very similar to each other.

I've seen case head separations in Garands, 1903A3's, and an Arisaka T99. In the Garand the case elected violently in two pieces with some blow-back, and in the case of the Arisaka/1903, gas and debris came back through the bolt but the rifles were intact and good to go after the event.

[LynnJr]

To bad we never get a chronograph reading from one of these incidents

[jimmykan]

To bad we never get a chronograph reading from one of these incidents

5000 fps from a 6.5 Creedmoor!

[nic]

Just yesterday I was watching youtube vid of some forced kabooms (slow motion video guys) with Kentucky Ballistics. He forced a squib, in order to force the kaboom, on a 7mm. Rifle action basically disintegrated, and though they didn't show the barrel up close to see if there was any minor bulge, it wasn't obviously damaged. Modern barrels are pretty resilient.

Not disagreeing with you as it is impossible to determine at this point, but here is an article showing the result of pistol powder in a rifle cartridge:

https://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2015/01/what-happens-when-you-load-pistol-powder-in-a-rifle-cartridge/

The destruction looks almost identical to how the guy's rifle blew up yesterday. We didn't see any stuck rounds in the bore of the barrel when we inspected it afterwards, though admittedly they could have been blown downrange.

[Epaphroditus]

Every handload I ever made is logged and detail written on masking tape on the cartridge box. Most loads are permanently burned into memory - including COL for precision rifle loads.

[LindenBruce]

Pre-occupied or distracted when reloading. Varget and Tite Group don't even look similar, so even if you grab the wrong canister, your brain upon seeing the powder being pored into the hopper of your powder measure should trigger something in the thought process. Like, "Hum, those grains look different than what I'm used too." I mean, that's why those things have clear plastic tubes right? B.

[D_K]

Hi all,
I was at the Angeles rifle range this morning with my shooting partner. The line had been open for all of ten minutes when a shooter about 30 feet away from us suffered a catastrophic detonation of his rifle, a Savage in 6.5 Creedmoor. I do not know the model. Fortunately for the shooter, he suffered a relatively minor cut to his hand and some cuts to his face, but he was wearing eye pro and was not more seriously injured. Several people were struck with debris from his rifle but none were injured. Some of the debris landed next to my buddy and me. The shooter was using handloads, but could not recall his load - he didn't have it written down and was pretty shaken up by the whole affair.

I have been trying to figure out what would cause the rifle to fail in this way. The bore was completely clear, but the barrel was launched about ten feet ahead of his bench. The cartridge case was welded into the chamber but the case head was nowhere to be found. The stock was shattered into many pieces and flung in as many directions. Receiver a total loss. All I can think of is that he used the wrong kind of powder in his handloads (i.e. pistol powder in a rifle case).

I started a thread on Sniper's Hide about it, and posted some photos I took of the rifle's remains, which you can see here:

https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/savage-kaboom-at-local-range.7170933/

Scary moment for sure.
Reminder -
Always wear your eye protection. Use extreme caution when handloading.

Crazy I was going to go to Angeles today but decided for Thurs

Generally "The cartridge case was welded into the chamber" is a load issue. Either too much or like you said wrong type of powder. 99% of the people reload knowing what they are doing that 1% is what scares me which leads me to never even try (I'll probably fall into the 1%)

As for Angeles I usually am in the far right rifle and pistol table and usually there right before open.

[M1NM]

To bad we never get a chronograph reading from one of these incidents

I do wonder how fast the barrel was going.

[870classic]

I too echo the sentiment that nobody was killed or seriously injured.

Forensic analysis... from a material science standpoint.

Looking at the photo evidence only, it appears that the failure of the receiver was directed downward first (The top locking lug is still visible and the bolt face is missing the sides and lower ring). The lower receiver ring appears fractured in a brittle failure. (Jagged metal failure and no signs of elongation.) With the lower receiver ring separated at the barrel, the resulting force was focused on the remaining sections of the receiver ring (top and sides) and fractured the top receiver ring. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the longitudinal fractures of the top receiver.

Best regards,
870classic.

[TRAP55]

That was a pistol powder kaboom, there's no way you could put enough rifle powder in that case, to generate that kind of pressure. I can guess looking at it, that exceeded 150K psi.
A squib will split a barrel, bulge it, or it blows out the bore. All three leave some kind of havoc on the chamber end, but if it blows out, there is always a tell tale ring in the bore where it was stuck.

[tuna quesadilla]

The shooter was using handloads, but could not recall his load - he didn't have it written down

Welp, there's your sign that this guy had no business handloading. Pistol rounds I could see just working up a pet load and then batching them out into bulk storage... but rifle rounds? No. You carefully document and label everything that you've got.

So, to be clear, I'm not saying that this rifle asploded because the guy couldn't remember what load it was; I'm saying that the fact he couldn't remember what load it was demonstrates that he is an inattentive reloader and that he's bound to make more serious mistakes than just forgetting to write down his load data.

End of the day: User error. Nothing to see here.