HELP! AR exploded...

[Solidsnake87]

The key here is the word "reloads" from gun show
I do not put them in my guns

+1. Avoid reloads at gun shows. The danger is not worth the savings. Commercial ammo is made to better QC. I recommend you learn to reload. You will make safer and higher quality ammo.

[hcbr]

Ouch, my condolences on your lost, you should definitely hit up the guy who sold you the reloads. Also you should be weary of those guys and never buy them and just learn to do your own (which i too am doing now). I hope you can salvage most of your weapon, but man it's going to be a pain, I feel for you!

[Rock_Islander]

Sorry about your rifle. Glad you're okay though.

No reloads for me unless I start doing my own. Even then, I've heard that the cost of equipment, powder, casings, etc. eventually adds up and it takes quite a while before one actually starts to see any sort of savings.

as soon as I started loading my own ammo, the initial investment was totally worth it. the savings i experienced was instant, my first 1000 rounds i reloaded were less than half of what i would usually spend on factory ammo (.45acp)

[captbilly]

What would stop an AR from firing out of battery?

From everything I have read the AR's BC design can not fire out of battery. A protruding primer can ignite on the bolt face.

On some rifles the firing pin is blocked until the bolt actually rotates locked into the bolt recess, but the AR has no such protection as far as I can see. There have been many cases reported of AR's slam firing, where the firing pin inertia carries it into the primer even though the hammer doesn't move. This is the reason some people use titanium firing pins (there are other reasons for wanting a less massive firing pin as well). I am not saying I know any of this for a fact but when I have played around with my ARs I saw nothing to stop the hammer or firing pin if the bolt does not properly lock.

[supersonic]

how did your buddy confirm it wasn't a squib? If you the guy firing the gun didn't notice a squib...how the heck is an onlooker going to?

By spotting for the shooter and/or observing downrange hit on a target or a 'berm splash.' Pretty simple.

The problem was the reloads. The degree of danger they present is inversely proportional to the attention span of the person who makes them.

I roll my own and have had zero problems. I'll never shoot anyone else's reloads, ever.

That's an affirmative. 100%. I've put many thousands of my own handloads through my (and others') AR's and not one single mishap or malfunction. If you roll your own & know your s**t, the basic rules of thumb are: mild to mid loads for plinking; if you are using them in competition (or trying to gain distance), work them up carefully until the velocity & accuracy is what you are after, without signs of overpressure; for HD use proven FACTORY ammo. Oh, and always inspect that brass if it has been fired before and don't use ANYONE ELSE'S RELOADS!! (I know, it's already been said, but it can never be said enough, especially when you are dealing with a semi-auto rifle which generates pressures in excess of 55.000 psi in that little chamber less than a foot in front of your face!!) OP: lesson well learned, eh? Glad you weren't hurt and that you are still here to be just that more wise.

[killshot44]

It wasn't the ammo.....

[KaneWLP]

If u don't reload your own ammo or are getting yours from a trusted source why would you put unknown cheap ammo through an expensive firearm......u probably wouldn't put 87 octane in a high dollar sportscar. Spend a few more bucks and reduce the chance of blowing ur own face off

Miwall is, or now was, a trusted source on reloaded ammo. We were just plinking so I didn't wanna shoot factory rounds.

Don't even post who made your rifle because people will try to blame it on that company when they didn't do anything wrong haha.

Glad you walked away with all your digits my man.

Exactly why I haven't posted it up lol.

I just popped open a Miwall round. I poured the powder back into the brass. It filled the brass up. My Miwall round with the powder that I found in it. Can't be double loaded. Period. Your pic looks like it fired out of battery. That may well NOT be an ammo related issue.

I roll my own most of the time. And I haven't used any powder that doesn't dam near fill up the .223 / 5.56 brass relatively close to the top. I typically use varget for both .223 and .308.

It is still very possible to overload a round with dam near any powder. I have done it and blown out primers and broken parts as well.

Can you take a few more high res pics of the offending round and post them up?

Question: Does your barrel say .223 or 5.56 or Wylde? And what ammo did you use? Mil spec or .223?

I'll try to take more pictures later on today. My barrel is a 5.56 and I was using 223 reloads.

Glad you weren't hurt.

That looks like it was fired OOB and may not even be related to the ammo.

What trigger group are you using?

What does the barrel extension look like... sheared/broken?

This confuses me because people say ammo and people say fired out of battery... The barrel extension looks fine, but I still want to get it scoped.

I'll just try hitting up both the ammo company and the company of my bcg.

[TangoCharlie]

Reloads, by definition, use include fired brass of unknown cycles. That's one red flag.

While it's hard to overfill a .223 case, it's not hard to underfill, which can have the same effect.

Improperly seated primer is another possibility.

All of these are exascerbated by a possible, even slight headspace issue on the gun.

Check headspace and do not used unfamiliar reloads.

[Anchors]

Exactly why I haven't posted it up lol.

Haha. Good call man.

[goodlookin1]

What I dont get is, how can an AR be fired out of battery? When the bolt pulls out of the barrel extension, it extends further than the firing pin can reach. When chambering another round, the bolt does not push/twist back into the bolt carrier until it locks into battery. And if that wasnt enough, the firing pin cannot reach the round that is in the process of being chambered because the extractor has not clicked over the base of the round. This doesnt happen until the round is fully positioned into the chamber and there is enough pressure exerted from the buffer spring to push the b/bcg to "snap" the extractor over the brass.

So other than super hot bolt faces cooking off primers prematurely (only happens in machine guns that have been firing too long), how can this happen???

[KaneWLP]

What I dont get is, how can an AR be fired out of battery? When the bolt pulls out of the barrel extension, it extends further than the firing pin can reach. When chambering another round, the bolt does not push/twist back into the bolt carrier until it locks into battery. And if that wasnt enough, the firing pin cannot reach the round that is in the process of being chambered because the extractor has not clicked over the base of the round. This doesnt happen until the round is fully positioned into the chamber and there is enough pressure exerted from the buffer spring to push the b/bcg to "snap" the extractor over the brass.

So other than super hot bolt faces cooking off primers prematurely (only happens in machine guns that have been firing too long), how can this happen???

I'm just as lost as you are. I initially thought it was an ammo problem until multiple replies saying it fired out of battery were many people's conclusion.

[goodlookin1]

I took a closer look at the pictures supplied thus far: Look at the neck of the expended brass, it looks very...different...IMO. It almost appears as if the neck was shortened, or rather, extended. Then there's the base of the case: It looks as if it bell-bottoms towards the bottom just before the separation. This would indicate that the base of the case was partially sticking out of the chamber when fired.

So if my calculations are correct, it appears that your round was fired without being entirely seated into the chamber. When this happens, the base of the case has no side support for all that pressure. When the strength of the case (without the chambers wall support) is weaker than the pressure in the barrel, it will result in this type of catastrophe: The explosion rips off the base of the brass resulting in a case/head separation, and the explosion ensues in the chamber/bolt carrier group area, snapping off the teeth of the bolt and pushing it back so hard it splits the bcg. In this case, the bolt stayed in battery and the explosion blew up the weakest link in your setup: The bottom of the carrier. That is why your mag blew out in shattered pieces....because of the flying bottom metal piece of carrier "shrapnel".

The explosion is supposed to happen in the chamber only. On this shot, it happened largely in the upper receiver area. The question is, HOW could this have happened???

1) Highly overcharged case
2) Firing a round that was not able to fully seat itself into the chamber

Only two things I could think of

[KaneWLP]

I took a closer look at the pictures supplied thus far: Look at the neck of the expended brass, it looks very...different...IMO. It almost appears as if the neck was shortened, or rather, extended. Then there's the base of the case: It looks as if it bell-bottoms towards the bottom just before the separation. This would indicate that the base of the case was partially sticking out of the chamber when fired.

So if my calculations are correct, it appears that your round was fired without being entirely seated into the chamber. When this happens, the base of the case has no side support for all that pressure. When the strength of the case (without the chambers wall support) is weaker than the pressure in the barrel, it will result in this type of catastrophe: The explosion rips off the base of the brass resulting in a case/head separation, and the explosion ensues in the chamber/bolt carrier group area, snapping off the teeth of the bolt and pushing it back so hard it splits the bcg. In this case, the bolt stayed in battery and the explosion blew up the weakest link in your setup: The bottom of the carrier. That is why your mag blew out in shattered pieces....because of the flying bottom metal piece of carrier "shrapnel".

The explosion is supposed to happen in the chamber only. On this shot, it happened largely in the upper receiver area. The question is, HOW could this have happened???

1) Highly overcharged case
2) Firing a round that was not able to fully seat itself into the chamber

Only two things I could think of

Thank you for the info. It all makes sense now after hearing all this. I was just lost because of the two options people were posting(ammo or out of battery). I emailed miwall and they asked what upper/bcg I was using. I told them it was a _______, so I have a feeling they're taking it up with the manufacture of my upper.

[KaneWLP]

No go for my upper/bcg manufacture.

"Reloads aren't covered under warranty."

[Pryde]

Just curious, did the previous 2-3 rounds before that blowup refuse to chamber?

By design, the hammer can not drop onto the firing pin on an AR15 if the bolt is not fully locked to the front.
I've had case head separations with miwall before but none were catastrophic.