Tulammo 7.62x39 round blew up

[D.A.V.I.D.]

Just thought i would share this cause i've heard of it happening. Wonder if anyone on the forum has personally had it happen to them with any ammo. Not anything against Tulammo, I will still shoot it in 7.62x39. Attached below is a picture of the round.

Was shooting some Tulammo through a Arsenal sam7k and an unconverted Saiga today. Between the two guns around 3,000 rounds have been fired (all Tulammo) without one problem. Today after about 100 rounds fired i pulled the trigger of the Saiga and boom, only there was booms where you dont want. The dust cover flew off and slightly bent, the magazine was destroyed (not just disassembled the polymer actually cracked) and somehow the safety worked its way out of the gun. Luckily no harm was done to me or anyone shooting other than some very minor scratches and a little burn on my wrist. I took the gun to a gunsmith this afternoon who inspected the gun and decided it was the round and not the gun. The gun was also fine just needs the safety reinstalled and the dust cover bent back to shape. Scared me more than anything, my hand was all black and had to do a quick check of myself before i really comprehended what happened. Was a good reminder of why i always wear eye protection wherever i'm shooting.

[snypr]

Glad all turned out, for the most part, ok...could have been so much worse....

[purer00r]

Glad your ok.

[CSACANNONEER]

I've had similar with factory Winchester and even Eley ammo. I prefer reloads since, I know the brass has been proven instead of new brass that could have hidden flaws like your steel case did.

[Cali-Shooter]

I shoot lots of Tulammo and Wolf, and I've never had any serious issues, all went bang and ejected/cycled great (had a few FTE's on an unconverted saiga before I sold it).

I've also been to CLASS III shoots before and one time I used a friend's FA AK-47 and shot Tulammo thru it, approximately 300-400 rounds, not a single issue.

I believe every ammo maker has a 1/200,000 chance for an ammunition failure like this, as long as it isn't a patterned occurrence and doesn't cause permanent damage, it is to be expected to a certain degree. Glad you are ok OP, and I am glad for my metal AK magazines, it seems like the first thing that always gets trashed from a !kB! is the magazine.
I always wear sunglasses/shooting glasses and earpro and gloves and that's precaution enough to me.

[D.A.V.I.D.]

I've had similar with factory Winchester and even Eley ammo. I prefer reloads since, I know the brass has been proven instead of new brass that could have hidden flaws like your steel case did.

I shoot reloads in everything else, just never find it in 7.62x39. I never actually thought about it that way though.

[Dee_Dub]

Glad your ok OP, I've had a couple of FTE but over all no big issues. I'll still shoot tula... when I can.

[dozer wright]

Looks out of battery if the case was fully chambered would it have blown the side of the case out like that ? And where the neck expanded from not being in the chamber .I bet if you measure from where the line is in the middle of neck to the top of case and from the rim of case to where the blow out is .It will be the same .

[CSACANNONEER]

I find the case neck to be very odd with a almost second shoulder about 1/2 way up. I wonder if there was something in the chamber from a previous shot that caused a over pressure due to the neck not being able to expand properly.

Looks out of battery if the case was fully chambered would it have blown the side of the case out like that ? And where the neck expanded from not being in the chamber .I bet if you measure from where the line is in the middle of neck to the top of case and from the rim of case to where the blow out is .It will be the same .

Guys, the stepped neck is from the factory chamber on a Saiga made for the civilian market. It's a Russian thing to distinguish guns made for civilian use vs. guns made for military use.

[LAKA90034]

Glad you're ok and glad that you were wearing your ppe

[D.A.V.I.D.]

Guys, the stepped neck is from the factory chamber on a Saiga made for the civilian market. It's a Russian thing to distinguish guns made for civilian use vs. guns made for military use.

Correct, it was just purchased less than two years ago, I don't know when they started doing it but a buddy has one thats about 3 years old with a stepped chamber. My father also has one thats about 6 or 7 years old and it doesn't have one so I would assume 4-6 years ago.

[Junkie]

I'd suggest getting in touch with Tulammo and seeing if they'll make it right (at least replace dust cover, magazine, pay gunsmith bill and hopefully throw you some free ammo).

[mosinnagantm9130]

I don't think I've ever seen one of their rounds fail. Glad you're alright

[fritztkatt]

Can the AK type rifles actually fire out of battery? I'll admit I know nearly nothing about ak manual of arms. What would cause it to not go into battery, besides the regular stuff like an obstruction... did that projectile exit the bore?

I don't get how a case could blow up like that inside a chamber, steel or brass. I understand splitting, head separation, prime blown out, but not a chunk like that. Almost like the .40 I saw crack in a glock (that guy was possibly lucky he was shooting light target reloads), but it didn't blow out like that.

[DoubleTap76]

Yeah, I'm done with Tula. Made my ruger scout shoot all hokey and in my LCR, the shell casings expanded real good . Took a lot of work getting them out.

I'll pay a litle more from now on...