Ammo Failure

[santacruzgunner]

Pretty damn lucky that was all you walked away with. We live and we learn. Glad you are ok

[God Bless America]

The case looks like an "out of battery" explosion.

That case looks like Bugs Bunny's finger was in the end.

OP glad you were not seriously injured.

[thx1138x1]

Please run as fast as you can to the nearest store and by a loto ticket.Glad your ok.If you are going to load an unsized case you should try to chamber it first.Even if you are going to neck size or what just take your case and see if it chambers.This will save you a trip to the range or heaven forbid the ER.

[stevec223]

Thanks for posting... With the bolt out of the reciever,,, the primer must have hit something behind the ejection port of the rifle still inside of the reciever..... Maybe the bolt latch that recesses when you are taking out the bolt,,, and pops back up to keep the bolt in the reciever.... Just a thought and hope you would take a look into the reciever with the bolt out to investigate... I never have heard of this happening ,,,,, so don't beat yourself up about it... Glad you and your dad are ok.... Cheers...

[pacrat]

Thanks for the courteous replies. I feel like a complete idiot/noob.

If any consolation. The first time I went hunting all by my lonesome, carrying a 22 rifle was in 1958. And I would have handled your stuck cartridge issue the same way that you n yer pop did. Because that is what I've done several times over the span of years.

I don't know what happened in your instance. But I do know that by you sharing the experience. I learned that it can happen. And will modify my own behavior if it ever happens to me again.

Thanks for that. And like everybody else. Glad there were no serious injuries.

JM2c

[DougMurray]

If the primer was properly recessed, it would have had to hit a point or something to go off, which would seem unlikely with the bolt removed. On the other hand, if it wasn't fully seated and protruded slightly, all bets are off.

[Whiterabbit]

This is pretty common in AR-15 rifles. A learning lesson for sure, and a reminder for all of us for these kinds of issues.

I am glad you weren't hurt more than 10 minutes of uncontrolled bleeding.

I think your dad will end up with more scars than you.

Thanks for sharing. Takes balls to share that kind of story on this website.

[stilly]

Let me start off by saying I'm new to the reloading game. I know the mistake I made and I'm not looking for criticism on safety issues or or name calling.

That being said here's what happened...

I went to the range today with my recently purchased Kimber 8400 chambered in 300 Win Mag. I hand loaded 4 sets of 5 rounds with various powder charges to see which one my new rifle liked the most. My dad (who is a long time experienced reloader) went with me and also has a Kimber 8400 300 win mag. Prior to shooting any of my loads, I was going to use some of his rounds to get my rifle on paper. I put the first round in, attempted to close the bolt, and the round stuck in the chamber. I couldn't put the bolt into battery. I pulled the bolt out of the rifle, held the rifle verticle, and tapped on the butt with no success on removing the round. I then put the rifle back on the table and held the rifle in place while my dad put a cleaning rod through the bore in an attempt to push the round back out. after 3 taps... BOOM! the round fired and the brass came flying out smacking me in the face.

After about 10 minutes to control the bleeding and another hour thoroughly inspecting the rifle and gathering our thoughts we went straight to my hand loads without a problem. 20 rounds in all.

We concluded that his rounds wouldn't chamber in my rifle because the brass was once fired from his rifle and weren't full-length sized. I didn't think it would be an issue since they are the exact same rifle... my mistake. My question is, what would make the round fire from tapping it on the bullet tip? Could it have pushed the bullet into the brass far enough to ignite the primer?

Ill post some pictures in a few

The only name calling here will be religious, I will explain in a bit.

BUT, I was reading this, and well, you should have known the rules about bolties and ammo swaps between chambers of non- FL sized rounds. Moot point now, moving on. Remember that though because it is the rule across the board. Ammo is ONLY good for the tightest chamber. But you should see if your NS sized ammo will fit his... THAT might happen and could possibly be okay.

So I was thinking while I was reading that there is NO science or LOGIC that would explain WHY your round behaved like it did- SO that must have made this event, a Miracle... (see? Religious name calling...)

Congratulations sir. YOU have witnessed an honest to God Miracle.

I do not believe in miracles though. Powder does NOT set off primers and powder most likely did NOT get through the flash hole and (as I already said) set off the primer.

Do you know how primers work? They essentially need to be compressed in the center aka anvil portion and THAT sets them off.

So my questions to follow up on this event would be these:

1. Was the correct size of primer used?
2. Was the primer smashed in any way or deformed from seating?
3. Was any other foreign material in the primer pocket? Small SS pin perhaps?
4. What brand of primer was it? I will go out on a limb- Winchester?
5. Do you still have the packaging and LOT number of that primer container/box?
6. How much time passed between the tapping and NO STOP. I just saw the photos...

You MIGHT have had a defective lot of primers, or if you used winchester, I can see this happening. BUT (not to start a sentence with a conjunction but...), I dare say that the round did NOT go off while it was in the chamber. That last whack probably dislodged it enough to send it out where it hit with a good enough force to impact the primer.

Look at that shell. Did you bend back the brass? I think not. nobody does that. So how did that brass get bent back like that inside the chamber? How did you pick up shrapnel if it was inside the chamber? Yeah, no dice man. The brass was knocked out, hit against something sharp enough and went off, since no barrel was there to control the bullet, **** got crazy and it exploded like a mini pipebomb.

The ONLY proof would be the primer. You should have looked and looked and looked until you found the primer.

OR, if it was a winchester primer, no real hard looking would be needed. But Still, THAT is a crucial part of the investigation.

So upon further review, the ruling on the field has been reversed and this is NOT a miracle, you did NOT witness a miracle and there is STILL no proof that God Exists...

As for your face, nohomo, you seem like a good looking chap, that should heal up soon enough and if not, well, chicks dig scars... It is a good thing that you were not hit in the eye or teeth though. You DID have on glasses hopefully right?

Final thoughts, HAD a 300 WIN MAG gone off INSIDE the barrel, THAT would quite possibly have been MUCH more damage and not just to you. Damn though. 300 Winmag...

The good thing to keep in mind is that outside of a barrel, ALL ammo is pretty much equal, mostly nonlethal if it goes off, but it can still punch through drywall at a few feet away.

[00foreman]

Stilly,

To answer a few of your questions...

The particular round in question was loaded by my dad. I can't guarantee the quality control that went into it, but I know he is very particular and trust he did everything correctly. I do know he uses CCI 250 primers.

I honestly couldn't tell you how much time passed between the last tap and ignition. It all happened so fast it just seemed instantaneous. After reading all the comments it wouldn't make sense for it to discharge inside the chamber so there must have been a short delay while it traveled back found something to hit the primer.

All that being said, I was cleaning the rifle today. Once I took the stock off what came falling out? the missing primer! And wouldn't you know it, there is a strike on the edge of it. The only thing I can think of is it hitting the pin that holds the bolt in place. Hopefully this issue never arises again, but I will be sure to take more precautions if it does.

Finally some good news. I drew Nevada Unit 121 early mule deer today!

Thanks for the insight all

[stilly]

Stilly,

To answer a few of your questions...

The particular round in question was loaded by my dad. I can't guarantee the quality control that went into it, but I know he is very particular and trust he did everything correctly. I do know he uses CCI 250 primers.

I honestly couldn't tell you how much time passed between the last tap and ignition. It all happened so fast it just seemed instantaneous. After reading all the comments it wouldn't make sense for it to discharge inside the chamber so there must have been a short delay while it traveled back found something to hit the primer.

All that being said, I was cleaning the rifle today. Once I took the stock off what came falling out? the missing primer! And wouldn't you know it, there is a strike on the edge of it. The only thing I can think of is it hitting the pin that holds the bolt in place. Hopefully this issue never arises again, but I will be sure to take more precautions if it does.

Finally some good news. I drew Nevada Unit 121 early mule deer today!

Thanks for the insight all

Photos please? I would like to see this offending primer.

Also, something to keep in mind now, should this happen again, consider placing a rag or something SOFT to support the shell if it has a chance to get shot out the back from a whack in the front.

CCI huh? Hrmph. If anything THOSE would be the LEAST likely to go off on a primer strike... It must have been the diva in the lot...

[jcourson]

This is pretty common in AR-15 rifles.

17 years in the Marines and I have never heard of it happening in an AR platform. That being said, the only ones of us I know of that reload for the platform do so for competitions.

[TexasJackKin]

Sounds like you've got it sleuthed out. Glad no one was seriously heart, it could have been much worse! I've done similar and never given it much thought, if it ever comes up again, I'll be thinking a bit more about it.

Thanks for sharing, a while back I shared about my one and only squib we can all learn from each others experiences, This is all good stuff! Again, glad everyone is mostly OK, thanks again!

[Toxic Shock]

Does your rifle have a blade type ejector? If it does, my guess is that the cartridge got knocked back out of the chamber and the primer hit on the tip of the ejector. If it has a plunger type ejector, (which stays with the bolt), then it had to be something else.

[Rbutler]

pics of the action? maybe we can try and see what the primer hit?

primers typically take a fairly stern hit to go off from a somewhat pointy object.

[tonyjr]

I would also like to see a picture of primer , if possible .
I mostly do pistol ammo and the few rifles are for single guns .
Anyway , just before dead line my nephews bought 2 - 762'a and a 308 .
I am a big believer in having " stuff " before you buy the big item .
So when the we started checking cases , some were out of specs enough that all the cases were checked with the calipers - not just case gauge .