Old 10-14-2016, 19:18   #1
frostfire
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AR kaboom

I've seen it before, but never thought it would happen to me. Yes, I know...

So there I was using some reload/remanufactured ammo to "warm up" before working on precision drills with match ammo when suddenly kaboom and dark smoke all over.
I then observed:
- The mag was blasted down and chipped in two parts
- The broken casing was stuck in chamber.
- Ejector and ejector spring under the rifle
- The round that was still in the magazine got bent and dented. I found it 3 ft away
- My ear plugs case near the mag well was smashed
- My car key near the mag well was bent!

Thank God all fingers, face, arms, etc. are still intact.

Was that the result of overloading/overpressure? Case that's been reused and resized too much (too thin to handle pressure)?

Have any one of you experienced this? Would the ammo manufacturer give you refund, replace the ammo, or cover damages?

I'm withholding the name of the manufacturer while I'm trying to see how they answer for their (faulty) products.
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Old 10-14-2016, 19:30   #2
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Glad to hear you were not hurt !
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Old 10-14-2016, 19:57   #3
The Reaper
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Case head separation? If so, probably reloaded too many times and / or loaded too hot.

Obviously, segregate all remaining rounds.

TR
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Old 10-14-2016, 20:34   #4
Old Dog New Trick
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Yes, I had a shell case rupture similar to your experience. It was however Winschester factory ammo (white box). Didn't bust the bolt or extractor like you but blew a steel GI mag apart blowing the base out, and covering my face in black soot.

The weapon (M16A2) was fine. I think I still have that shell somewhere in my collection of weird things.

My shell was a lot cleaner looking than yours (probably better powder) with an obvious crack from the primer pocket outward and about an 1/8" up the side of the case.

If you really want experience a true WTF moment though...experience a ruptured .50-cal while firing an M2.

Brass is brass a metal and there is always a chance new or reloaded that there is a weak spot where it matters most - around or near the primer or extractor lip.

One in a million!
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Old 10-15-2016, 12:59   #5
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Glad you're not hurt. A friend of mine, while in the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Academy had an explosion in his Glock. Bent the slide and blew parts down around his hand. His hand was numb for about a month. It was deduced that it was a double charged round and the manufacturer/supplier replaced his pistol at not cost.

One of my security contractors in Iraq ruptured a Glock barrel from unknown 9mm ammo. No injuries to him and only the barrel was hurt on the weapon.

If it is a reputable manufacturer I would think they would at a minimum replace the weapon.
Just my 2 cents.
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Old 10-20-2016, 21:21   #6
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Glad you're not hurt. Sorry about your rifle Hope that they fix/replace the gun.

I had an issue with a certain remanufacturer of ammunition with a .223/5.56 round being out of spec. Had a fail to extract on an FN 5.56 Barrel with Black Rain BCG, ended up spending a little bit of money getting the chamber smoothed out just in case, but I believe that the round was out of spec. John at shooters did the work and was where I took it.

Reloading is very dangerous if extreme care is not taken. There's no telling how many times a round has been reloaded from someone else. A company open to the public has no way of knowing each individual round. Thesaying, "don't shoot anyone else's reloads", has some merit.

I will only shoot the remanufactured pistol ammunition that they produce. Rifle requires a little more attention to detail.
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Old 11-08-2016, 16:35   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Reaper View Post
Case head separation? If so, probably reloaded too many times and / or loaded too hot.

Obviously, segregate all remaining rounds.

TR

Question for TR: It would be interesting if there was a way to find out exactly which powder and how many grains of that powder were used. When my Dad was still around and used to reload various rifle ammo, I noticed that there were certain powders that must be loaded "full" (never partial loads) otherwise upon firing too much chamber pressure would build up, and...

Could this perhaps happen with factory reloads? If so, how could you tell?
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Old 11-08-2016, 17:31   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stobey View Post
Question for TR: It would be interesting if there was a way to find out exactly which powder and how many grains of that powder were used. When my Dad was still around and used to reload various rifle ammo, I noticed that there were certain powders that must be loaded "full" (never partial loads) otherwise upon firing too much chamber pressure would build up, and...

Could this perhaps happen with factory reloads? If so, how could you tell?
The best way (though it is not conclusive) is to pull down several of the other rounds from that box and check the powder type and weight of each charge.

Yes, light loads which do not fill case capacity adequately have been implicated in kabooms before.

TR
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Old 11-08-2016, 20:22   #9
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Thank you TR. I haven't been doing any of this for about 15 years now - and my memory isn't getting any better!
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