M14 Forum

jbrooks

I just found this...

http://forums.thecmp.org/showthread.php?t=51917

Looks like a classic slamfire from using poorly reloaded ammo, possibly a nhigh primer or a soft primer, or an out-of-spec receiver bridge.

I believe the right receiver lug was broken by the extractor being driven into it by the gas...

JWB

1KPerDay

From the pics in the thread it looks to me like the cartridge was fully seated. Also he didn't say "the 7th round fired as the bolt closed"... but that he fired the first 6 rounds fine, and the 7th went KABOOM.

I'm guessing overcharge/wrong powder/overused brass, or a combination of these.

But it's speculation, of course.

jbrooks

He said

"...the first 6 rounds fired just fine then the 7th round went KABOOM ..." which I iterpret to mean that it detonated without the benefit of a trigger pull. But I could be wrong...

Interestingpics in any case. Good detail.

JWB

blueskies

Pistol powder...Wow glad he was ok

1KPerDay

I'd imagine a slamfire/detonation would feel more like one round going off. as the detonation would occur a fraction of a second after you fired the "good" round. Ba-BANG!@#!@#

But in any case, yes, the pics are amazing. Lucky he didn't lose an eye or something.

NoExpert

I don't know squat about reloading, but isn't that stick powder? I thought you should only use ball powder in these rifles. Am I wrong? Something to do with the burn rate as I recall.

Hamstrosity

IMR 4895 and 4064 are stick powders, when loaded appropriatley, they're just fine.


The guy said that his friend pulled down the rest of his reloads and found pistol powder in 1-2 of them. That'd do it. 40 grains of the wrong powder will ruin your whole day.

That bolt sure is gnarly looking, let alone the condition of the stock. Glad the guy is okay though.

Vandal

wow! As a new reloader that is a little freaky

Hamstrosity

That's why you gotta be absouley sure what you're putting in the round.

When I was getting into reloading, my dad was always on my butt about knowing where I was at with each batch of ammo, and to only have ONE set of components on the table at a given time. No having shotgun/pistol powder on the table with a rifle powder, and to always have the container for the powder that's in the thrower on the table, so that you'll know what's in it, and to clear the thrower when you're done - you get the idea.

Everybody makes mistakes. I'm lucky in the fact that so far (knock on wood) the worst mistake I've made was that I forgot to put powder in one shotgun shell, and my dad was using those rounds one night at the trap club. That was a little embarrasing, and was a good reminder that things can go terribly wrong if you don't keep your concentration when doing this hobby. I was lucky that he noticed that the round didn't have the right amount of recoil, and when he muzzled down the shotgun, the shot ran out the barrel. He had to clear the wad out of the barrel, and take some jokes, and other miscellanious comments about the incident, but was otherwise okay. This all went down about 18 years ago, and it's something I've never forgotten..

sac troop

The statement as quoted could be interpreted either way.

Over worked brass can definitely cause this kind of failure even if you are using the correct powder within SAAMI spec. Especially if the head space of the chamber is a little on the generous side.
I've seen guns go KaBoom a total of five times over the years. Four out of five were with belted magnum cases. I don't think this is a coincidence.
The fifth one was with a Garand and the damage was very similar to the pictures in the link. In the incident I witnessed I was looking at the shooter at the time it happened and was only eight feet away at the time. The round before fired normally the gun cycled back into battery and the shooter definitely pulled the trigger. The bolt from the gun in the example here could be the twin to the one in his rifle after it went KaBoom.

I can only say that the KaBoom I witnessed wasn’t a classic slam fire. As far as the ammo the shooter didn’t know anything about it other than he got it from a friend.
( Maybe God does watch over drunkards and fools).

Always empty your powder measure at the end of a reloading session if you have more than one powder in your possession.

jbrooks

With the M1/M14 types, be especially caredul that the primer is seated flush or Below the surface of the case (deeper). Never let the primer protrrude above the surface of the base. Test that by setting the primed case on a flat surface and make sure it doesn't rock back and forth on the protruding ptimer. Or, run your fingernail over EVERY case. With progrssive reloaders, that's kinda difficult.

Early in my reloading years (about 1969 or so...) I was reloading 44 mag with a heavy load of 24 grains of 2400 powder. Problem was, I had just been loading 38 specials with about 3 or 5 grains of Bullseys...

You guessed it...

I had left both cans of powder on the bench and mistakenly loaded 24 grains of Bullseye into the 44 mag cases. Foe some reason, I noticed the bullet was more difficult to stuff into those cases than previously had been the case using 2400... the Bullsys was bulkier.

Fortunately for me, I discovered the screw-up before I blew my Ruger Super Blackhawk to smithereens... I pulled all the ammo and dumped everything out.

Since then I have taken care with my reloads nad fortunately have never had an issue since...

JWB

Jgun

I have a question, Obviously, the stock, bolt and maybe the trigger group are done, but after something like this, would if be safe to magnaflux and reuse the receiver/barrel if they passed?

TheTinMan

The first time I read the Lyman manual instructions to READ THE NAME OF THE POWDER OUT LOUD BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE POWDER MEASURE, I thought "you're kidding... that's just silly".

I hadn't read anywhere the rule about ONE POWDER, AND ONE POWDER ONLY, ON THE BENCH at any given time.

Then I poured Winchester 231 out of a powder measure into a jug of 4831 and thought "Gee, the powder on the bottom is a completely different shape" as I was pouring. I had made a pound plus of very expensive fertilizer, but at least I caught the mistake.

All powder is kept in the house. Only one jug of powder in the workshop at a time. Only one type of primer in the workshop at any time. I call out the name of the powder while checking my notes before loading up the powder measure. Same for primers. I spot check the powder charge in at least 1 of 10 cases in a tray. After loading a tray of cases, I shoot a light down each case neck to verify that the powder is at the same height.

Oh, and I don't want to shoot any one else's reloads. Reloading is a hobby where paranoia is NOT a sickness, and neither is OCD.