A fun day almost turn into a disaster.

[Desert Fox]

Went to the range this afternoon to continue breaking in the new barrel on my 300 Win Mag. I'm a bit dis appointed with Pac-Nor polygon. I can't understand why a barrel this smooth can foul so badly. But that's not what this thread is all about.

Anyway, I replaced the scope on my 6.5-284 so I took it it along to the range with me to get it re-zeroed. I was using the ammo I took on our Texas hunt last year. After zeroing the rifle, (It only took 2 shots) I went ahead and fire 3 shot for group. I then let the barrel cool off for about ten minutes and proceeded to fire another 3 shot group. Well, I never finished the 3 shot group. The first shot went unusually very loud. accompanied by smokes escaping from around the firing pen shroud. The bolt froze and won't budge. Took the rifle home and gently tap the bolt with my nylon hammer. I got it open but the soldered joint on the bolt handle broke. I was fortunate that I was able to removed the case. Not sure what happen with that particular load but I must have put more powder than I need to. I will be recalling my reloads I have about 60 rounds left. I will pull all of them out for inspection.

Anyway here are the picture of the case and the broken bolt handle.

 

[BK]

Dayem! Almost looks like you have too fast of powder loaded. I don't know what your load density is, but that looks bad. Glad you weren't hurt!

 

[FOTIS]

Glad you're ok. Bolt can be replaced.

 

[C.Smith]

Holy crap, glad you are okay.

Corey

 

[DrMike]

Stuff like that really gets your attention. It'll be interesting to see what you find in your other loads. I'm pleased that you were uninjured. As Fotis says, bolts can be replaced.

 

[CatskillCrawler]

:shock: That'll put a damper on a good day.

Glad you're ok. Makes a good commercial for eye protection though.

 

[Too Tall]

What powder you using? Was the load worked up in the winter?

 

[Elkman]

That looks ugly, however every thing important held togeather. somethings amiss of course, I have not seen anything that ugly in quite some time. Glad you came out all right !!!!!

 

[Guest]

I've done that myself (minus breaking the handle off the bolt). I managed on mine to get the bolt open at the range with significant but steady pressure from the heel of my hand. It took a long while. Case looked roughly the same. Mine was a 7mmRemMag. Thankfully the chamber on that gun was over cut (very, very long shoulder) because I managed to get distracted and overcharge the "max" load by 10gr. The rifle was fine, though (and by several simulations/estimates, about 85-90kpsi proofed!) and I am far more careful at the load bench. I instituted a system where I don't charge cases without putting a "red flag" on the door to my loading room. The kids and the wife know not to bother me unless there's a fire when they see this flag, and on the off chance I may get distracted, I will then go back and start completely over and triple check everything. So far, no distractions, though.

Glad to see you weren't hurt. I suspect the rifle is in good shape. I notice the plunger is still functional in the bolt, which I take as a good sign. Get the headspace checked for setback, and maybe have the bolt magnafluxed at a local machine shop to see any hairline cracks, and you're good to go.

Oh, and yes, I was wearing shooting glasses and they got hosed by the blowback. Nice, permanent black spot on them, so they ended up in the trash. But I got a brand new pair just like them, and I wear them religiously at the range. Safety first!

 

[BK]

Oh, and yes, I was wearing shooting glasses and they got hosed by the blowback. Nice, permanent black spot on them, so they ended up in the trash.

I think I would have hung them over my bench to remind myself of my booboo.

 

[russ808]

DF, It was a good day. You didn't get hurt. auwe as we say.
Russ

 

[WYcoyote]

I thought at first you could just weigh all the remaining reloads to expose a possible overcharge but as BK stated it could be charged with a faster burning powder. So yes I'd pull them all.
I know what your thinking, that this could never happen, I would be thinking that too.
But something sure did and the best thing is to keep an open mind and try to pin it down.
A scary fact is that this happened to one of the shooters that I personally have a high level of respect for on this board and will make me look closely at my bad habits. One of them loading for two different calibers back to back (as in at the same time) because I like to shoot one while the other is cooling.
Please let us know what you find out, DF.
And glad you're OK.

 

[JD338]

DF

That was a close call. Glad you are ok.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

Glad your okay DF. Hope you get your rifle back together soon. Scotty

 

[338 Ultra]

Wow mean pressure there glad you are none the worse for wear :mrgreen: Like Fotis said no problem replacing a bolt. Might be a light load of slow burning powder rather than an overload of a faster one. For me I throw the charges lighter than I want into the scale pan and then trickle up to the weight I need pour it into the case and then seat the bullet and repeat. Takes a bit longer but I know each and every case is charged correctly. Once I am done with the cartridge I am working on everything is put away. I move on to the next cartridge and the powder I am going to use so on and so forth. I do the above for every cartridge I load for with no distractions , wife and kids know that when the old man is rolling ammo to head out shopping for a few hours as bugging me would be like poking a grizzly in the eye with a stick. Even a mag primer getting into the mix versus a standard primer can push a max safe load into a scary situation. I know I have done it in the past only once but never again. Lucky for me I got the bolt open with quite a bit of arm effort.

Once again glad to see that you are ok

 

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[Desert Fox]

Thanks for all the concern guys. Just a little shaken but I'm alright. Still not sure what happened here but I suspect I put a little more powder than I need to. I loaded these batch of ammo for our Texas hunt last year. We brought 4 rifles and about 400 rounds of ammo that I loaded in less than three days. I fired a total of 30 rounds in this box of 50 with no problem whatsoever until yesterday. 50.5 grain of IMR 4831 will have a loading density of about 90% on a Lapua brass. Once the bullet seated, I have very little room left, so there's not much room for overloading. The temperature yesterday afternoon was around 80 degrees. The cartridge was never exposed to sunlight nor heat since I started shooting very late in the afternoon just right about sunset. Also the a/c in my car was at full blast on my way to the range. I used my Lyman DPS II in dispensing the powder. I always recheck the powder dispense by the Lyman with my RCBS 1010 scale several time during the process. This incident really left me scratching my head. I will pull all the bullet when I get a chance and weigh each one, and see if I'll find something. DF

By the way the rifle will be fine. The bolt handle is an aftermarket that was silver soldered by the gentleman that sold me the action. He did not do a better job. I wont re-solder the handle. Instead, I had my guy at work drill and tap the handle. I will re-attached it with two 8-32 allen head screws.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Wow! I did similar once, many years ago and ringed my barrel in the process. Bolt ring looks like it may have failed in column compression bending?

Thank goodness for shooting glasses and I am glad that you were not hurt! I wonder if it was 4831 light charge detonation?

 

[Guest]

Oh, and yes, I was wearing shooting glasses and they got hosed by the blowback. Nice, permanent black spot on them, so they ended up in the trash.

I think I would have hung them over my bench to remind myself of my booboo.

The now very enlarged at the case-head 7mmRemMag case enjoys a prominent place along the eye-level shelf above my bench, as a reminder. I've shown it to a number of folks when I'm teaching loading techniques. I also show them cratered primers, slight ejector marks, and "normal" fired cases, for reference. The 7mmRemMag case all blown out and smashed looking on the lettering gets their attention, though.

 

[DrMike]

The 7mmRemMag case all blown out and smashed looking on the lettering gets their attention, though.

I daresay! Hopefully, people will take your experience to heart and avoid learning for themselves.