Rifle Wreck at Birchwood Saturday

[midnightsunfun]

Here is a picture of a darn nice Mauser custom rifle that got blown up Saturday at Birchwood Range. The shooter was hit by at least two pieces of the gun, but as I understand it, not seriously injured. Fortunately for everyone, no one else was hit.

Eye protection seems like an even better idea after seeing this expensive hand grenade explosion.

Best Regards,
Jim

[ADfields]

Well that is strange, receiver, bolt, and barrel look fine best as I can tell. Looks like a round in the magazine went off somehow. Glad nobody was badly injured there.

[kodiakrain]

Well that is strange, receiver, bolt, and barrel look fine best as I can tell. Looks like a round in the magazine went off somehow. Glad nobody was badly injured there.

Yeah, I was gonna say the same, something in the magazine ??
Any idea what happened there ?

[evandailey]

Well that is strange, receiver, bolt, and barrel look fine best as I can tell. Looks like a round in the magazine went off somehow. Glad nobody was badly injured there.

The claw extractor is blown off the bolt, but I think you're right. I would sure think a round had to have fired in the magazine for that to happen.

[Mike Echo]

Case rupture? Any successful shots that day before this one?
Mike

[jim in anchorage]

Case rupture? Any successful shots that day before this one?
Mike

I place the blame squarely on that cheap Tasco scope
I don't have a Mauser handy to look at-do they vent the gas from a blown case into the magazine well?

[elmerkeithclone]

I'd say that a round went off in the magazine! A hard foreign object got betwixt a primer and the back of the magazine well during recoil or something. Maybe a high primer but I doubt it.

The guys not only got a busted gun but I bet he developed a bad case of the flinchies as well!

His trigger hand probably tingles a bit also!

[midnightsunfun]

I don't believe a round went off in the magazine, although it deinitely looks like one could have. I heard second hand that the shot before this one loosened the primer enough to let it fall out on ejection. I don't know that to be true, but it sounded plausible to me. I have done enough reloading and shooting to stop with that load immediately after a loose primer, but I don't know the experience level or any of the other details surrounding this incident. I looked closely at the magazine, and there was at least one shell still in the magazine, and it wasn't ruptured or damaged, so I am pretty sure nothing went off in the magazine.
Jim

[Brian Richardson]

Well, there goes the feeder and the control round feed... Scary - hope all is well with shooter and bystanders.

[tvfinak]

Mauser vent any gas that escapes into the bolt body into the left bolt raceway. Gas escaping from a ruptured case goes in all directions including the magazine well. The missing extractor is the key - it was a case failure from something - not a cartridge in the magazine getting touched off.

I place the blame squarely on that cheap Tasco scope
I don't have a Mauser handy to look at-do they vent the gas from a blown case into the magazine well?

[gunbugs]

I rather doubt a round went off in the magazine. The extractor is blown off the bolt, which is a sign that the cartridge in the chamber ruptured, probably due to an overload, or the wrong caliber ctg. This will vent gas down into the box and cause it to bulge, blowing the pieces off the stock, and blowing the floorplate open and bending it in the fashion shown. You can see vaporized brass on the front of the bolt body in the phto, plus the bolt isn't open, telling me it is locked up in the closed position. All signs point toward VERY high chamber pressures. But only briefly. The rifle may be salvageable.

[ADfields]

My eyes ain't what they were and I didn’t catch that the extractor was gone, definitely case rupture in the chamber. Likely overpressure but could also have been excessive head space from wrong caliber, put the wrong bolt off another gun back in ths gun, or resized the ammo way too much.

[Murphy]

I rather doubt a round went off in the magazine. The extractor is blown off the bolt, which is a sign that the cartridge in the chamber ruptured, probably due to an overload, or the wrong caliber ctg. This will vent gas down into the box and cause it to bulge, blowing the pieces off the stock, and blowing the floorplate open and bending it in the fashion shown. You can see vaporized brass on the front of the bolt body in the phto, plus the bolt isn't open, telling me it is locked up in the closed position. All signs point toward VERY high chamber pressures. But only briefly. The rifle may be salvageable.

. I agree with this. And I know Gunbugs has seen several of these. Remember the 9.3x62 in the 358 Norma.......did in the Husky.

[mainer_in_ak]

This is why I shoot at a place that isn't a range. It's nice to 1. not pay a fee 2. get away from the yahoos who are responsible for these type of catastrophic failures that put other people at risk. That case rupture was caused by an over-load or over pressured cartridge......I don't care who say's otherwise. Grabbed the wrong powder off the bench, or got too greedy with garnishing as much velocity until the case head ruptured or completely blew off the case wall. Case ruptures tend to happen at the case head, and not always at the shoulder. Thousands of pounds of escaping gas pressure does funny things to plastic and sheetmetal. If it was wood, it could've been worse. Nothing like shards of sharp pieces of walnut flying at yah at 1000fps+ Screw rifle ranges.

[goeaux]

Exactly MY thoughts!!!
Goo