surplus Mauser 98 / hot gas in the face after firing

[herebychoice]

I was shooting my Mauser Czech 98/22 today using some old surplus ammo and when I shot the rife a got some hot gases in my face. I have shot the gun before and used this ammo before and never had a problem. It has been several years since last shooting it. The rifle was clean. I looked at the primer and it was not deformed or flattened. This is steel cased ammo. I did travel by snowmobile about 10 miles before shooting it but it was on a good trail on a windless day but I did not inspect the barrel before shooting. The ammo is always dirty but never gas in the face. Any ideas?

 

[Smitty of the North]

I would think, you'd be able to tell from looking at the empty case, where the leakage came from.

The thing to look for, is a crack in the case, or carbon on the case up past the neck.

It's interesting that your say, "The ammo is always dirty".

If the cases are carboned up, on the sides, the necks ain't sealing well enough, and it means the gases coming back into the chamber.

In which case, I wouldn't shoot'em. Not in that gun anyhoo.

Smitty of the North

 

[pinehavensredrocket]

you are lucky! loss of sight or limb in a h***ard not to be taken lightly, expecially far from help. a major incident like gas cutting can damage your chamber so it may be wise to have your rifle inspected for safety. shooting cheap ammunition ( steel case russian ) that may or MAY NOT have the components we generally expect in factory ammunition has been a problem for years. some people have good luck with it.....but i don't trust to luck with my firearms.

recommendation: use quality brass cased ammunition, reduce cost by group purchase, " promotion ammo", or reload your own.

 

[ADfields]

Do have your gun checked out for damage.
Surplus ammo isn’t worth the price to me . . . and this was from US surplus ammo!:shot:

 

[KRS]

Do have your gun checked out for damage.
Surplus ammo isn’t worth the price to me . . . and this was from US surplus ammo!:shot:

That's a shame there.

 

[Brian Richardson]

Sounds like Romanian surplus 8mm ammunition... this is pretty much full house ammo for 8mm Mauser. It is dirty burning and is also corrosive. Nothing generally wrong with this ammo in a good Mauser 98 action in 7.92 Caliber in good working order. Definitely must clean accordingly/thoroughly with the corrosive stuff.

 

[tvfinak]

Interesting - the left lug is sheared off the bolt so it wasn't just a simple case of case failure and gas leakage. The pressures must have been over 100K psi to do that kind of damage! Other possibility is that the bolt was defective but I've never heard of one failing- it would be very uncommon.

The M-1 Garand is a very strong action and handles gas well -any escaping gas blows out the top and bottom of the bolt.

Do have your gun checked out for damage.
Surplus ammo isn’t worth the price to me . . . and this was from US surplus ammo!:shot:

View attachment 48014
View attachment 48015

 

[ADfields]

Interesting - the left lug is sheared off the bolt so it wasn't just a simple case of case failure and gas leakage. The pressures must have been over 100K psi to do that kind of damage! Other possibility is that the bolt was defective but I've never heard of one failing- it would be very uncommon.

The M-1 Garand is a very strong action and handles gas well -any escaping gas blows out the top and bottom of the bolt.

Oh yea it was extreme pressure, swelled the chamber enough to split the receiver ring. The ammo had moisture damage, the powder in about half that ammo came out in crystallized lumps. The lumps would POP when we burned the stuff off in a pie plate so its burn rate was off the charts fast. Just slandered old WWII 30-06 ball ammo that I suspect sat in a supply ship off Japan for months at the war’s end. I pulled one of those wood shards out of my Dad’s left forearm . . . I was 10 feet away and almost knocked down by the blast, Dad was very lucky to live and just have some bloody scrapes. Taught me the true price of cheap ammo and I’ll pass on it!!

 

[ADfields]

It happened back about 1986. Dad kept it in the box CMP shipped it to him in till he died. I have it here with me now as one of my most cherished things I got from my Dad . . . it almost killed him but was kind enough to let me have 20+ more years with the ole man.

And the bolt

 

[tvfinak]

thanks!

thanks!

Thanks for sharing the pictures and experience with us - there are lots of pictures with no history of the shattered guns. Good to hear your father was O.K.

I recently had some .375 H&H ammo I had loaded some decades ago in which the powder had fused together - it created some high pressures but didn't damage the gun or me. This was all commercial components - don't know what happened.

I also found a couple of boxes of 8x57 ammo I loaded back in '67 that is in pretty bad shape - I'll try and post some pictures.

Generally old ammo is O.K. but you never know how it has been stored or the conditions under which it was made. At a very minimum I'd pull a bunch of the rounds and see the condtion of the power and cases. If the powder is O.K you can always re-assemble it or use the powder and bullets in new cases primed with non-corrosive primers.

Oh yea it was extreme pressure, swelled the chamber enough to split the receiver ring. The ammo had moisture damage, the powder in about half that ammo came out in crystallized lumps. The lumps would POP when we burned the stuff off in a pie plate so its burn rate was off the charts fast. Just slandered old WWII 30-06 ball ammo that I suspect sat in a supply ship off Japan for months at the war’s end. I pulled one of those wood shards out of my Dad’s left forearm . . . I was 10 feet away and almost knocked down by the blast, Dad was very lucky to live and just have some bloody scrapes. Taught me the true price of cheap ammo and I’ll pass on it!!

 

[Darreld Walton]

Gas in the face with a case that's still intact says to me that the case mouth isn't expanding to give a good gas seal. You also mentioned cold, and I have to suppose that the ammunition and rifle were cold-soaked as well, exacerbating the problem.
I'd wager that on a warm day, the problem would go away. In the meantime, have the rifle checked out.