.22 LR fired out of battery

[Walkalong]

I was shooting my .22 LR AR today and got something that sounded like a phfiit or phoosh instead of a bang. I could see the gas escape left and right a little bit (Glad I had safety glasses on, despite not feeling any gas on my face.) Most of the gas went down and fouled the mag.

The round clearly fired out of battery. The front half was in the chamber and remained intact. The rear, not so much.

 

[kb58]

I was just reading about something similar happening on a rimfire .22 pistol. The consensus was that there was probably carbon buildup at the mouth of the chamber which caused the case to not fully seat. Makes sense because if it was fully seated, it would seem near impossible for this to occur. Might want to inspect and clean the chamber area.

 

[v8stang289]

Did the round leave the barrel?

 

[briansmithwins]

Not that unusual if you shoot a lot of .22LR.

BSW

 

[LoonWulf]

ive had that happen after ive failed to head the warning signs that my guns gotten too dirty. It launched the extractor on my 597 off some where, and nocked my mag out.

 

[Jim Watson]

Looks like it slam fired as the bolt tried to close.
Or did you pull the trigger? I don't see a dent in the rim.

 

[Averageman]

Looks like its time to clean your rifle.
.22 ammo is dirty and some of it is much dirtier than other brands.
Your chamber could be the problem, or it could be your firing pin. Residual carbon can build up in either place and cause this. Sometimes the firing pin just gets stuck forward and ..there you go.
You can go a very long time shooting the same .22 with the same ammo and know about when you'll have to clean it, change brands and you might be surprised how much diriter it gets.
Keep us informed.

 

[303tom]

Not that unusual if you shoot a lot of .22LR.

BSW

He is right, not that unusual at all they are rim-fires & they are picked up & fed by the rim. Had it happen to me more than once.

 

[epijunkie67]

Although people diss on the .22lr as a "weak" round this does point that they generate a lot more energy than people think and should still be respected.

 

[Walkalong]

Did the round leave the barrel?

Yes.

Or did you pull the trigger?

Pulled the trigger.

Gun was cleaned less than 500 rounds ago, with the bolt assembly cleaned before outing, and a semi wet patch run through the bore as well. It was filthy when I did clean it (And still running fine), but it was relatively clean yesterday.

Pretty weird.

I witnessed a similar thing in a friends gun a while back, but the case came apart at the front, and it went off when he was pulling the bolt back.

 

[Walkalong]

Semi hang fire? Enough oomph to move case/bolt a tad before the charge went off entirely?

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I am not a "rifle guy" but am curious. Is there no trigger disconnect to prevent firing if the bolt is that far out of battery?

 

[Owen Sparks]

It might have been a round with an overly sensitive priming mixture that went off when the bolt slammed into the back of it.

 

[68wj]

I am not asking with the intent of bashing any one manufacturer, but who made yours? I have heard this problem more from S&W AR .22s, but don't know why or if any others are particularly susceptible to it.

 

[Walkalong]

Is there no trigger disconnect to prevent firing if the bolt is that far out of battery?

The hammer would strike the bottom of the rear of the bolt at an angle instead of hitting the firing pin if the bolt is not forward. The bolt needs to be forward for the hammer to hit it square. Hmm.