Accident at Local Range

[WestKentucky]

Could that primer have actually gone off??? I understand primer construction at a basic level, and know that it takes a significant impact to set it off, BUT with that case head showing a serious crater could that impact have set the primer off? I have never heard of a side - impact ignition and I have destroyed several primers by somehow seating them sideways (usually 357 mag). Could the primer have basically been crushed internally causing ignition?

Ruptured case makes sense to me though. If the round is pushed forward and noses up then both ends of the shell will be jammed. If it ignites in this condition there is not anywhere for the pressure to escape until the neck is swollen but on annealed steel cases as that appears to be the body may have been harder and more brittle, or softer and more malleable than the neck.

 

[ljnowell]

Could that primer have actually gone off??? I understand primer construction at a basic level, and know that it takes a significant impact to set it off, BUT with that case head showing a serious crater could that impact have set the primer off? I have never heard of a side - impact ignition and I have destroyed several primers by somehow seating them sideways (usually 357 mag). Could the primer have basically been crushed internally causing ignition?

Ruptured case makes sense to me though. If the round is pushed forward and noses up then both ends of the shell will be jammed. If it ignites in this condition there is not anywhere for the pressure to escape until the neck is swollen but on annealed steel cases as that appears to be the body may have been harder and more brittle, or softer and more malleable than the neck.

A primer can be set off without an actual strike occurring. There are many reports of people drooping primers and having them go off when impacting concrete floors.

 

[tuj]

I've shot at that range. Never heard of this particular type of accident though.

Never was a big fan of Target World; during the ammo scare I took 2 buddies shooting there and they would only let us get 1 box of ammo for the THREE of us, not 1 per customer. Very frustrating.

 

[Thermactor]

I saw that in the local news snippet online (I don't have a television) and the comment boards were littered with anti-gunners.

Any gun story in the media is like a flame to those moths.

 

[Sunray]

"...the bolt hit it, it blew up..." Not a chance of that ever happening. Unless by a quirk of Fate the primer was hit. If the picture is the actual cartridge, that didn't happen either.
At least the newspaper didn't say the kid was injured by a rifle.

 

[Reloadron]

I saw that in the local news snippet online (I don't have a television) and the comment boards were littered with anti-gunners.

Any gun story in the media is like a flame to those moths.

Gee, how peculiar that is.
We are advised to NOT judge ALL People by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. You really have to love the media don't you?

Ron

 

[Lex Luthier]

Rampid? The writer of the range statement would make a far better argument, in the face of any possible detractors, if he spell-checked before sending his letter to publication.

Jussayin'.

 

[twofifty]

I like 'rampid'

rampid should be a new word. rampant + vapid = rampid.

The commercial range owner is creatively telling us his critics are both:

-rampant (there are many critics and they behave excessively) and
- that they are vapid, i.e. moralizing dimwits.

 

[Deaf Smith]

I suspect the round must have rose to far and the bolt slammed into the case really really hard.

Note where you can see the bolt fact struck 1/3 of the top of the case. And being a steel case, the spark was from the case, not the primer.

Deaf

 

[kitsapshooter]

Seems a shooter had a round in chamber and rounds in the magazine of the MN 1891, 762x54 rifle. When he closed bolt the FMJ bolt struck the chambered round. Shooter really messed up his left hand as it was over the top of the action. New and old shooters take heed. Teach whoever you can so that this doesn't occur.

I was at the range where this happened. about 10 seconds after I walked away from the shooter the gun when boom.. I was standing about 1 foot from him before walking away.

Seeing the picture I am pretty certain a round was driven into a chambered round.

Target World sucks. When I return to visit family I will never go to Target World after my first visit and last visit.

 

[carbine85]

I hate Target World. Stopped going there many years ago. Several people have been injured and 2 suicides in the parking lot over the years. That place just has some bad JuJu going on not to mention their rip-off gun prices.
The booths there are big enough for 2 people. When they mentioned "sharing" does that mean both in the booth at the same time.
The shell does look like it was ripped open and the primer hasn't been touched.
I'm going to the gun show just down the road from there this morning. I guess I won't be looking at any SKSs

 

[Tirod]

The bolt can't hit the round any harder from one to the next. Really really hard doesn't just happen.

Unless the operator gave the bolt handle a good smack. Hmm? In that light, do you want to jam the nose of the following round into the primer of the one in the chamber? Forward assists and bolt handles aren't necessarily a good thing in that situation, they only compound the issue.

Wasn't there, can't really know, but have the accounts of the round being loaded specifically exempted the operator smacking the bolt to force the round into an already occupied chamber?

I still see it as an operator issue, not a gun or ammo issue.

Work the bolt normally and a round should chamber. If it is impeded in any way, stop and discover what it is the issue. You can't make a bolt suddenly have three times the force chambering unless the operator intervenes, especially in self loading rifles.

Prime example of how bolt handles and forward assists make a rifle more dangerous than those without.

 

[tbass23]

I have stopped going to this particular range/store. Not only are the sale associates rude but range officers are nowhere to be found. I've seen people do some dangerous things while shooting there (someone firing two pistols at once, another person shooting a shotgun from his hip a good 5 feet behind the firing line while his friends video taped and laughed, etc).

I am sorry people were hurt and I hope they recover fully.

 

[sawdeanz]

Wouldn't be the first time an sks did this, there is another well documented case of an sks that jammed a round into another causing an out of battery incident and I believe killing the shooter. There were pictures too I think so that may give more insight into this incident

 

[Tirod]

I wouldn't blame the SKS alone. Any rifle picking up another round and feeding it into an already loaded chamber could result in the nose of the cartridge hitting the primer ahead of it. Entirely why tube magazines require round nose bullets to reduce the point loading on the primer ahead of the bullet tip

Nobody recommends hand loading a round in the chamber, then releasing the bolt to strip and attempt to chamber another round. The feed angles should help prevent it, but odds say it could go off. The pics posted imply the possibility.

Another suggested implication is that the SKS is worn from use and the extractor failed to do it's job, setting up the situation.

There simply isn't enough detailed reporting of exactly what happened to know and make any certain conclusions.

 

[Artofgolf]

rampid should be a new word. rampant + vapid = rampid.....{-rampant (there are many critics and they behave excessively) and
- that they are vapid, i.e. moralizing dimwits...}

Since there are several "new" words; i.e. New words added to Oxford Dictionary in 2014: LOLcat, man crush, duck face
Rampid should be a 2015 entry for consideration....

 

[Speedo66]

carbine85 and tbass23, you've both said you've stopped going to Target World.

What local range do you recommend instead?