Thought I was doing everything correctly until the big bang

[RAFreeman]

I've reloaded pistol. ..9mm and 45 for years and just gotten into rifles this year. My goal was to shoot a 223 bolt Savage for practice and a 6.5 C and hopefully get into competition someday. I've read soon much about into the land, not in the lands, working up loads. I really thought I was following the book up until my lrpv Savage blew up in my face last Monday. The entire upper reciver was blown off. I was shooting 75gr and max loads with Varget and just switched to h-335. I had shot a few rounds at 21gr and 22gr and since my rifle was doing so well...I just started loading just under max loads...about 22.7. I still don't understand what happened but thought I was being safe using the hogdon formula. My rifle exploded so bad it was almost like something was in the barrel and others say ...it sounds like pistol powder. I had just shot it the day before and did not have a failure to fire. Hogdon says it was because I'm touching the lands. My 6.5 C from Savage touches from the factory so much it leaves rifling scratches on the bullet. Savage wants to have the rifle picked up for testing. I have a little shrapnel in my left eye that the surgeon says it will be OK if a infection does not set in. My left hand was severely damaged and broke a bone but I think it will be ok...someday. the blast was so strong that it slammed my glasses back in my face and gave me a black eye. Yes. I know I'm lucky to be alive and thank God
My correction for the future( if I'm not scared to take that first shot)!! I will use all brass from the same manufacturer, I will work up loads slowly even when buying a new batch of powder, I will leave a bore snake in my rifle and pull it out plus the bolt and check the bore right before I take a shot.
Yes. I feel stupid. I hope this might help someone else in the future

 

[TBJK]

Sorry to hear. Hope you make a speedy recovery.

 

[splattergun]

welcome to the forum.
Get well soon. May you, and others, learn from your experience.

 

[Poper]

Handloading is serious business. One should always start at the starting load and work his way up to maximum while carefully looking for signs of excessive pressure. It is sound advice to only vary one aspect of a load at a time while working up a load, be it powder, powder charge, primer, brass, bullet, bullet weight, bullet mfr, COL, etc.

I fell sad for the loss of your rifle and I hope your hand heals well.
I'm sure your shorts laundered just fine, tho.

 

[RAFreeman]

It's still hard to understand exactly what I did wrong to experience this kind of failure. This was once fired range brass. I had separated the LC brass. I was using this brass for my practice and was planning on shooting out to 300. I did understand that this practice brass might otherwise be as accurate but did not realize it could turn into a catastrophic failure. The stainless steel on the reciver broke and ...to me almost looks like cast. I was shooting varget loaded to the max with no problems or heavy bolt lift the just the day before. I can't tell if the bullet hit the target of not. I had just bought a new scope with a h-37 rectical and had zero the scope a few days before.
I had on and sell the MPA Chassis system and called Phil Chasin the owner of the company in Athens ga. He was really nice, concerned, offered to look over the rifle with some of his experts there and see if they can figure out...why. I'm gonna taket him up on his offer and drive it over the first of next week.
I'd like to post a picture but can't figure out how...I'll keep trying. Thanks for your advice.
Richard

 

[RAFreeman]

Trying to send pictures

 

[stringnut]

Was this the first shot with you new load? Have you broken down any of the others and checked the powder charge? I would inspect some of the brass from previous loads carefully. Look for loose primer pockets or primer leaks. If you have a very accurate micrometer measure the case head expansion against some new brass. If bolt lift was stiff it also can be a sign of high pressure. The problem with the classic high pressure signs is that by the time they appear you have gone way to far. Now that all the large companies have preesure testing equipment loads have dropped quite a bit. A lot of data was developed by watching for pressure signs. Not an accurate method. Looking at different data your load should hqve been safe.

 

[zeke]

If you are going to load high pressure rifle rounds towards max loads, you should not depend on primer reading and bolt lift, except to show you are way over pressure. Some may not like me stating this, repeatedly.

What velocities were you getting?

 

[SARuger]

I hate to hear this.....

My take on it though is I have never found accuracy at max or even near max. Its usually in the middle of the load range.

I also agree that Hogdon data can be on the hot side. I recently loaded some 60g Sierras with CFE 223 and used the online Hogdon data, stayed in the middle of the range, and still got pressure signs on my LC brass.

 

[iagbarrb]

Thank you very much for sharing this with us.
Consider the possibility that there was pistol powder left in your powder meter.

Enviado desde mi SM-N910H mediante Tapatalk

 

[kerreckt]

I am almost speechless. That scared me. If, there ever was a cautionary tale, this is it. I have been reloading about 40 years and this makes me re-think everything. I shoot Savage rifles .223 and .243 and often load to barely off the rifling. I have many test rounds loaded and carefully measured almost touching. Everything under max. I take this to heart. Thank you, so much for sharing your experience and a quick successful recovery. Best wishes.

 

[243winxb]

The kaboom could have been a defect like the Sako/Tikka in 2004, or pistol powder was used??

My 6.5 C from Savage touches from the factory so much it leaves rifling scratches on the bullet. Savage wants to have the rifle picked up for testing.

A Savage 6.5 Creedmoor was returned for adjustment this year by a member of my club. Hornady factory ammo chambered hard and marked the bullets.

 

[TRX]

I'd like to see a picture of the breech area of the barrel, or at least as much of it as you have.

To the best of your knowledge, had the barrel ever been removed or replaced?

I'd also like to see a few close-up shots of the fracture lines of the receiver.

Kabooms are a minor hobby of mine. I've seen bolts with sheared lugs, barrels peeled like a banana, and other failures, but this is the first time I've seen a receiver split like that.

 

[Blue68f100]

Sorry to hear your mishap, and glad to see you will be fine after the healing process.

Loading close to the lands come with a risk and reward. Just have to be extremely causes when doing so. Your almost better off setting up your loads with contact. This way you have a lower charge to start with. I would never recommend used mix brass when loading max. That's just another variable to cause problems.

 

[John3921]

Is there any chance you loaded your .223 with your 9mm or .45acp powder? Think through your loading procedure, powder still in powder measure from a pistol loading session perhaps?

Do you have the brass from the preceding shot? Is it all there? Any signs of distress?

Glad you're ok op.

 

[fguffey]

Hogdon says it was because I'm touching the lands.

I am the fan of the jump start, I want my bullet to have that running start.

F. Guffey

 

[fguffey]

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=341348

"It must have been a double charge"?

What ever happened happen fast, an over charge would have curled metal.

And then there is that fear about high pressure. Some believe there is nothing and then suddenly and all at once the receiver comes apart. There is a big spread between max load and total failure.

Sticking the bullet into the lands did not cause your failure.

F. Guffey

 

[John3921]

I have not used 335, but unless its incredibly dense I doubt you could get a double charge in the case. I'll go dig up noslers load data, I think they chart approximate case fill.

Eta: 22.7 gr of h335 should be at about 87% case fill. No possible way it was a double charge.

 

[jmorris]

There was a fellow that accidently swapped these two powders.




And fired one round from this rifle.

 

[jmorris]

22.0 grains of H335 would give you over 80% load density in a 223 case, a double charge of it would be all over the place

 

[John3921]

Jmorris, this is what I'm thinking as well. Possibly defect in receiver, but I'd like to learn more about the op's loading procedures.

87% fill per nosler manual.

 

[sugarmaker]

Range brass... foreign object in the case?

 

[jmorris]

Pull the bullet on one of your remaining 22.7 loads and take a photo of the powder on a sheet of paper.

And let us know what pistol powders you use.

 

[sage5907]

I have a friend who blew the magazine box completely out of a high dollar long range precision rifle. He was telling me about the incident and that he couldn't figure out what had happened. It was a 6 mm Dasher using Varget. He was loading ammo at the same time he was talking to me and I saw him dump a charge of Varget in a case and then dump it out to reset the scale. I think he did the same thing with the overcharged case. When he dumped the powder out several grains were held in the case by static electricity and then he dumped a new charge in on top of the additional grains. I will never dump the powder out of a case and then load it again for that reason! It happened to me about 20 years ago and I blew the primer and bent my extractor. That was enough experience for me.

 

[sugarmaker]

Pistol powder accidently returned to the wrong container?