Safety Glasses Saved the Day

[ArmyAV8tor]

Had a first ever catastrophic case failure today. Bloodied my nose, couple powder burns under my right eye and burns on my right thumb. Model 700 Rem in .243. 43gr of 4831 and an 85 gr Sierra Spitzer. Bullet did leave the barrel. Must have damaged something because I cannot chamber a new round. The need for Safety glasses was reinforced!

 

[ArmyAV8tor]

I meant to write that the need for safety glasses was reinforced!

 

[375Fox]

As a kid I was shooting with a group at a pistol course. I was standing several feet away but as bullet left cylinder and went into barrel I guess it shaved off some of the jacket. I got hit in nose and bled. It could have easily been my eye.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I'm really glad to hear you're generally OK.

 

[RR 314]

Glad you are ok. Man, I never use glasses other than shooting clays. Great reminder!

 

[ArmyAV8tor]

Thank you. Something you never expect!

 

[Trophyhunter01]

Eyes and ears always!

 

[R.M.C.]

Could've been worse I guess but still a shitty deal, thanks for sharing it with us. Everyone needs reminding of the importance of safety glasses. You've only got one spare.

 

[cajunchefray]

Could've been worse I guess but still a shitty deal, thanks for sharing it with us. Everyone needs reminding of the importance of safety glasses. You've only got one spare.

I always wear prescription glasses, due to my eyesight.
One day, I was very glad I had them.

VZ-24 Mauser, surplus, sporterized, converted to 30-06, I bought for a “good deal “.

Poor hand loads and excessive headspace and had a ruptured case.

I felt the gas come back, eyes protected by Herr Mausers design, and my glasses,no injuries and I felt fortunate. I got lucky.

I always wear glasses now.

 

[fourfive8]

Super glad you're ok! Yikes and good reminder. Gas is underestimated.

 

[Paul Raley]

Sorry to hear that you had such an incident but sounds like you got off with superficial injuries which is good news obviously , and yes wearing shooting glasses is the right thing to do to protect ones eyes , "accidents" happen very easily .
It would be good to try and determine the exact cause of the accident , I suspect that if the cartridge was within the required specifications and thus within the allowable pressure that case separation would not have caused this , something must have happened to increase the chamber pressure for this to happen. As I am no expert it would be interesting to hear from the more educated persons on the forum .
I have empathy for you as I had a similar incident a few years ago and blew up a beautiful Brno ZKK 600 in 30-06 . My incident was caused by my own negligence as I used the wrong powder to reload by not paying attention , I basically tripled the chamber pressure , I also ended up with injuries to my face , my right eye and my right thumb . I ended up in hospital and had to have an operation where 20 pieces of metal were removed from my eye , I was very lucky not to have lost my eye . Had I been wearing shooting glasses my eye would have been protected , needless to say I always use shooting glasses now and also ensure my family and friends all use shooting glasses too .
Regarding your rifle , have it checked out by a competent gunsmith , if possible have it x-rayed for any damage , if it is OK I suspect having the chamber polished will resolve your chambering issues . I went through the same process and was able to save my rifle but had to have the stock replaced as the original cracked in half , magazine plate had to be "panel beated" and the chamber had to be polished .
As I said above , I am no expert but have got experience - LOL .
Good luck with your rifle , hope it can be fixed .

 

[Bullthrower338]

X-Ray does very little to show any issues with metal fracture/fatigue. Magnetic Particle or a dye penetrant would be much more useful, then several different methods for verifying chamber dimensions have not changed. I have had case head separations on several occasions, all of the instances in bolt action rifles were due to case fatigue and once from a hot load on older brass that was seated to long for the chamber. All of the others were on HK MP5 subguns and once on a G3, I attribute them to extremely positive extraction on sub-standard brass. None of the separations that I have experienced have resulted in anything more than the gun gassing off as designed luckily.

 

[Tintin]

Glad you're OK (in the scheme of things).

Good reminder.

 

[flatwater bill]

Thank you for posting......that's a great reminder to us all. I use 44.0 grains of IMR 4350 with this 85 grain bullet (and Speer) and have had no problems with pressure......your load should not have been excessive. Just curious which 4831 you were using? Pleased that you're gonna be OK......a case head failure can wreck a strong bolt rifle, but you can always get another.................FWB

 

[7x57Joe]

Glad you're o.k.! Although it's not pleasurable to lose a rifle, it can be replaced, eyes not so much. May I inquire as to how many times that case had been reloaded and was it checked for insipient case head separation?

 

[flatwater bill]

@ArmyAV8tor If you can, show a pic of the case head. The case has separated at the usual spot for case fatigue as @7x57Joe has alluded to. If overpressure, there is usually a very bright ejector pin mark.......FWB

 

[Rafiki]

I've had only one head separation, that was in a 45-90 turn of the century rolling block. Nothing really happened other than an expression of complete surprise when only the head extracted. The cause was stupidity on my part, full length resizing cases that should have been tossed. I should have paid more attention to that bright ring above the web. Bottom line: always carefully inspect your spent cases and assume nothing ... and yes, wear impact glasses.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I had one case head separation on a No.4 enfield. Me and the rifle were both fine. Excess headspace was my problem. My prescription lenses are polycarbonate, working on a farm it’s a good idea.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Had a first ever catastrophic case failure today. Bloodied my nose, couple powder burns under my right eye and burns on my right thumb. Model 700 Rem in .243. 43gr of 4831 and an 85 gr Sierra Spitzer. Bullet did leave the barrel. Must have damaged something because I cannot chamber a new round. The need for Safety glasses was reinforced!

View attachment 571137

@ArmyAV8tor
Wow and not even a max load.
243s with an eroded throat can cause pressure to sky rocket.
I don't know what caused yours to blow but thank God for safety glasses. Very lucky.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Glad you are ok. Man, I never use glasses other than shooting clays. Great reminder!

@RR 314
I wear my normal glasses plus safety glasses at the range especially when doing load development. In the field I have to wear glasses to see but my lenses are high impact plastic. A bit dearer but you never know what will happen. No use taking risks, I only have one set of eyes.
Bob