Ka-Boom

[Hannibal]

I wonder if it was a real 03a3 or a national ordinance receiver parts gun? Finding the bolt with the lugs intact makes me wonder as I've heard the nationals were brittle.

Seriously doubt the bolt blew completely out due to anything apart from a significant overpressure event.

[Rich/WIS]

IIRC proof load was either 70 or 75K psi. The weak point in the 03, 03A3 and even the pre 64 M70 WIn was the coned breech that left some of the case head unsupported. A serious overload and a case head failure would vent a lot of gas under high pressure into the receiver and cause destruction. The bolt being found out of the rifle is puzzling, the rear receiver ring would have to fail as well to release the bolt from the rifle.

[firefly1957]

^^^^ My thought as well case failed for some reason I did not know of the coning of the breech .

I did not know this was a Siamese Mauser back when I intentionally blew it up it was a $18 yard sale find story was it came back from Egypt and WWI . Parts were missing and the .32 caliber bore was terrible . I sized a 7.62X 54 Russian case in the camber the Berdan Primed case was drilled to take a WW-209 shot shell primer , The case was filled with Bullseye and a .32 caliber 230 grain bullet seated . I used my fishing rod from 200 yards away to pull the trigger .
Bolt held just fine I believe the gun would have survived IF the case had held rather then blowing out around the primer.

[45workhorse]

I wonder if it was a real 03a3 or a national ordinance receiver parts gun? Finding the bolt with the lugs intact makes me wonder as I've heard the nationals were brittle.

Not trying to hijack the thread but, I shoot one of these.
As a teenager, I don't know how many surplus 30-06 rounds went through my gun, we would walk along the banks of the Ohio river, and have a good time. Would not try that today!
These days I just shoot cast boolits through it!

[john.k]

If the base of the case splits ,then any unsupported head design (1903,pre 98 Mauser,M17) will blow apart .........doesnt matter what they are made of .........this is the whole point of Remington 700 "three rings of steel" design ......the brass case is fully supported by steel.........one blow I saw the result of was caused by annealing the whole case ,softening the base .

[barnetmill]

I wonder if it was a real 03a3 or a national ordinance receiver parts gun? Finding the bolt with the lugs intact makes me wonder as I've heard the nationals were brittle.

I am also wondering how the bolt was more or less intact, and the receiver blow apart.

The action was shattered. The barrel was intact and I found the bolt about 10 feet behind and to the right of the bench. Both lugs were intact.

Your explanation that the receiver was not US military in origin and brittle sounds just like what happened with the original over heat treated burnt 1903 actions that failed. Check Hatcher's note book on it. True the loads may have been hot, but a receiver should not so fail.

[TD1886]

The other guy was testing loads in hos 03A3.

What does the OP mean with "hos"? Has it been established for sure that it was a 03A3 military or not?

As for the bolt there is NO way that it could leave the receiver without busting up the rear receiver ring. Don't forget the third safety lug on the O3's and 03A3. It will contact the rear receiver ring first.

As I'm sitting here thinking the bolt could come out of the receiver IF the bolt was open and the bolt release was in the position to remove the bolt, but that wouldn't be if the action was closed and KABOOM!

[Adam Helmer]

I was at the range on Tuesday and witnessed a ka-boom. Just two of us on the 100 yd range. The other guy was testing loads in hos 03A3. All of the sudden I heard a boom instead of a bang. I looked down at the other guy and he was wondering around and his rifle appeared to be broken in half. I immediately went over to help. He had small shrapnel cuts on his face and one hand but other than that no serious injuries. It was the first shot out of a new group of reloads. The action was shattered. The barrel was intact and I found the bolt about 10 feet behind and to the right of the bench. Both lugs were intact. He was going home to pull and weigh the charges on the remaining loads. Pretty scary stuff. As bad as it was, it could have been a lot worse. At least he walked away. Let's all be careful out there!
Siamese4570

siamese4570,

What is the REST of the story? You say you found the bolt about 10 feet away. With both LUGS still intact? any photos? How did the bolt leave the rifle?

Some things do not add up. What was the gun owner doing when this all occurred? What was his powder and boolit load? What was the charge in the unfired ammo? How many times were the cases reloaded? How did the shooter weigh/measure his powder charges?

Adam

[Hannibal]

If you put enough of the wrong powder in something I'd say about anything is possible during the ensuing catastrophic failure.

[TD1886]

If you put enough of the wrong powder in something I'd say about anything is possible during the ensuing catastrophic failure.

Yup that is certainly true. Me, I want to know how the bolt came out of the gun with it's lugs intact and no mention of the rear receiver ring. Oh yeah, I'm really glad the man didn't get a severe injury. I would make sure that the shrapnel wounds didn't still have little pieces os shrapnel in them.

[littlejack]

Typo, hos = his. Kind of like your os = is. Lol

[TD1886]

Typo, hos = his. Kind of like your os = is. Lol

Thanks, hey I'm old LOL LOL

[littlejack]

Lol, we all make'm.

[lightman]

Too bad that a nice rifle was destroyed but glad the shooter was not more seriously injured. Would be nice to know more about this.

[1Hawkeye]

Just had a thought about a possible way the bolt left the rifle intact. What about a hangfire Just as the handle is raised to the top of its swing. A magazine cut out isn't going to stop the bolt with that kinda pressure behind it.

[Adam Helmer]

Other possibilities are a slam fire on a high primer, or an open bolt on a hangfire. NO WAY BOTH lugs should have been intact, IMHO.

Adam

[45_Colt]

As for intact bolt lugs, from the original post (#1):

The action was shattered.

Likely due to the heat treat of that particular receiver. It varied in the '03s.

I too would like to see a picture, just for educational sake.

45_Colt

[Soundguy]

IIRC proof load was either 70 or 75K psi. The weak point in the 03, 03A3 and even the pre 64 M70 WIn was the coned breech that left some of the case head unsupported. A serious overload and a case head failure would vent a lot of gas under high pressure into the receiver and cause destruction. The bolt being found out of the rifle is puzzling, the rear receiver ring would have to fail as well to release the bolt from the rifle.

That makes me wonder if there is / was a problem with the action.

[kaiser]

I've been loading 5 decades plus and still have 5 finger on each hand; however, I've also made my share of mistakes along the way. Fortunately none have been life threatening. My worse mistake was reloading next to a friend who was using IMR4198, while I was using IMR4350 for my loads (different calibers). In those days both pound cans of powder looked the same; for they were the same color of purple, only the numbers on the cans differed. While I thought I was being careful (checking my weighed powder charge, et al), I must have inadvertently used his faster burning powder for mine. While my first shot with this (explosive) load did not "blow up" the rifle, it locked the action tighter than a "bank vault". Of course "Monday Quarterbacking" being 100% accurate, I learned a very valuable lesson that cost me a valuable (to me) rifle, but no valuable "flesh" lost. Since that time, long ago, only one type of powder would ever "grace" my loading bench at one time.
While powder "mix-ups" can and do occur, to me the most dangerous component overlooked in reloading is the primer. Those little "blasting caps" can cause more damage from misuse than just about any component employed IMO. No, you won't lock up an action or cause a load to go "boom", but you can get seriously burned or damaged from its "wicked pop" at an inopportune time. Protecting the eyes and using precautions when handling them can prevent most surprises. Loose primers are a hazard seldom noticed, and a hard component to identify among the hundreds of spent primers discarded during a reloading season.

[458mag]

Be VERY careful of accepting gifted powder that has been opened. You dont know for sure what is in that can. It always amazes me of the ignorance and sometimes stupidity of some reloaders. DONT ask how I know this.