Any one seen the rest of this 03 A3?

[NEKVT]

Recent posts about 30-06 ammo for military rifles got me thinking about the time a few years ago when I showed up at my club's range to an unusual scene. I was the only one there and loading my gear onto one of the benches I saw recent blood on it and looking around more drips on the concrete around it. Looking a bit further away I found a piece, then another, and then a third piece from an 03 A3 receiver. I never heard any details of what happened and never even found anyone that was aware there had been an incident. This was before the firing line had a camera looking down it, but had it been there it would have made an interesting video. Could of been a number of causes but something serious was wrong with that last shot.

[frkelly74]

It's an 03-A3 so it couldn't have been a low number failure.

[john.k]

If a case base fails,normal chamber pressure will blow apart the enclosed reciever ring in any rifle where the case base is partly unsupported ....Springfield,M17,Mauser 96.......you will never see a Rem 700 blown apart ,because the case is entirely contained in "three rings of steel"

[dogmower]

yowsah, that's a gruesome find. hope whoever it blew up on is ok.

[TNsailorman]

I also hope it ended well for him. What happened is up for speculation but toal brass failure is one. However, there are also a few individuals, who for some reasons just have to push the envelope and load above max. listed loads in a reloading manual. I mean, after all, everyone knows that those max. loads are way, way conservative--right!

[Char-Gar]

Some years back a company that went under the name of Santa Fe, took a bunch of USGI 03A3 parts and built them into rifles around a new cast receiver. I heard more than one of these came apart.

I just enlarged the pic and saw it was a Remington receiver, so forgit it.

[milsurpcollector1970]

Its also not a low number, Remington never made any with heat treat problems.

[444ttd]

However, there are also a few individuals, who for some reasons just have to push the envelope and load above max. listed loads in a reloading manual. I mean, after all, everyone knows that those max. loads are way, way conservative--right!

alright, i USED to be one of them guys that loaded way way over the book listed. i was young and dumb and unaware of the pressure it created. i thank God for the way the rem m700 in '06 is made. my loads never tore apart the barrel and the bolt, but they could have. the hair on my neck still stands whenever i or you guys/gals mention it. i was DUMB and lucky i didn't blow my fingers off or worse.

[thegatman]

The 03’s were suspect not the 03-a3’s.

[eastbank]

no way of knowing what they may have stuffed into the case, maybe a mistake in the powder loaded.
a heavy load of bullseye will just about ruin any rifle action.

[Gtek]

And again I am reinforced in my thinking as far left a bench as possible, the end is the best. Cuts my potential shrapnel fields in half and I can keep the "others" to right in peripheral over stock. Admitting I am by no means perfect and every time I have stepped on water the top of my head gets wet. In my sixty years I have seen and heard some crazy stuff, really would like to go a few more being able to count to twenty one! Without a witness and real knowledge of incident all I/we can do is be as safe and careful as we can.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Will some one explain to me what Gtek wrote. That went way over my head. My schooling in English was not that great, as I went to 22 different grade schools, and 6 different High schools. I know it sounds bazaar but it's true.

[Dimner]

Will some one explain to me what Gtek wrote. That went way over my head. My schooling in English was not that great, as I went to 22 different grade schools, and 6 different High schools. I know it sounds bazaar but it's true.

At the range, he sits at the shooting bench the furthest away from people. So he wont get injured and can keep an eye on other people. So he can live longer. He doesn't walk on water, he makes mistakes. He has heard crazy stories and would like to live long enough to to avoid his own bad story that blew off a finger, toe, or man part. If no one witnessed the accident at the OP's range, we will never know what caused it. He knows all the rest of us can do is be safe.

I took this on as a puzzle/challenge. 21 took me a few minutes to figure out.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Dimner. Thanks that does make it a lot clearer.

[Gtek]

Thanks for the explanation Dimner, you got it! Sorry for the usage of apparent local/southern references. We southern boys have heard the joke for years about he has to take his shoes off to count to twenty and we (my circle) just took it a little bit further over the years. This was created by a witnessed incident several decades ago of an individual walking out of a garage with a balloon filled with an Oxy/Acetylene mixture. Holding at a low waste position as he cleared the door it somehow (static) ignited. While not fully taking him to the ground it did cause him to bounce around the parking lot holding onto the now newly created number 21 area alternating hands with a lot of screaming and whaling for an extended period of time. Many moons have past since then and we see each other quite often, but he still does not like to talk about the day we went to 21 or the new dance we called "The little Richard Dance". And that's the rest of the story!

[458mag]

Will some one explain to me what Gtek wrote. That went way over my head. My schooling in English was not that great, as I went to 22 different grade schools, and 6 different High schools. I know it sounds bazaar but it's true.

Most of us GUYS can count to 21 using our GOD given appendages but with some of us that 21st number is more a decmel point than a number.

[Rickf1985]

Thanks for the explanation Dimner, you got it! Sorry for the usage of apparent local/southern references. We southern boys have heard the joke for years about he has to take his shoes off to count to twenty and we (my circle) just took it a little bit further over the years. This was created by a witnessed incident several decades ago of an individual walking out of a garage with a balloon filled with an Oxy/Acetylene mixture. Holding at a low waste position as he cleared the door it somehow (static) ignited. While not fully taking him to the ground it did cause him to bounce around the parking lot holding onto the now newly created number 21 area alternating hands with a lot of screaming and whaling for an extended period of time. Many moons have past since then and we see each other quite often, but he still does not like to talk about the day we went to 21 or the new dance we called "The little Richard Dance". And that's the rest of the story!

Oh crap that made my morning! Having seen my share of stupid stunts with oxy-acetylene balloons I was just sitting here laughing and picturing that.

[jj850]

If a case base fails,normal chamber pressure will blow apart the enclosed reciever ring in any rifle where the case base is partly unsupported ....Springfield,M17,Mauser 96.......you will never see a Rem 700 blown apart ,because the case is entirely contained in "three rings of steel"

I feel like this should in purple Ok sorry how do I make my comment purple?

[30calflash]

I've followed this with interest as it takes a lot to blow a later 03 or an 03A3 action that's USGI.

Either Hatcher or Brophy had a pic in their book of an 03A3 that was fired with 45 grains of BULLSEYE for a powder charge! Yeah, don't do that at home. The lugs held, no receiver parts launched into space. The stock, magazine etc were junk but it didn't come apart like the pic the OP posted.

[Earlwb]

It has me thinking that someone used the wrong cartridge in their gun. For example, maybe something like a 30-06 or 8x57 in a 270 or 280 Winchester chambered rifle. Since we only see those parts or pieces we do not know if the rifle was sporterized and rebarreled or not.
The modern day equivalent of that is someone firing off a 300 Blackout round in a 223 rifle. Yes that has happened quite a lot already.