Bad Morning At The Range!

[centershot]

(Sigh) Yeah, bad morning! I've been working up a hunting load for my '06, started with 16.0 gr. of 2400 and a 185 gr. boolit. I finally got the boolit siuze and hardness figured out so that I was getting 1-1/2" groups at 50 yards. I swaged a flat nose onto the boolit and loaded ten rounds to see if the swaging had a negative effect on accuracy, same 16 gr. powder charge. Firing the first shot, the rifle slammed into my shoulder in a way that I'd not experienced before, even with factory loads. The bolt was locked shut, but with two friends holding the rifle, I manged to lift the bolt handle by hand. It was now frozen in the forward position, unlocked, and resisting any attempt to move rearward. Ugh!

I'm going to squirt penetrating oil into the breech area and then stand it up and squirt more down the bore. I'll try to tap it open in a couple of days. Assuming I can get it open and remove the fired casing, what next? What can be done to verify if it is safe to use again?

[Thumbcocker]

Try a deadblow hammer. Have a gunsmith check the bolt lugs and headspace

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[gwpercle]

Since you are going to need to get a gunsmith to check the headspace and look over other parts ... bring him the complete rifle unopened and let him do it ... doing something for the first time ...and doing it heavy handed with a hammer just invites going from bad to worse .
Good Luch ... Hope everything's Okay !

Gary

[Winger Ed.]

Sort of sounds like a detonation of the powder rather than a rear to the front burn.

If you hammer on the bolt, a whole bunch of light taps is better for it- or rather less harmful, than a few heavy blows.

Since the bolt is unlocked, it might do well to drop a brass rod down the bore-- with tape around it where it contacts the crown,
and tap on the rod as it rests against the rear of the stuck case.

Going forward, ya might want to re-evaluate the powder & charge and your case length.

I shoot a lot of cast 190s in .30-06 with 13.0 gr of Red Dot, and match/tight chamber in a heavy contour Shilean barrel.
I've had that happen to a lesser degree 3 times out of a couple hundred rounds.
Coming out, each case had a real bright ring at the base of the case.
I figured the cases were old, and might have been at the verge of separation,
and the range temp. was about 100 degrees- which could have caused a hotter burn rate.

[Dale53]

Centershot;
It sounds like a double charge to me! I hope you haven’t damaged your rifle!

Dale53

[centershot]

Talking it over with my friends we concluded that it was probably due to powder bridging in the drop tube of the measure. Really, that's the only way it could have happened. I pick up each case, drop powder, and place it in a second loading block, no way to double charge the case unless the measure hangs up. I've never had this happen before so, yeah, I'm REALLY surprised! Looks like I'm off to the 'smithy to have it checked out!

[dverna]

If the powder bridged, you will have an undercharged load in the batch....pull the rest and weigh the powder.

I suspect it was a double charge, even though using a second loading block should make the process safer....easy to have an oops.

At least no one got hurt!

BTW, making a dipper might be worth considering.

[popper]

16.0 gr. of 2500 ? Could that be 2400? At 30% fill, a double charge is easy to catch IF you look. Few times I've has bridging, lots of powder dumps on the bench.

[uscra112]

Double charge, without a doubt. Case is wedged in the chamber which is why you can't pull the bolt back.

Do not use a brass rod. It can buckle and jam in the bore. Steel piano wire makes the best rods. Polish it to a shine and it will not hurt your barrel.

Smokeless powder CANNOT detonate. The chemistry is all wrong. Wish that old wives' tale would die, but it it's like Herpes, you can suppress it but it never goes away.

edit: K&S makes piano wire 9/32 diameter which is optimum for .30 calibers.

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Met...2945569&sr=8-4

[centershot]

dverna - Yes, I thought of that, somewhere in the remaining nine rounds is a case with a light charge.

popper - Yes sir, I did mean 2400, not 2500.

[Larry Gibson]

dverna - Yes, I thought of that, somewhere in the remaining nine rounds is a case with a light charge.

popper - Yes sir, I did mean 2400, not 2500.

If you don't find a light charge it means you inadvertently threw a double charge. It can happen to the best of use even with all the precautions we take. I never put any case into a loading block unless it has powder in it ....for any reason. However, even so I still always use a small light to visually check all the powder charges after all are in the loading block. Good thing you were not injured. Hopefully the rifle wasn't too.

[high standard 40]

However, even so I still always use a small light to visually check all the powder charges after all are in the loading block.

I always do this same thing. ALWAYS.

[tazman]

When using light powder charges in rifle cases, I NEVER dump directly from a powder measure. Your experience is the reason why.
I dump into a tray and measure the powder weight on a scale, then dump into the case through a funnel. Then and only then, do I seat a boolit and put the case in a loading block before dropping another powder charge. When I charge a case, I immediately seat a boolit into it. My cases either are fully loaded or have no powder or boolit in them.
Every so often, the powder weight comes out wrong due to bridging or a mishandling of the measure. My system catches it every time.

Long ago, around 40 years ago, I was loading a flake powder for a light charge in a 30-06. I can't remember the load now. In any case, when fired, it did exactly as you describe except that I was able to get the bolt and case out of the rifle. The brass had flowed into the ejector plunger hole and made getting the rifle open difficult as you can imagine.
I had been charging the brass directly from the powder measure.
When I got home, I pulled the remaining cases apart and checked the powder charges. I found one double charge and two empty cases in ten rounds. One of the empty cases corresponded to the double charge I had fired. The other problem cases never got fired.
I was lucky in that the rifle took the double charge with no issues. Since then I have never dumped a light powder charge into rifle case from the powder measure.
I still dump full power charges directly but you can see those at a glance.

[Grayone]

I always use a strong flashlite to check powder level in charged cases before seating the bullet.

[dverna]

I do the same as Tazman. NO CHARGED CASES IN A LOADING BLOCK. In fact I stopped using loading blocks. Primed rifle cases are in a box or bin. Pick one out, charge case, and immediately seat the bullet. Not only safer but less handling and faster.

[GregLaROCHE]

Since you are going to need to get a gunsmith to check the headspace and look over other parts ... bring him the complete rifle unopened and let him do it ... doing something for the first time ...and doing it heavy handed with a hammer just invites going from bad to worse .
Good Luch ... Hope everything's Okay !

Gary

If a little bit of very light tapping with a brass rod doesn’t do it, this is the way to go.

Do you think you could have double charged that round ?

[762 shooter]

I throw all my powder into brass in a loading block.

I check the first and last throw on my scale.

I visually check the powder levels with a flashlight.

I insert a marked dowel into every case.

The complete process for a fifty round tray takes all of 3 minutes.

Impossible to get double charge or no charge.

I still have most of my fingers.

762

[Mr_Sheesh]

I put uncharged cases in a loading block but they're mouth DOWN, solves the issue. Inspect Primers for proper seating then pull, charge, seat & crimp, done.

[Mal Paso]

I put uncharged cases in a loading block but they're mouth DOWN, solves the issue. Inspect Primers for proper seating then pull, charge, seat & crimp, done.

That's what I do. Hadn't thought I was inspecting primers but I was.

I have a bunch of plastic inserts for factory ammo boxes and the brass comes off the bench primer and goes into those neck down until charged. I used to find them at the range but there is a guy online that sells them in bulk cheap.

[brass410]

did the same thing years ago on my 243, jammed the bolt,being young and not knowing better,I procceded to tap(club) the bolt handle up and then back resulting in the bolt handle being broken off the bolt,(and darkness was upon my face). Found the nearest gun smith, (at the time 250 miles away) and sent for repair. Didnt see the rifle for almost 2yrs, now its one cartridge at a time start to finish havent had a problem since. Ck CK CK and Ck one more time, I'm not sure I'll ever get over it.