BOOM! GOES THE AR!

[RWF]

WENT THE MONTGOMERY RANGE COMPLEX TODAY. and when i got to long range bay i knew one of the shooters there. he said i just missed the fun.

a guy with his friends went there with his ar with some "old" reloads he had done. on the very first shot my friend says there was a boom like a shot but with glass breaking.

he looks over and the barrel assy group is off, the scope is broken, the reciever busted and the bolt was driven so hard into the carrier that carrier mushroomed.

WOW! i got to see the cell phone pictures and all you say aw shxx! but gun owner said his reloads are pefect and impossible to have the reloaded ammo cause that.

if any has more info or pictures please post. it happened today sunday 15 may at about 2 pm***************

[Dolomite_supafly]

It was his reloads.

99% of all kabooms are the result of bad reloads because of bad reloading practices. Most people find it hard to believe that it was their error but it almost always is. Especially if the gun has been fired previously without issue it would, without a doubt, be reloader error.

Dolomite

[RWF]

i agreed but everyone who was there swears the guy saids there was no way it was his reloads.

[I_Like_Pie]

With such small case capacity....I don't understand how people can fill the case with so much powder it explodes....heck I could fill it to the brim with 748 and it still wouldn't burst in any spectacular fashion.

Then again I am assuming that they are using a relatively slow rifle powder in the first place....not bullseye, titewad, or some other stupid fast pistol powder.....of which any would blow an AR up like a wet sack.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I was over at the pistol range, there. Must have happened after I left.

[Dolomite_supafly]

With such small case capacity....I don't understand how people can fill the case with so much powder it explodes....heck I could fill it to the brim with 748 and it still wouldn't burst in any spectacular fashion.

Then again I am assuming that they are using a relatively slow rifle powder in the first place....not bullseye, titewad, or some other stupid fast pistol powder.....of which any would blow an AR up like a wet sack.

This is the reason I use Varget for most of my 223 loads. I am meticulous in my loading but I realize people make mistakes. I also make sure that the powders I do use look totally different visually.

Glad that is sounds like no one was seriously hurt.

Dolomite

[bajabuc]

There's some vids on youtube of AR's blowing up. Not this one, but others.

[peejman]

Reloading saves money right up until you blow up a $900 rifle. He'll have to reload for a long time to recoup that cost.

[Magiccarpetrides]

Lol....I just put my first one together and it ran flawlessly for almost 200rds(then I quit shooting) so if a dummy like me can assemble one right it would have to be his ammo.

[Jonnin]

Its not always too much powder. Could be a bore obstruction too, either a no-powder round followed by a live round or a totally ammo unrelated piece of trash. I have had 2 "primer only" reloads already (taking steps to prevent additional ones, I now look into the case each round to verify a powder charge exists and is at least deep enough to be close to the desired charge) and if not for the good folks here and elsewhere who helped me get started I would probably have racked the slide and fired another round after the fail to eject. The warnings and advice from others made me take a look and sure enough, a slug in the middle of the barrel, could have been ugly... And it was annoying, ended a day of shooting both times.

Hate to hear the guy lost his gun, but better that than a face... sounds like he needs to listen, learn, and re-think if he believes his loads are perfect and that he could never make one mistake in however many thousands of rounds... it only takes one goof up with this stuff.

[Tempest455]

On 2 different occassions I had Winchester .223 squib in the barrel of an AR-15. Both times I heard the difference and stopped shooting. Could have been bad.

That being said, I would still rather trust the quality control at Winchester, Remington, PMC etc.

[Lumber_Jack]

dont know the situation, but I would guess a barrel obstruction has something to do with this. Even mud, dirt, anything to allow pressure buildup could do it.

[RWF]

dont know the situation, but I would guess a barrel obstruction has something to do with this. Even mud, dirt, anything to allow pressure buildup could do it.

i did ask about that, the guys that where there includeing the one with cell phone pictures. after it blew apart on the first shot both said they looked down the barrel and it was clear.

and just a note the office said they were promised full size pictures to put up as a safety warming.

[BryanP]

Accidentally loaded a .223 case with pistol powder?

[Dolomite_supafly]

Accidentally loaded a .223 case with pistol powder?

Maybe he didn't clear the electronic powder measure of all the pistol powder after emptying the hopper. Even a manual powder measure can have enough powder below the hopper to cause the if it isn't cleared. I know on the Lee I have you can twist the hopper to turn it off and still dispense close to a 223 case worth of powder.

.

Dolomite

[Oh Shoot]

TGO's own MusicMan kaboomed his AR with UltraMax ammo.

Best I remember, they paid for repairs/replacement eventually.

- OS

[Lumber_Jack]

the fact that it was a very first shot is suspicious to me. So lets get it straight, it wasnt the ammo, and there was no barrel obstruction.......so did daffy duck jump up and stick his finger in the barrel? of course im making light of a situation where the owner wouldnt own up to an ammo issue even if that is the most likely reason. Especially in front of other men at the range. No way the ego would let him admit it could be HIS fault

[Troutburger]

the fact that it was a very first shot is suspicious to me. So lets get it straight, it wasnt the ammo, and there was no barrel obstruction.......so did daffy duck jump up and stick his finger in the barrel? of course im making light of a situation where the owner wouldnt own up to an ammo issue even if that is the most likely reason. Especially in front of other men at the range. No way the ego would let him admit it could be HIS fault

No it was that Waskily Wabbit!

[I_Like_Pie]

It is certainly possible to blow up a gun without shooting a reload....Which much too often gets blamed everytime a gun explodes.

brush still in the barrel, other obstruction, squib, etc. Honestly I have had more problems with factory ammo than any of my reloads.

[RWF]

the fact that it was a very first shot is suspicious to me. So lets get it straight, it wasnt the ammo, and there was no barrel obstruction.......so did daffy duck jump up and stick his finger in the barrel? of course im making light of a situation where the owner wouldnt own up to an ammo issue even if that is the most likely reason. Especially in front of other men at the range. No way the ego would let him admit it could be HIS fault

+1

[Alleycat72]

I know a guy that loaded a case full of what he thought was the appropriate powder for his 270. When he touched off the round he got a kaboom and 6000+ FPS on the screen. "SOMEONE" had penciled in benchmark on the back of the powder can. Blew the bolt apart.

[TNrifleman]

Like somone already said my money is on a load of pistol powder. I belive a barrel obstruction would have ruptured the barrel or just bulged it. It could have fired out of battery i guess but i dont think would have done that much damage.