We are happy the shooter was unhurt.
The user reported an unusually loud bang and hard recoil. The case was difficult to extract. The case was steel not brass and did not burst as a standard brass case would have. The barrel and the bolt remained intact and there was no evidence to suggest a barrel obstruction.
The resulting high pressure caused a very energetic opening. The bumper on the rear of the buffer was mushroomed and deformed and the key recoiled hard enough to contact the lower receiver at the top of the extension hole.
All the evidence points to an overcharged cartridge. Similar damage was recreated in the lab supporting this. The upper receiver forging was examined by a metallurgist and there were no flaws or defects. There is no anodizing in the cracked metal to indicate it was cracked prior to delivery. We are satisfied that there was absolutely nothing wrong with this rifle at the time the incident occurred.
The fact that the user was uninjured despite continuing to fire after an abnormal ammunition incident would seem to show that the materials were more than up to the task. The manual does say that if you hear an abnormal sound you should stop firing.
Without having the actual case or having the evidence preserved properly, and with the tendency toward forum members making all the worst assumptions despite lacking any qualifications, we are not able to release a report laying cause on any particular ammunition manufacturer.
We chose to replace the components as a customer satisfaction gesture, despite a complete lack of liability on our part, and not because the rifle was made from pot metal and we were trying to hide a defect. It seems it will be much harder in the future to help out folks since we will also have to defend what we thought was going above and beyond for a customer to the experts on the internet.
Other folks might come to a different conclusion given the above incident. Perhaps they might note that Colt Canada is a world class manufacturer with an excellent reputation for quality and safety and that this is consistent with that. Perhaps they might notice that the consumer was able to contact the manufacture directly, someone was able to listen to their concerns. The equipment was able to be returned directly to the factory without an export license and the manufacturer went to the trouble of setting aside other work to conduct a thorough investigation of an relatively minor incident that in all likely hood had nothing to do with our manufacturing processes.
Some folks love to point out that the Diemaco rifles are expensive. Some folks might think that you get what you pay for.
