Help! Case exploded in my VZ today at the range

GTP

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Firing some milsurp 7.62X39 from my Vz.58 Today, and halfway through a mag, I fired a shot and felt a piece of the case smoke me in the chest, which is strange since the spent casings usually eject to the right. Then I notice the action is not all the way forwards, so I check to see that it is jammed. Ejected the mag, and pulled the action back to eject what looked like a jammed case in the gun. It took a bit of asian persuasion, but i pulled it back and a live cartridge came out :eek:

I put the gun down and bent over to pick up the cartridge, and I noticed something strange; one of my cartridges was basically broken in half, but only the back end ejected. Putting two and two together, I check the chamber and see that there is the other half of the now-empty cartridge jammed inside. I think the gun fired, and the case exploded in half, ejected the back half out and attempted to chamber a new round that forced the remaining half further into the chamber.

When I brought it home to clean it, I attempted to push the cartridge backwards with a cleaning rod, attempted to use a pair of bent needlenose pliers to try to grip onto the inside edges of the broken, jammed case to pull it out, no dice. Any ideas on how to get rid of the jammed case? Should I try to put the gun in the freezer for 15-30 mins and maybe the case will shrink quicker than the barrel and I could be able to pop it out backwards? Should I try to insert a sharp edge between the chamber and the case to bend the case somehow (even though it is a tough piece of steel) in the chamber to allow me to grip it with pliers to pull it out?

Pretty pissed off, wanted to shoot a lot more today, and I never had a problem with the gun or the ammo before (I figure this is the ammo's fault, though)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
GTP said:
Firing some milsurp 7.62X39 from my Vz.58 Today, and halfway through a mag, I fired a shot and felt a piece of the case smoke me in the chest, which is strange since the spent casings usually eject to the right. Then I notice the action is not all the way forwards, so I check to see that it is jammed. Ejected the mag, and pulled the action back to eject what looked like a jammed case in the gun. It took a bit of asian persuasion, but i pulled it back and a live cartridge came out :eek:

I put the gun down and bent over to pick up the cartridge, and I noticed something strange; one of my cartridges was basically broken in half, but only the back end ejected. Putting two and two together, I check the chamber and see that there is the other half of the now-empty cartridge jammed inside. I think the gun fired, and the case exploded in half, ejected the back half out and attempted to chamber a new round that forced the remaining half further into the chamber.

When I brought it home to clean it, I attempted to push the cartridge backwards with a cleaning rod, attempted to use a pair of bent needlenose pliers to try to grip onto the inside edges of the broken, jammed case to pull it out, no dice. Any ideas on how to get rid of the jammed case? Should I try to put the gun in the freezer for 15-30 mins and maybe the case will shrink quicker than the barrel and I could be able to pop it out backwards? Should I try to insert a sharp edge between the chamber and the case to bend the case somehow (even though it is a tough piece of steel) in the chamber to allow me to grip it with pliers to pull it out?

Pretty pissed off, wanted to shoot a lot more today, and I never had a problem with the gun or the ammo before (I figure this is the ammo's fault, though)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Click to expand...


That ammo is some of the best stuff you can buy, its pretty decent. There are guys on here that have gone through cases of it, lots of guys, and I have heard of nothing like this happening.
Sounds like it could be something with the gun and not the ammo...
From what it sounds like, the case was not fully supported in the chamber and went off before it was fully seated, resulting in the rear blowing out. Maybe the striker on the gun followed the bolt home resulting in a slam fire..

There are broken case ejectors that you can buy online, I would check with brownells, either that or take it to a local gun smith and see if you can buy one.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. I just think it was kind of strange that it was a split basically almost down the middle of the cartridge, as well as combined with the fact that I was shooting it in slow fire mode (trying to hit a 200yard gong with irons), therefore the break occurred after pulling the trigger, so it couldn't have been a slam fire... It could be true that maybe the bullet was not seated in the chamber correctly, though.

Any reputable local gunsmiths in the Mississauga area?
 
GTP said:
Thanks for the quick reply. I just think it was kind of strange that it was a split basically almost down the middle of the cartridge, as well as combined with the fact that I was shooting it in slow fire mode (trying to hit a 200yard gong with irons), therefore the break occurred after pulling the trigger, so it couldn't have been a slam fire... It could be true that maybe the bullet was not seated in the chamber correctly, though.

Any reputable local gunsmiths in the Mississauga area?
Click to expand...

Could be, but the question is, can the striker follow the bolt when seating a cartridge into battery? not to sure if this is a problem with the vz, but the gremlin may have something to do with it, may not. Just speculation now.

Some pics of the case would tell us much more than whats already explained. Get us a photo.
 
curtton said:
so a piece of casing hit you in the chest?

could you post a pic of that casing?
Click to expand...

2m44t9s.jpg
 
Brentn said:
Could be, but the question is, can the striker follow the bolt when seating a cartridge into battery? not to sure if this is a problem with the vz, but the gremlin may have something to do with it, may not. Just speculation now.

Some pics of the case would tell us much more than whats already explained. Get us a photo.
Click to expand...
You can see the case still stuck in the chamber here...
23ljlv4.jpg


Sorry about the cellphone photos
 
That's why most armourer's tool kits include a broken shell extractor. Should be pretty cheap for 7.62x39, I used to have one when I owned an AK. They were almost a necessity, steel cases don't always flex or flow the way brass does.
 
Looks like a standard case head separation, they happen. Is the base deformed like it fired out of battery? Will the case head fit back into the chamber behind the rest of the case? Is the firing pin mark shallow or odd shaped compared to the others fired?
 
Is there any way to start a standard or metric thread tap into the case & either pull the case out or tap out from the muzzle end? Just a different alternative.
My dad used to carry a rat-tail file with him when hunting with his old .303 to pull out separated cases. Pull the bolt, insert file, give it a twist & pull. Continue hunting. Sort cases better when reloading.
 
while all of this discussion is going on, I hope you've cleaned the rifle. As much as possible anyway. Just to stop corrosion. bearhunter
 
Throw the gun in the freezer for a couple of hours ,then push a .30 cal brush down the barrel and hope the case will have shrunk at a different rate than the barrel. If it doesn't come out , get a 7.62x39 broken case remover, they are not hard to find.
 
Separation

Typical casehead separation. Uncommon in steel cased ammo but it happens anyway.
Telling by the ejected remains of the case, your rifle didn't fire out of battery.
If it did, you would have witnessed/sustained a whole lot more damage to the rifle and your person.
DO NOT use any pliers, rattail file or other objects to try getting the front part of the case out: you risk scratching your chamber and this would add to your problem. I suspect you may have a rough/corroded finish on the chamber walls which contributed to the separation by increasing the effort required to eject the case.
Get a broken case extractor.
I think Marstar sells some for SKSes.
Good luck!:)
 
First off, WOW! Thanks for all the replies, this place is a wealth of knowledge! User Kasat here on CGN got the case out for me, but I will be picking up a case extractor from marstar or elsewhere for whenever I am at the range and this happens again, so I can keep shooting :)

This is the back of the broken case, the primer strike looks fine
2gy3cep.jpg


This is the back of the case, it fits into the chamber fine
108i9hx.jpg


And this is the culprit
2nm1v0g.jpg
 
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