Sage advice...... When you explain it like that it makes perfect sense!
Click, Click, Click, Click, KA-BOOM!!!!
- Thread starter shakeyjake
- Start date
Sage advice...... When you explain it like that it makes perfect sense!
I tend to agree with those that suggest an out of battery firing. That newly formed ring above the extraction groove and the missing pieces of rim and primer pocket suggest the bolt wasn't locked up. I'd get it checked over real well before attempting anything more, and it probably wouldn't hurt to give that chamber a good scrub to get rid of any built up shellac from those surplus rounds.
Glad you weren't hurt worse.
Glad you weren't hurt worse.
OP I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt, but I think everyone is missing the obvious...those rounds are hand rolled and the one that went off was obviously overcharged. Where did you buy the ammo? The silver primer is like nothing I've ever encountered on mil-surp ammo and you will note the neck is stretched where someone pulled the bullet.
My advice is to pull all the bullets and primers and start over or dump the lot. Please don't sell it to the next unsuspecting shooter.
My advice is to pull all the bullets and primers and start over or dump the lot. Please don't sell it to the next unsuspecting shooter.
Disagree. It looks like typical Czech surplus to me.
There may be something to the overcharge theory though.
If you compare the bulged portion of the fired case to the amount of unsupported case showing for a chambered live round, they're about the same. It may not have been out-of-battery ignition after all.
If you compare the bulged portion of the fired case to the amount of unsupported case showing for a chambered live round, they're about the same. It may not have been out-of-battery ignition after all.
I picked up a few boxes of this stuff years ago and have no Idea of the manufacture. I've only got 16 rounds left so I'm going to pull them apart, check them out and disguard them. I've got the rifle all cleaned up and the chamber was quite dirty. I you think it may have been an overcharge, why wouldn't it have fired on the first round? When it did go off it was on a round I had chambered several times and pulling the trigger.
Sh!ty thing is my wife was 4 feet behind me just off to the right. She just got her hunters safety and ready to get her R-PAL. After this episode she ain't going to touch another 858. I'm trying to explain why it won't happen again so she can regain confidence in the firearm. I'll be honest, my confidence is a little shaken..... I'll be wearing full PPE Monday when I go to test it out!
There's more than one issue at play; the failures to fire and the kaboom. The cause may not be the same.
Is the ammo all headstamped with "bxn"?
Yep, bxn. They came packeged 20 rounds on stripper clips in a light blueish/light greenish stapled cardboard box.
The ammo looks to be standard Czech surplus. For comparison I just went and pulled one of mine.
There is a bit of variance, but like Stevo already said, it doesn't sound like ammo is going to be the only issue here.
Yea that looks like the same stuff I pulled out. I'm leaning towards a very dirty chamber. I cleaned the he!! out of it, brakleen, wire brush dipped in solvent connected to a drill to clean the chamber and then re-lubed. There's still a few "stains" in the chamber. I wonder if fired a few corrosive rounds and parked it back in the safe? Is that Chec stuff corrosive?
I would agree with not firing the gun until finding out what the problem was but as far as I know, Czech surplus ammo comes on stripper clips of 10 rounds packed in light green heavy paper and sealed in plastic, unless there is other packings I haven't seen yet. I would definitely be suspicious about the ammo, if the bolt felt locked and the striker moved freely, it all sounds in theory like it chambered correctly but it's a tough call, I'm thinking gunsmith just to be safe.
I don't recall observing the bolt as most of my attention was on locating the rabbit in the sights. I cycled the action after every click and when the 5th round went click I removed the mag and picked up a round off the ground. Using the same round over and over, without mag, it finally went off. I looked down and observed the action wasn't fully closed. After stripping the rifle and useing Brakleen and scrubbers I cleaned her all up and topped it off with a bit of G96. When I cycle the action and then slowly pull the bolt back until it's out of battery, pull the trigger it still fires. I think it was just filthy but I'm going to drop her off at the smith to be safe. Atleast I know now not to just toss a round into the chamber and let the bolt drop, I've done that a few times with other rifles without incident.
- Location
- West Quebec
Glad you were not hurt..let's hear what the gunsmith has to say..
