I received Doglegs M14 on March 10 2009 and let the rifle warm up .
Removed rifle from shipping box . The rifle in question was purchased from Marstar and the MFG date was 2007 serial # 00183 it had a Boyd's heavy match pre inletted stock .Checked the Chamber to prove action and proceeded to take pictures were taken of the rifle before dis-assembly and thru each step I did not conduct a detailed dis-assembly of this rifle. Missing was the Firing Pin ,Extractor ,Extractor Spring and Plunger and Ejector Plunger
As you can see this is the right side of the rifle on top you can notice a crack running fro the forward edge of the mag well forward 9.5 " to the front ferrule.
There is no Visible damage to the left side of the stock
Picture showing upper side of rifle Crack on right side forearm of the stock hardly noticeable
This picture clearly shows the damage to the Right side receiver lug
I checked the action for Hammer follow by cycling the action back and forth under control while depressing the trigger the rifle functioned as intended.
At this point a I removed the trigger group and inspected the trigger group for condition and function
In this picture you will notice several flecks these mainly consist of Brass and Bedding compound the trigger group is well oiled and there was no cosmoline present
another picture showing the above mentioned
Note arrow is indicating a piece of bedding compound
I removed the receiver group from the stock .When I removed it several pieces of bedding compound and one small piece of the wood stock fell out I then removed the Op Rod assembly and the bolt
The Bolt
The bolt appears to be well lubed,no cosmoline is present missing Firing Pin , Extractor ,Extractor Spring and Rod, and Ejector Rod .Ejector Spring. Bolt Roller damaged will not turn freely .Damage to the right side rear lug bottom from left to right edge and forward .750 " with a width .075". there is no damage to the left side bolt lug
Indicated area of damage on the Right side bolt lug
Left side bolt no visible damage to the left side Bolt Lug
Top view of bolt
Note bedding compound deposited in the rear of the Bolt it should be also noted that the rear of the bolt is discoloured and had bedding material impacted on to the rear of the bolt.
The top of the bolt you can see a bright ring that is semicircular this is a strike indication and just inside this area was impacted bedding material there was also impacted bedding material found in the Heel or rear of the receiver as well .
The receiver appears well oiled and lubed excessive bedding material and small flecks of brass found thru out receiver. noticed impact on the inside of rear receiver heel that consisted of bedding material in the outline of the bolt
Picture showing bedding material present
Picture showing bedding material present
Picture indicating bolt strike area
Picture of bolt strike area
Picture of top side upper receiver damage to the right side receiver lug
In these pictures as indicated are the damaged areas of the receiver the damaged area .260" wide x .160in length and a maximum depth .100"
The stock received damage that ran forward of the magazine well on the inside right moving forward 9.5" to the outside of the right side of the stock .Damage to the rear of the stock was found this damage was caused by the Bolt impacting both the rear heel of the receiver and the stock.The crack moved towards the butt stock 2" on the top directly behind the receiver heel and on the bottom from the trigger group the crack moved to the left outward side to the rear butt stock
bottom side of stock damaged into pistol grip
bottom side of stock damaged into pistol grip
crack from magazine well forward to stock ferrule
top of stock crack by rear receiver
This shows impact damage to the rear of the stock by the bolt .To the right of the arrow is the crack in the rear of the stock.
There was no damage to the Rifle Barrel or Operating Rod
In conducting this inspection I carried out several tests to ensure that the rifle was in safe operating condition .
Test #1: Goal check for Hammer follow:Cycling of action under control to test for hammer follow this test passed
Test #2: Goal to see if rifle can be fired while not in battery .This required firing blank ammunition [Rifle cases with only primers inserted] with a reassembled bolt at the range the results were rather startling and somewhat unscientific Seeing as I did not have a complete bolt for this rifle using the original parts and used pre cut wood wedges to place under the bolt to confirm my dry run test .I could get the rifle to discharge before the rifle was in full battery several times the distance remaining from complete lock up was.156" meaning the bolt dropped only .189" in it's overall travel of .345" to full lock up.
Conclusion The failure of this rifle is due to several factors
1: The brass was not sized properly .I have talked to Dogleg and he was not certain that the case was properly sized but indicated that the primer indeed was at proper depth. This is the human error part of the equation how the case was loaded has no bearing the failure would have occurred if he was using a reduced powder load.
2: That the rifle will fire before it in complete battery
This conclusion is based on the fact that for every action there is opposite and equal reaction meaning at the time of detonation the force moves rearward forcefully striking the locking lugs and moving forward while at the same time the the Extractor blasted from the bolt this causes the unlocking the bolt and the resulting damage as the bolt travels rearward
Precautions that you can take to avoid this type of Catastrophic failure
1: properly resize your brass this requires those that are novices to reloading to at least use properly adjusted full length or small based sizing dies .Do not use neck sizing dies in this rifle unless you are an experienced reloader I have been reloading over 30 yrs I only will use small base resizer dies for brass that is to used in my semi auto rifle's.
2: measure OAL and trim your brass cases if they exceed the OAL and inspect your empty cases for defects around the base of case for cracks and excessive bulging ahead of the case rim
3 Above all follow the reloading manuals data for case capacity
Removed rifle from shipping box . The rifle in question was purchased from Marstar and the MFG date was 2007 serial # 00183 it had a Boyd's heavy match pre inletted stock .Checked the Chamber to prove action and proceeded to take pictures were taken of the rifle before dis-assembly and thru each step I did not conduct a detailed dis-assembly of this rifle. Missing was the Firing Pin ,Extractor ,Extractor Spring and Plunger and Ejector Plunger
As you can see this is the right side of the rifle on top you can notice a crack running fro the forward edge of the mag well forward 9.5 " to the front ferrule.
There is no Visible damage to the left side of the stock
Picture showing upper side of rifle Crack on right side forearm of the stock hardly noticeable
This picture clearly shows the damage to the Right side receiver lug
I checked the action for Hammer follow by cycling the action back and forth under control while depressing the trigger the rifle functioned as intended.
At this point a I removed the trigger group and inspected the trigger group for condition and function
In this picture you will notice several flecks these mainly consist of Brass and Bedding compound the trigger group is well oiled and there was no cosmoline present
another picture showing the above mentioned
Note arrow is indicating a piece of bedding compound
I removed the receiver group from the stock .When I removed it several pieces of bedding compound and one small piece of the wood stock fell out I then removed the Op Rod assembly and the bolt
The Bolt
The bolt appears to be well lubed,no cosmoline is present missing Firing Pin , Extractor ,Extractor Spring and Rod, and Ejector Rod .Ejector Spring. Bolt Roller damaged will not turn freely .Damage to the right side rear lug bottom from left to right edge and forward .750 " with a width .075". there is no damage to the left side bolt lug
Indicated area of damage on the Right side bolt lug
Left side bolt no visible damage to the left side Bolt Lug
Top view of bolt
Note bedding compound deposited in the rear of the Bolt it should be also noted that the rear of the bolt is discoloured and had bedding material impacted on to the rear of the bolt.
The top of the bolt you can see a bright ring that is semicircular this is a strike indication and just inside this area was impacted bedding material there was also impacted bedding material found in the Heel or rear of the receiver as well .
The receiver appears well oiled and lubed excessive bedding material and small flecks of brass found thru out receiver. noticed impact on the inside of rear receiver heel that consisted of bedding material in the outline of the bolt
Picture showing bedding material present
Picture showing bedding material present
Picture indicating bolt strike area
Picture of bolt strike area
Picture of top side upper receiver damage to the right side receiver lug
In these pictures as indicated are the damaged areas of the receiver the damaged area .260" wide x .160in length and a maximum depth .100"
The stock received damage that ran forward of the magazine well on the inside right moving forward 9.5" to the outside of the right side of the stock .Damage to the rear of the stock was found this damage was caused by the Bolt impacting both the rear heel of the receiver and the stock.The crack moved towards the butt stock 2" on the top directly behind the receiver heel and on the bottom from the trigger group the crack moved to the left outward side to the rear butt stock
bottom side of stock damaged into pistol grip
bottom side of stock damaged into pistol grip
crack from magazine well forward to stock ferrule
top of stock crack by rear receiver
This shows impact damage to the rear of the stock by the bolt .To the right of the arrow is the crack in the rear of the stock.
There was no damage to the Rifle Barrel or Operating Rod
In conducting this inspection I carried out several tests to ensure that the rifle was in safe operating condition .
Test #1: Goal check for Hammer follow:Cycling of action under control to test for hammer follow this test passed
Test #2: Goal to see if rifle can be fired while not in battery .This required firing blank ammunition [Rifle cases with only primers inserted] with a reassembled bolt at the range the results were rather startling and somewhat unscientific Seeing as I did not have a complete bolt for this rifle using the original parts and used pre cut wood wedges to place under the bolt to confirm my dry run test .I could get the rifle to discharge before the rifle was in full battery several times the distance remaining from complete lock up was.156" meaning the bolt dropped only .189" in it's overall travel of .345" to full lock up.
Conclusion The failure of this rifle is due to several factors
1: The brass was not sized properly .I have talked to Dogleg and he was not certain that the case was properly sized but indicated that the primer indeed was at proper depth. This is the human error part of the equation how the case was loaded has no bearing the failure would have occurred if he was using a reduced powder load.
2: That the rifle will fire before it in complete battery
This conclusion is based on the fact that for every action there is opposite and equal reaction meaning at the time of detonation the force moves rearward forcefully striking the locking lugs and moving forward while at the same time the the Extractor blasted from the bolt this causes the unlocking the bolt and the resulting damage as the bolt travels rearward
Precautions that you can take to avoid this type of Catastrophic failure
1: properly resize your brass this requires those that are novices to reloading to at least use properly adjusted full length or small based sizing dies .Do not use neck sizing dies in this rifle unless you are an experienced reloader I have been reloading over 30 yrs I only will use small base resizer dies for brass that is to used in my semi auto rifle's.
2: measure OAL and trim your brass cases if they exceed the OAL and inspect your empty cases for defects around the base of case for cracks and excessive bulging ahead of the case rim
3 Above all follow the reloading manuals data for case capacity
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