So what went wrong? Something exploded, I just don't know what?

Bop67

Bop67

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Rimfire nuts chime in please...I was at the range with a buddy with my Marlin 795. We were shooting the Winchester Wild Cat white box .22LR ammo, about 250 rounds in I do the routine, pop in a new mag, rack a new round and start shooting.

Approximately 3 rounds in, I experience something very weird. I felt a fair bit of heat come out from the action, and it wasn't your usual click bang from you usually get. It was more of a click whoosh. My friend said he saw a bunch of smoke, I didn't notice as much I was focused in on shooting.

I waited a bit keeping it down range, just in case anything decided to go off, after a while I took out the mag, pulled back the bolt, and out popped a round fully intact. I checked it out a bit, the nose of it was a bit loose, I was able to twist it with a bit of force...was this just a improperly seated round, and it was just powder that ignited?

By the way we just loaded up the gun again after giving it a once over, and we finished off the box of 500 :p
 
More like sounds as if the powder clearly did ignite and burn in the chamber hence the heat, smoke and "whoosh" sound. Duh. Sounds like the case ruptured somewhere. The pressure created by the burning powder will always follow the path of least resistance. In this case, it meant venting out the emergency exhaust hole was easier than propelling a 40 grain bullet.
 
was there any signs of cracks right at the rim? I've had a couple rounds go like that....complete seperation with a flat disk of the rim and tube for the rest of the case. Scared me enough to make sure I always wear glasses when shooting, would not have wanted to experience that on a 308 or something bigger!!
 
You counted the remaining shots? Any chance that you were looking at the round that had been the next one in the mag?

I'd have looked for a split case on the ground near the rest of the ejected, if the round that you pulled out had powder in it. Rimfire ammo comes apart pretty easy. Loose is pretty normal.

One other thing that comes to mind is if the unburnt powder had been accumulating in the action, and ignited, you would get some strange goings-on.

Was there powder in the case of the cartridge you pulled apart?

Cheers
Trev
 
trevj said:
You counted the remaining shots? Any chance that you were looking at the round that had been the next one in the mag?

I'd have looked for a split case on the ground near the rest of the ejected, if the round that you pulled out had powder in it. Rimfire ammo comes apart pretty easy. Loose is pretty normal.

One other thing that comes to mind is if the unburnt powder had been accumulating in the action, and ignited, you would get some strange goings-on.

Was there powder in the case of the cartridge you pulled apart?

Cheers
Trev
Click to expand...

Yes there was powder in the case of the cartridge that I pulled apart, we did go for a quick scan, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but nothing. I'm happy I was wearing eye protection, and that this wasn't a .308 I was dealing with. I do keep my guns squeaky clean, but unburnt powder does make sense, we did shoot off a lot of rounds that day.
 
If there was powder, and no burnt crud, inside the case, then it was not the source of your noise.

Why do you keep bringing up the .308? It's not like there are a lot of centerfire rifles around that puke their contents into the action area. As long as you are not shooting unidentified 'experiment' grade reloads, your odds of a blowout are somewhere near the odds of a lotto win. Not that you should not be wearing glasses, just don't obsess over the likelihood...it leads to a vicious flinch! :D

If you get a chance to shoot in the dark, you will see how much flame comes clear of the chamber on a semi .22. There's good reason to be generous with the oil around the inside of the action. It makes getting the filth off a little easier, and it may even keep any powder from being ignitable. But when you see how much fire is actually coming out the ejection port, you gain a bit of an understanding as to why they get so filthy so fast.

I'm a bit of a heathen when it comes to cleaning my 10/22. I hose it out about once a year, or if it gets full of sand or whatever. It runs and runs, and has accounted for it's share of the local gopher population.

Cheers
Trev
 
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