TC Encore Kaboom

John Y Cannuck

John Y Cannuck

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The story from another site on the net:

As posted by Buzz.

"Wasn't sure where to post this so I did it here.
A friend of mine was shooting a .257 STW (Shooting Times Westerner) caliber in a Thompson Center rifle. This is an 8MM Rem Mag. necked down to .257. Don't know what bullet or powder that was used. He had used the same loads hunting and was sitting at the bench when it exploded. He burst both ear drums and had to have stitches and some shrapnel removed from his finger. He also had blood coming out of both ears.The barrel was clean. Don't know exactly what went wrong. Doctor said his ear drums would heal. I don't know any more details than this. Here's what is left of the gun. "

He's quite lucky he wasn't seriously injured or killed with the gun bursting that close to his face.
 
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Update from the same site:
I called my friend last night and talked for a while. He is doing OK. He said his hearing sounds like he has a head cold, but its getting better every day. He was shooting a 110 gr. Accubond Bullet. He didn't remember how much Reloader 19 he was using without going and looking it up. He said it was backed down a grain or so from max. He had shot several of these loads, matter of fact he shot a ram 5 days before with this load.
I was always under the belief that once you pucture an ear drum that you wouldn't have hearing anymore. The doctoer said both were puctured but they would heal back. He didn't have hearing protection on. He said when he shot there was a loud explosion like sound and he didn't know what happened till he looked at his hands and was only holding the stock and forearm. It took him a second to notice there was blood on his hand from a minor cut. As he headed back to his truck to go home he said he talked to hiself to check his hearing. He said he could hear but not through his ears. It was like he was hearing hiself through the bones of his head. The next day he could start hearing without a very high pitch noise.

The barrel was clean. The only thing he can think of is either the action wasn't completely closed or he had a cracked case. I'm just glad he's alright.

It's a learning lesson for all of us to be careful in our reloading.
 
John Y Cannuck said:
He didn't have hearing protection on.

The only thing he can think of is either the action wasn't completely closed or he had a cracked case. I'm just glad he's alright.

It's a learning lesson for all of us to be careful in our reloading.
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He was shooting a high power center fire rifle without hearing protection? No offence, but he seems like an idiot right off the bat......

If the action wasn't locked the action won't work, and even a complete head seperation wouldn't split the barrel like that. That was an large overload (ie a double charge) or a charge of the wrong powder plain and simple. Some one screwed up thier reloading......

Oh, eardrums will heal, but after a concusion like that his hearing will never be what it was, and he'll probably develop tininitus as a permanent reminder to wear hearing protection. The rest of this case could be a tragic accident, his hearing damage was his own stupidity...
 
Cocked&Locked said:
He was shooting a high power center fire rifle
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Cocked&Locked said:
That was an large overload (ie a double charge)
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the two do not go together. a large capacty case like that with a a high volume powder like RL19 would most likely not take 2 charges. double carging is more of a problem with the pistol folks
 
As A guy who's done his share of stupid things, I wouldn't call the guy an idiot.
He may have learned a powerful lesson about carelesness, and the benefits of double checking your data, and your powder though.

Some time back, I made a big mistake reloading. I misread a reloading book. Then, I misread it exactly the same way, when I rechecked my scale setting.
The charge, nearly 50% above the Saami max load for the cartridge, ringed the chamber of my '92 Winchester barrel. I had quite a time getting the action open, and when I did, I got only the cartridge head. The primer pocket was huge, and the primer just fell out.
When I got home, I nearly fell over when I rechecked what was still showing on the scale. I was damned lucky. All I lost was the barrel.
What can you do to protect yourself from that kind of oversight?
Simple. Never let yourself get sloppy. Concentrate when you read the manual/set the scale. Don't just give the data a quick glance.
Nobody is perfect, it CAN happen to you!
 
He was shooting a high power center fire rifle without hearing protection? No offence, but he seems like an idiot right off the bat......
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Most hunters do not wear hearing protection in the field. If this had been a hunting situation would you still make the same statement?
 
Cocked&Locked said:
He was shooting a high power center fire rifle without hearing protection? No offence, but he seems like an idiot right off the bat......

If the action wasn't locked the action won't work, and even a complete head seperation wouldn't split the barrel like that. That was an large overload (ie a double charge) or a charge of the wrong powder plain and simple. Some one screwed up thier reloading......

Oh, eardrums will heal, but after a concusion like that his hearing will never be what it was, and he'll probably develop tininitus as a permanent reminder to wear hearing protection. The rest of this case could be a tragic accident, his hearing damage was his own stupidity...
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Don't you think you're being a little hard on the Beaver there Ward?:rolleyes:
 
Ever hopeful for a speedy recovery. Regardless of the mechanics of the injuries.:)

I thought that I was in the Black Powder forum. I have edited the post accordingly.:redface:
 
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gunrunner100 said:
Don't you think you're being a little hard on the Beaver there Ward?:rolleyes:
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I was only refering to shooting without hearing protection. The reloading accident could have happened to me, probably easier because, as noted, it's easier to do in pistol cases and thats 98% of my reloading. And no, I wouldn't hunt without some form, they've got so many versions of vavle style ear plugs anymore there really isn't an excuse, but this guy seems to have been shooting off the bench without it. That is just plain stupid I'm better then half deaf now, i don't need more exposure to speed me on the way my genetics are already heading me:( , so maybe I'm over sensitive on the subject. Gave some poor 18 year old an earfull at the gun store last week because he wanted to on an indoor concrete range with disposable earplugs. Yeah, there his ears, but 30 years from now he'll thank me that they still work!
 
Years of working in a farm machinery shop got my ears, and that's not close to rifle fire. Still, I won't hunt with hearing protection, but then, the rifles I use, are usually not of the loud variety. (I know, making excuses)
 
Lets see, a wildcat cartridge, and overbore too boot, and RL 19, does'nt make sense, I would have figured a powder slower than RL 19 would be better suited for the caliber in this case. Does anyone else think this guy just got to the point of metal fatigue in the rifle, and or action.
I just did a quick search for 25 STW data and low and behold, data for H1000, and H870. Me thinks buddy and his Encore was a tad to reckless with a wildcat and like too many guys before, he thought the primers and extraction were a good measure of over pressure.
For those not in the know.
Flattened primers and, hard extraction are poor signs of actual pressure. These signs usually occur at about 25% over design working pressures.
I'll call cumulative metal fatigue
 
The pic isn't very dimensionally visible, but doesn't the chamber wall look a bit thin? I think this is a re-barrelled, or re-chambered (likely) rifle. It handled some rounds, but had it's limits.
Was the Encore ever chambered in the 7mmSTW?
 
There is no doubt this is a reloading screw up. If he was using RL19 and say a 100gr bullet, a charge that fills the case capacity would generate over 95,000psi. No wonder the rifle blew up!
Wrong powder to use for this cartridge.
 
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