AR 10 meets a hot loaded hand load.

No bullet in barrel. The broken cSe is the only thing left in the barrel.
I'm no expert on squibs but I cannot see one being lodged in the barrel enough to create enough pressure to do the damage done, but then become dislodged along with the 2nd bullet after detonation.
I agree . See my response above
 
I think I'm gonna take that theory back....not pistol powder

If it was pistol powder then the bolt, lugs and potentially the barrel would have blown out and that doesnt appear to be the case......or the primary reason for boom

I suspect it was out of battery when the round went off

Primer seated too high or firing pin issue or......

Yeah the entire case except for the head is still in the chamber if you look closely. And what remains of the head is still stuck to the bolt face. Maybe a combo of an out of battery detonation and weakened brass?

@Nick Leduc here's something to find out. Was the chamber a 7.62 or .308 chamber and was the brass 7.62 or .308? If he was shooting a .308 in a 7.62 chamber this could have been the result.
 
The case clearly detonated at the base. The base is still stuck in the bolt and the upper portion is still stuck in the chamber. If it was powder overcharge, the bolt and/or barrel would show failure on the locking lugs. Not a bore obstruction because if that were the case the lugs would definitely fail.

This would lead me to believe the most likely explanation is the reloader didn't notice a light base ring on the brass indicating a case separation failure was eminent due to case fatigue.

Secondary guess would be the case wasn't trimmed/resized properly and fired slightly out if battery.

It's also possible both of the above were present together.
Maybe both together? Seems possible. Otherwise I think way too much damage to be a simple case failure (in my opinion). Over-used cases that fail, assuming in-battery in a rifle, are more of a PITA than anything exciting. I'm sticking with wrong powder, though I agree there appears to be some true detonation and I'll agree with you on that.

Failed cases in unsupported areas of a pistol such as a standard Glock chamber? Those can get a little exciting.
 
Yeah the entire case except for the head is still in the chamber if you look closely. And what remains of the head is still stuck to the bolt face. Maybe a combo of an out of battery detonation and weakened brass?

@Nick Leduc here's something to find out. Was the chamber a 7.62 or .308 chamber and was the brass 7.62 or .308? If he was shooting a .308 in a 7.62 chamber this could have been the result.
Shouldn't that be the opposite? 7.62x51 specs are on the generous side. Should be no problem shooting .308 in 7.62, but some 7.62 might be a problem in a tighter .308 chamber.

I have what amounts to basically the .308 version of a .223 Wylde chamber in my M1A. It will shoot either 308 or 7.62 no problem. Some say it's too generous to shoot .308 accurately but the damn thing is a tack driver.
 
Shouldn't that be the opposite? 7.62x51 specs are on the generous side. Should be no problem shooting .308 in 7.62, but some 7.62 might be a problem in a tighter .308 chamber.

I have what amounts to basically the .308 version of a .223 Wylde chamber in my M1A. It will shoot either 308 or 7.62 no problem. Some say it's too generous to shoot .308 accurately but the damn thing is a tack driver.

I know very little about any of this, but I wonder if he wasn’t referring to chamber pressure vs. size specs? From what I understand, .308 typically runs at higher chamber pressures than 7.62x51.

It looks like an Aero upper, so it’s most likely chambered for .308 and this is all moot anyway.

Errr- edit. The lower looks like an Aero, no idea on the upper, I’ll shut up now.
 
Could check the Firing pin and firing pin bore for rust/damage. Free float pin in AR BCGs, so if it gets stuck forward and tries to chamber another round you can get a kaboom before the bolt cams.
 
Maybe both together? Seems possible. Otherwise I think way too much damage to be a simple case failure (in my opinion). Over-used cases that fail, assuming in-battery in a rifle, are more of a PITA than anything exciting. I'm sticking with wrong powder, though I agree there appears to be some true detonation and I'll agree with you on that.

Failed cases in unsupported areas of a pistol such as a standard Glock chamber? Those can get a little exciting.

I agree just a case separation seems unlikely. I've never had a case separation personally, but I have seem them and the results I saw was the bullet exited barrel almost as normal, then FTF due to the base extracting and then the next round getting jammed into the upper 80% of case still stuck in the chamber.
 
I agree just a case separation seems unlikely. I've never had a case separation personally, but I have seem them and the results I saw was the bullet exited barrel almost as normal, then FTF due to the base extracting and then the next round getting jammed into the upper 80% of case still stuck in the chamber.

That's the usual issue- next round gets stuck out of battery. Often enough everything comes out- I've spotted a few and gave them to the shooter. There are a couple skinflints out there who will shoot .30-06 brass in Garand loads until the brass fails, then pitch the lot or relegate the lot to practice. Loads are mild enough that nothing bad happens.
 
I think I'm gonna take that theory back....not pistol powder

If it was pistol powder then the bolt, lugs and potentially the barrel would have blown out and that doesnt appear to be the case......or the primary reason for boom

I suspect it was out of battery when the round went off

Primer seated too high or firing pin issue or......


Fair point. I thought of that too. Would the lugs and bolt even blow out if the case was loaded with pistol powder? I'm far from an expert, so I have no idea what the max thrust and/or chamber pressure would have to be before the lugs/bolt fails. Food for thought....
 
Like someone accidentally used pistol powder instead of rifle powder in the hand loads
It's pretty hard to blow one up like that with rifle powder considering most powders already fill 90% of the case - if this was caused by over pressure, a "wrong powder" situation is most likely (but I don't think that happened here).

With that said, it could've been a lot of things.

Case head separations suck.
 
I just can't imagine how someone can mix up powders by mistake. I have ADD and I still don't know how I could manage that lol. Craziness.
 
I think I'm gonna take that theory back....not pistol powder

If it was pistol powder then the bolt, lugs and potentially the barrel would have blown out and that doesnt appear to be the case......or the primary reason for boom

I suspect it was out of battery when the round went off

Primer seated too high or firing pin issue or......
Maybe dads reloads where for bench rest and had them super special bench rest primers?
 
Pistol powder is generally speaking much hotter/faster burning than rifle powder

Lets take two common powders

Winchester W231 for pistol....common 9m charge is around 4.5 grains
H4895 for 308....common 308 charge ~42 grains

You can definately stuff 42 grains of W231 into a 308 casing.

42grains of W231 in a 308 casing would cause an epic kaboom

I once witnessed the consequences of a similar reloading brain fart with an AR/5.56 cartridge....I was peppered with parts from several lanes away......thankfully the shooter didnt sustain much more than scratches......he was pretty clear headed after the fact, all things considered and revealed that he thought he may have accidentally loaded pistol powder into the batch he was shooting

The damage was epic, catastrophic bolt failure, cracked the barrel extension......the upper was toast.....

Had it happened to me, I would have gone right out and bought a lottery ticket.
This seems to be the case, gun goes Kboom and either your f***ed up or not.
 
Keep more than one powder out while reloading and grab the wrong bottle.
I just can't imagine how someone can mix up powders by mistake. I have ADD and I still don't know how I could manage that lol. Craziness.

Buying used powder and trusting what is in an open container.
 
Or store all your powder on a shelf above the bench and mistakenly fill the powder measure with AA#7 instead of Reloder 7.
i am new to that - but, it really got my interest when i started looking at the brands and types - how come they do not have any common identifier/metrics system to properly identify the type of powders? it`s like if bullet makers would ignore any calibers or diameter measures in their naming convention.
some brands seem to follow a somewhat comparable numbering system - like the 2495, 4350, etc - but a lot of brands do not, at all. it is so odd.
especially the case like the one you mentioned above.
 
i am new to that - but, it really got my interest when i started looking at the brands and types - how come they do not have any common identifier/metrics system to properly identify the type of powders? it`s like if bullet makers would ignore any calibers or diameter measures in their naming convention.
some brands seem to follow a somewhat comparable numbering system - like the 2495, 4350, etc - but a lot of brands do not, at all. it is so odd.
especially the case like the one you mentioned above.
What's worse is there are some products from IMR and Hodgdon that use the same product number except for the 'H' in front of the Hodgdon number. They are usually similar but one might have a max load well below the other. Again, 308 case capacity prevents F-ing this up too badly but I'd hate to mix up a load for a 300 WM.
 
It looks very familiar to me. My early issues with my service M-16 rifle (66) were hot loads that detonated in the chamber, the case rim head gets ripped off by the bolt and the brass melts welding it into the un-chromed rough chamber. I guess 5.56 has a lot less powder than .308, so I never had a mag blowout
 
It cant be said enough times

Follow the load data

Learn to start low and work up, look at brass/primers for signs of pressure/ejector swipes and use a chrono.....

Keep a clean bench

Double check shit

Never have more than one flavor of powder on your bench at once

Always check powder dispenser to be sure its REALLY empty (pull the slides and check) before you load any powder.....and dont leave powder in the there when done......that way there are never any accidents

Visually check cases you've dropped powder in before seating bullets....nothing says bad day like a squib

Run all loaded rounds though a case guage to be sure.....you should have done this to sized brass before priming but you would be surprised at what you might find.....

Label everything.......

Organization, Organization Organization.....this is how you prevent accidents from happening

Good advice, 100% of it.

Besides the visual check before seating, as I am loading into the box I bring to matches I'll give them a couple shakes to verify the powder load.
 
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