22lr explosion

[bobbymalone]

Ever see this happen before?  Any guess what the problem is here?  Gun or ammo?  Seems obvious to me, but thought I'd ask the audience.

Managed to blow apart the loaded chamber indicator and it took a tiny chip out from chamber of my brand new ruger pistol.   

Shot maybe 175 rounds of the same ammo before that happened.  No issues other than some cycling failures which I just figured were because the gun wasnt broken in.

 

 

[derbier122x]

Wow. You ok? That kind of thing can be Uber dangerous.

[bobbymalone]

took some powder in the face. mostly the forehead, but nothing to worry about.  I'm glad it was a pistol and held at arms length when it happened.  Also glad it was a 22lr.  And glad I was wearing safety glasses. 

[bobbymalone]

Just some more info:

Brand name ammo, brand new Ruger Mark III

I was taking maybe 3 or 4 seconds between shots, not just emptying the magazine downrange as quickly as possible.

The shot sounded different.  Not so much a normal sharp crack, it was muffled and not really a crack at all.  The shot before was fine.  Hit the bullseye, actually.  So it definitely wasn't a jammed barrel from a squib load. 

The bullet cleared the barrel (apparently), but the gun did not cycle. The ripped up cartridge was still in the chamber and it slid out with no resistance after I hooked it with a small screwdriver.  The gun didn't look like it attempted to feed the next round.  After it happened the bolt was almost closed, with the exception of a small gap created from the torn up cartridge keeping it from properly closing.

[RebelSS]

Sure. Weak case head, thin sidewall, or improperly crimped bullet base, or both, IMO. That's the shortcomings of rimfire shells; no directed powder explosion. I'd immediately send that shell along with box flap/lot # to whatever company made the shell; although it's unlikely they will do much about it. Higher powder charges/explosion + weak casing head/sidewall= shell blowout. Let us know what happens. Oh, and take the Ruger to a good gunsmith and have him check it, that "chunk" out of it scares me, and may also show a stress fracture. I recommend you NOT shoot it again, for your safety, unto checked by a competent smith and cleared.

Edited June 12, 2015 by RebelSS

[bobbymalone]

I did send a complaint to the ammo manufacturer along with some pics and the lot number.  Didn't hear anything.  

I also contacted Ruger directly via the internet and got an email this morning that says they are going to call me.  

We'll see what happens.  And yeah, not shooting it.  

[bobbymalone]

Just an update for anybody that cares.

Never did hear from Winchester and I'll never shoot their ammo again.

Called up Ruger, they sent me a prepaid shipping label, I sent them the gun, 48 hours later it's on the way back with a new loaded chamber indicator, ejector, sear, and a couple other parts, fixed free of charge.

Thank you RUGER!

[RebelSS]

Yay for Ruger! Good company!!  I had problems with Winnie 2 years ago. Two boxes of their .40 cal ammo had the bullets halfway down past the crimp, and they were sitting loosely in the casing. Imagine if someone had jacked those rounds in and pulled the trigger. They did sent Fed-ex to pick them up, and sent me a coupon good for like 3 boxes of any ammo. I did pick those up, but after looking at a couple other rounds from some other boxes, I'm tending to stay away from the Winnies. After a lifetime of shooting, I had never seen anything like those two boxes I had.....