Yesterday I went shooting with a friend up in central New Hampshire. I was shooting my SPR which is built on all Bushmaster parts save the White Oaks Armament barrel and accessories. The gun has already had about 300 rounds through - mostly M855 and some Match ammunition. I'm firing away from a cross-legged sitting  position with my nonfiring hand underneath the Daniel Defense free float when I hear an unusual crack. Not a light pop like you'd expect from a squib round. I noticed there was a LOT more gas from the burnt powder/carbon then normal. I look at my AR15 and first notice that the bolt release has been blown off. I look down and see that the magazine is blown out and has expanded scattering rounds all over the ground. I check myself to make sure I am okay and all I have is this black shit on my wrist and jacket.

I turn the gun over. The bolt carrier is cracked all the way through. the upper reciever has a large crack near the chamber/ejection port area. The ejection port cover has been ripped off almost. Parts of the extractor for the gun are lying on the ground - no idea how they got there. The Colt 20rnd magazine turned into a frag grenade since I have piece of aluminum shrapnel lying around where the Magazine decided to crack, disassemble itself and go flying. Rounds of Maine Cartridge Company M855/SS109 type ammunition lie scattered about with the not-so-properly seated SS109 projectiles fallen out of the cases. In the past I had had some issues with their ammunition to being properly seated. Yesterday was a chance for me to burn up what I felt was less then par ammunition. And so I did - with the cost being a KaBoom which I never expected.

Upon further inspection last night. ( I had to use a hammer and screwdriver just to get the bolt carrier to go back and I am STILL trying to get it out of the upper reciever) I noticed the casing remains in the bore while the head of the casing is still in the bolt. The Bolt basically blew up - only half of its left and I'm not sure where the rest of it may have gone. The lower reciever is bulging slightly - but just slightly enough it MAY still be serviceable - the mag well is slightly off where the magazine decided to bloat up then take a dump out the bottom.

UPDATE - Round still lodged in bore - apparetly when the road expanded, crack and pushed gas into the rear of the reciever the round was only halfway down the barrel. More to follow

Better Pictures to follow

BEFORE:

AFTER


Where the Magazine exploded/imploded


Nice Purty Mangled Upper


Brass casing *most of it* visible in bore. I need a better pic



Base of casing in what is left of the bolt



You may be asking yourself - does that picture have a CHUNK of the bolt carrier in it? Why yes, that was part of the shrapnel that didn't kill me. And the bent extractor which came through the mag well and "quality ammunition lie next to it on a sheet of paper.


I will try to get ahold of Maine Cartridge Company tomorrow. But I expect to be blow off. Not sure what legal recourse if any I can take on them for remanufactured ammunition of theirs that I purchased 6-8 years ago. I will try to post better quality pictures later today - or if I can physically remove the bolt carrier from the gun - its still so stuck its laughing at my hammer.

I should be pissed - I'm just happy I'm not dead because of some idiot assembling ammunition

Quoted: Yesterday I went shooting with a friend up in central New Hampshire. I was shooting my SPR which is built on all Bushmaster parts save the White Oaks Armament barrel and accessories. The gun has already had about 300 rounds through - mostly M855 and some Match ammunition. I'm firing away from a cross-legged sitting  position with my nonfiring hand underneath the Daniel Defense free float when I hear an unusual crack. Not a light pop like you'd expect from a squib round. I noticed there was a LOT more gas from the burnt powder/carbon then normal. I look at my AR15 and first notice that the bolt release has been blown off. I look down and see that the magazine is blown out and has expanded scattering rounds all over the ground. I check myself to make sure I am okay and all I have is this black shit on my wrist and jacket. I turn the gun over. The bolt carrier is cracked all the way through. the upper reciever has a large crack near the chamber/ejection port area. The ejection port cover has been ripped off almost. Parts of the extractor for the gun are lying on the ground - no idea how they got there. The Colt 20rnd magazine turned into a frag grenade since I have piece of aluminum shrapnel lying around where the Magazine decided to crack, disassemble itself and go flying. Rounds of Maine Cartridge Company M855/SS109 type ammunition lie scattered about with the not-so-properly seated SS109 projectiles fallen out of the cases. In the past I had had some issues with their ammunition to being properly seated. Yesterday was a chance for me to burn up what I felt was less then par ammunition. And so I did - with the cost being a KaBoom which I never expected. Upon further inspection last night. ( I had to use a hammer and screwdriver just to get the bolt carrier to go back and I am STILL trying to get it out of the upper reciever) I noticed the casing remains in the bore while the head of the casing is still in the bolt. The Bolt basically blew up - only half of its left and I'm not sure where the rest of it may have gone. The lower reciever is bulging slightly - but just slightly enough it MAY still be serviceable - the mag well is slightly off where the magazine decided to bloat up then take a dump out the bottom. Better Pictures to follow BEFORE:i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/m4556mm/000_0499.jpg AFTER i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/m4556mm/000_0524.jpg Where the Magazine exploded/imploded i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/m4556mm/000_0516.jpg Nice Purty Mangled Upper i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/m4556mm/000_0540.jpg Brass casing *most of it* visible in bore. I need a better pic i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/m4556mm/000_0545.jpg Base of casing in what is left of the bolt i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/m4556mm/000_0552.jpg You may be asking yourself - does that picture have a CHUNK of the bolt carrier in it? Why yes, that was part of the shrapnel that didn't kill me. And the bent extractor which came through the mag well and "quality ammunition lie next to it on a sheet of paper. i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/m4556mm/000_0546.jpg I will try to get ahold of Maine Cartridge Company tomorrow. But I expect to be blow off. Not sure what legal recourse if any I can take on them for remanufactured ammunition of theirs that I purchased 6-8 years ago. I will try to post better quality pictures later today - or if I can physically remove the bolt carrier from the gun - its still so stuck its laughing at my hammer. I should be pissed - I'm just happy I'm not dead because of some fuckwad assembling ammunition

Holy Crap.  

Glad you are okay.  

Well, bag everything up and send it to the ammo company with a bill. (Keep the good parts.)

First, I'm glad you are unhurt.

However, this should be a very important lesson. Never shoot what you feel is subpar ammo. The gun is always more expensive to replace than the ammo.

Yesterday, my biggest concern after realizing I was safe along with everyone else was to diagnose the problem. Now, I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to get reimbursed - if having a lawyer send a letter to the company will cut it - or if they will just blow me off because the ammunition is 6-8 yrs old, Lake City Brass, and I don't have a "receipt" for the ammunition purchased.

Two things matter to me most. No one got physically hurt. Guns are great tools but they can be replaced. Secondly - be VERY careful of anyone else's remanufactured ammunition - even if they are a "mainstream" US company. While I would trust someone like Black Hills or an other reputable remanufactured ammunition place - be careful. Had my hand been placed under the 20rnd magazine (and not under the handguard) -  I am convinced I'd have some metal shrapnel in my left hand right now. Got all my digits and I my eyes and ears work. Could have been worse.

Quoted: First, I'm glad you are unhurt. However, this should be a very important lesson. Never shoot what you feel is subpar ammo. The gun is always more expensive to replace than the ammo.

+1

WOW!!!  I didn't know that something like this could happen to this extreme.  I just bought 1k rounds of Maine C.C. too

I used to place my hand under 20rnd mags at times when shooting...not anymore.

I bought some Maine pistol ammo because it was cheap ,didn't have any problems.
But after reading some stories on arfcom and elsewhere , I stayed away from it.

I think my last box is going in the Trash.

thank God your OK!

keep us informed on what happens with the ammo company

Update - round lodged in barrel about 2-3 inches behind the gas block. When the casing ripped at the base - energy went forward and back - and the bullet apparently didnt have enough velocity to clear the barrel - which would explain even more the tremendous back pressure. Also the gas tube where its pinned in place - it was knocked through the pin to the end of the gas block by the pressure - its still stuck.

Glad you're unscathed that could have been very ugly situation

btw in your last pic the two cartridges on the left, is THAT what you were shooting??

Quoted: Glad you're unscathed that could have been very ugly situation btw in your last pic the two cartridges on the left, is THAT what you were shooting??

That's what it looked like after it blew out of the bottom of the magazine. The ammunition had some minor dings in it but nothing like that. My biggest problem with Maine Cartridge Company ammo is that many bullets didnt seem to be seated properly. On several occasions I had fired my midlength AR's with the ammo and the projectile got pushed back into the casing. It annoyed me and I attributed it to poor quality control. That aside, I took the "It will never happen to me" approach and intended to burn up the rest of the ammo because I couldnt possible see the shit exploding and ripping a case apart. Well - we see what happens when you don't pay attention to warning signs.

Moral of the story - if you've been shooting for a day of your life or 20 years - don't get callous - if something doesnt add up - then it probably isn't right. Wear eye protection - I've been guilty of not doing it before but I will never take any chances with my personal firearms now - be it safety glasses, hearing protection, properly checking weapons function, or ammunition. Even if everything else ads up right - bad ammo will ruin your day. The ammunition I loaded into the gun looked visibly fine - it was loaded on stripper clips and by all appearances was going to shoot well........

Glad you are alright.

After seeing prices for the MCC ammo, I can't see why someone wouldn't go with Black Hills reloads.  After reading this post, and several others, I won't be buying any ammo from them.

Thanks for the post J_Smith.

I was shooting prone to J_Smith's right & I hear this blast that rattled my teeth even more than usual & I think to myself, damn that rifle is loud for a 5.56.  I had joked with him earlier that he was shooting blackpowder loads because his ammo was really smoky.  The out of the corner of my eye I see a smoke cloud way bigger than before.  So I look over & smitty is sitting there with this dumbfounded WTF look on his face.  I cleared my weapon & checked to see if we were both OK.  Satisfied that we were, what's the next thing I do?  I reach for the camera.  Some friend I am.

        J_Smith nice to see you are ok.  You may want to consult with a lawyer that specializes in firearms/ammunition.  If it is the ammunition from that company even though you purchased it several years ago I wonder how many more of those ticking time bomb rounds are floating around?  The next guy or gal may not be as lucky as you.  

Glad you're okay!

What happens in these situations?  Does Maine Cartridge step up an buy you a new AR or are you SOL..?

Quoted: Glad you're okay! What happens in these situations?  Does Maine Cartridge step up an buy you a new AR or are you SOL..?

Probably SOL but I will contact the company and/or a lawyer. If all means are exhausted and Maine Cartridge Company laughs it off - I have nothing but time to let everyone know how "great" they are. The ball is in their court. A) Do the right think or B) Make me angry and tell the whole world

I've shot some 9mm from MCC in the past that seemed OK but have passed on anything else they have sold. Glad I did. Glad you are OK, it looks like it could have been much worse for you.

ouch.

Glad to hear all parts are intact (human parts that is). Are you an LEO? That coupled with a letter from a lawyer will at least get someone a little higher up the MCC foodchain's attention. I had a slightly similiar situation a few years back with Hornady. They gave me the runaround, first blaming the firearms mfr then of course Remington blaming Hornady. I finally said f*** it, wrote it off as a loss and moved on.

And commercially sold reloaded ammunition is so great why?

Some commercial reloaders may take greater QC efforts and be more precision-oriented, but they are still reloads.

Could have been worse... you could have been shooting it in a RR machinegun.

Quoted: I used to place my hand under 20rnd mags at times when shooting...not anymore.

Since the base of the magazine is a "weak point", That is not a very good idea for shooting any type of magazine fed firearm.

J_Smith,

Looks like the forged upper did its job and kept your face intact.

I wouldn't do any thing but take lots of "detailed" pics for now and then contact Maine CC.

Holy shit!

Glad you are ok dude.Being relatively new to the world of AR's,I assume Maine CC is in Maine..I never even heard of them before.Maybe we could organize a protest just off company grounds carrying enlarged pictures of your blown up rifle on protest signs until they buy you a new rifle.

Seriously,glad you came away unscathed.

Quoted: Seriously,glad you came away unscathed.

+1

I had heard of MaineCC's bad rap when I first got my Serbu .50 BMG.  I stayed clear of them.

Please keep us updated on what MCC says.

LB

Glad to hear you are ok....   tagged for the update.

Glad to hear everyone is OK.



Was that AR made by Glock?  

Oh damn.  Glad you are OK.

Whenever I think about not wearing my safety glasses I just think about that potential hand grenade I'm holding and get them on.

Let us know what MCC says.

Is it me, or does it seem like almost every kaboom story has a similar thread? In almost every case, the culprit was reloaded or remanufactured ammo. We all know that brass is a relatively soft metal. It may fire once without any problem, but it's a crapshoot (STS) after that. Now I know that some people reload rounds many times with no problems, but it seems to me the correlation between a rifle blowing up and using reloads/remanufactured ammo is more than just coincidental. Now, off to the range with some really "hot" loads a friend of mine dialed in for me.  

Holy shit man! What a mess, glad to hear you're ok and nobody else was hurt.
Would like a follow-up on this, and if it is MCC fault, how they correct the situation.

Tag for outcome

Glad no one was hurt. Please keep us updated.

I ordered 3K rounds of "Match" .308 years ago. About 30% had visible  case head cracks, and a lot had neck cracks.
Many were inconsistantly seated, and there was a noticeable difference in sound and recoil on the 20 or 30 we fired (after careful selection).

We sent it all back after contacting the company. They didn't seem surprised .

Sorry to see things haven't changed.

I am glad you are OK. That's what counts.

Several comments about reloaded ammunition prompted this reply.  

The only real difference between reloaded and new ammuntion is the number of times the cartridge case was used.  No surprise there.

The issue with this incident  is quality control something I suspect MCC can't even spell much less apply.   There have been many reported problems with their ammo.

Black Hills, as an example,  produces reloaded (remanufactured if you prefer) ammunition.  Their ammo is better because of QA/QC.  They use the same care no matter if the case was used before or is all shiny and new.  It is all about QA/QC not whether the brass case is recycled.

Ammunition is a human produced product and is subject to being screwed up by humans.  Sometime I will get together with my friend who used to sell ammo retail and do a photo documentary of all the crappy ammunition he had bought back from customers (100% guarantee is the only way to do business by the way), in new brass, made by all the major manufacturers.  My personal favorites are backwards bullets (Remington) and primers (Federal and Winchester).

If you know or suspect ammo is crap don't use it.

If you inspect ammo and it looks like crap don't use it.

That is one of the best things about this forum, crap ammo does not remain a secret for long.

I'm tagging this to show a guy at work who uses commercial reloads in his AR.    I put together a nice midlength for him which he brought to me last week with a stuck case.   The reloaded round had a buckle all the way around the case and was stuck in the chamber.   I tried to explain the ammo had a problem, he explained that it always worked fine in his bushy.   Maybe this will show him the light.....  

I had exactly the same problem 15 years ago with my AR-15 A2, found out that I made a mistake by inadvertently using handgun powder in my reloads.

... Dang, what a let-down. Glad you're OK though.

I'm sorry for your loss but am glad that you're ok.

Don't read this as a slam but I, for one, would never even consider anything but newly manufactured top quality cartridges in any of my rifles.

I've seen far too many pics of situations such as yours...it's just not worth it.

I hope that things work out for you.

Glad you didn't get fragged!!  This applies not only to reloads, but also a lot of imported surplus ammo. One that immediatly comes to mind is the Indian .308 that was around last year. When I realized that about 10% of the rounds in my 640rd can were visibly junk, I decided to get rid of all of it.

I wish you luck in getting any compensation from MCC.  You're probably going to need it.

damn brother that was a nice looking rifle. Glad you still got all your digits.

Glad you are ok.  

Thanks for taking the time to post this.

Ignorance of basic safety issues can be a deadly matter.

-  First off, NEVER continue to shoot if ANY thing out of the ordinary is noticed.  Examine your rifle and ammo carefully.

-  Never fire ammunition in ANY kind of firearm if 'bullet setback' is observed.  You can test ammo by simply pushing the bullet nose against a hard surface.  If it can be pushed back into the case, there's a problem.


-  In a case failure, gas is SUPPOSED to be routed out of the action by way of the mag box.  Plan accordingly.  Wear a cup if you shoot a bullpup.


-  The best thing about reloaded ammo is that it can be BETTER than store-bought.   People who BUY reloaded ammo to save a few bucks are just fooling themselves.  If it's cheaper than commercial, somebody's cutting corners.

Im sorry for your lost?

 I want MCC to pay? I always was told to stay clear of reloaded ammo from small companies? ULTRAMAX etc?

Black Hills seems to be outstanding?



Could it been a SQUIB?


I would just buy FEDERAL A.E. or Q3131/XM193 or even Blue Box Black Hills 55fmj

I buying OLD surplus is even Takeing a chance!

Hell even WOLF M193 is a chance I could blow up my bushwacker!

Quoted: Glad you didn't get fragged!!  This applies not only to reloads, but also a lot of imported surplus ammo. One that immediatly comes to mind is the Indian .308 that was around last year. When I realized that about 10% of the rounds in my 640rd can were visibly junk, I decided to get rid of all of it. I wish you luck in getting any compensation from MCC.  You're probably going to need it.

(eta:  Re: Indian 308 ...)

I'm glad I didn't buy any of that crap.  It sounds like the factory was 'blending' the rejects back into the product and selling it cheap.  If that's true they should be (insert medieval torture here).

It was visible defects, right?  Caseneck bulges, wrinkles, splits, etc?  They are advertised on one site as:  Appx. X% have visible case neck wrinkles"  or some such crap.

Using your expensive rifle for a 'cheap ammo' hose  =>  

Glad to hear you're okay.  

I'd leave everything as is in case you need to pursue legal action; it'll make it easier to authenticate if everything is left intact.

 I'm debating what is the best course of action - contact the company first or contact a lawyer - or if I even have a solid legal case. I bought this ammunition 6-8 years ago and no longer have the original receipt or packaging. The brass they reloaded on is Lake City - so I'm not sure if they'd listen to me or try to pull some denial act.

Again - I'm here - everything else is salvage - so no sweat. A friend of mine lost a bunch of guns in a house fire once including a Class III subgun. I have no gripes!

Tag for updates...

J_Smith, glad you have all the body parts you needed to post this. You may have saved others grief by doing so.

I was reloading last night and my wife kept coming by with various wifely comments. I finally told her I was working on things that would one day go boom. That's always a good thing to remember, reloads or commercial bought.

I recall some negatives about MCC in a thread I read shortly after joining AR15. Numerous problems with them. I wrote them off. I have a feeling that if MCC were using all new components something like this could still have happened to you. Apparently at least at some time in the past MCC was incapable or unwilling to produce safe ammo. If I had a garage full I would pull it all and save what I could.

You might want to post this in GD to make sure everyone has a chance to see it. Good luck.