# Blown up cartridge?



## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

*Should Alec be able to get something from this incident?*​
Yes327.27%No872.73%


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

I was out target shooting yesterday afternoon with a friend of mine who has an old Marlin semi-auto 22lr, he was using the Federal bulk ammo thru it. So here we are, ladeeda, just plinking pop bottles and stuff and then Alec tok a shot and BOOM! There was a boom like it was coming from a centerfire 22 and the gun jammed. I thought it was no big deal and that maybe he just had a louder bullet... well that theory was blown out the door real quick. The bolt blew back 1/4", the firing pin was busted and the shell mushroomed out inside the chamber right above the primer. We managed to pry the bullet out and it was in worse shape than his now ruined gun that was his dads when he was our age. I told him to give Federal a jingle and ***** them out for it and get money or a new gun to replace the one that their ammo ruined. What do you guys think, should Alec be able to get something out of his gun being wrecked? If so, what?


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## P Shooter (Jan 20, 2007)

Sorry to hear about this incident.I've had similar problems recently w/ Rem.22LR Hollow Points.I had some barely fire(sounded like 22 Short round).Also hod one split the case completely in half.Luckily no damage to my guns on either occasion.There is a post w/ lots of feedback on this subject under the rabbit and squirrel hunting forum entitled "22 LR ammo". I didn't realize that bulk ammo(the kind you buy in cartons from various manufacturers)was factory seconds.I think I will weigh each round from here on out and maybe not purchase bulk any more.My father has always bought "bricks" of the same ammo and never had a problem.Just a few dollars more anyway.

Jeff


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

Ship the rifle and ammo to Federal as-is and you'll find the chamber was dirty, the action didn't completely close, and the gas blew out the brass case instead of sending the bullet down the barrel. I'm only guessing, but was the bullet stuck part way down the barrel as well? Another potential problem would be shooting lots of shells reletively fast in cold weather. Repeated heating/cooling would/could produce condensation that may gum up the action as well.

A good way to physically envision what happens when a rifle fires is to imagine the brass case as a gasket. When the case is properly placed in the chamber it doesn't allow any gas past it and the bullet is propelled down the barrel. If the brass is mis-placed in the chamber (such as not the bolt not being fully engaged) the gas splits the brass cases (like cracking a poorly sealed gasket) and the rest of the damage you explain occurs because the pressure is released in a manner that the rifle is not designed for.


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

Alright thanks Horsager, I'll tell him that. I'm confused about a couple of things, though. One thing is that the bullet flew out like normal and hit its target just fine. Another is the cold factor, it was about 75 degrees in my car and he didn't have it out of the car for more than maybe2 minutes before we started shooting, and it was 35-40 degrees outside so it shouldn't have colled down that much.


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

With the temps you're describing condensation likely wasn't the culprit. A dirty chamber or partially closed action (caused by something other than the camber being dirty, recoil return spring comes to mind) will likely be found as the culprit.


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## Kelly Hannan (Jan 9, 2007)

You said it blew the bolt back? is this a bolt action or semi auto? If you have a bolt action, it should not have fired if the bolt wasn't fully locked down.


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

> I was out target shooting yesterday afternoon with a friend of mine who has an old Marlin semi-auto 22lr,


I'd bet lots of nickles it's a Marlin/Glenfield model 60. If it is a model 60 they can be replaced for $50-$75 when you find a used one.


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

Kelly Hannan said:


> You said it blew the bolt back? is this a bolt action or semi auto? If you have a bolt action, it should not have fired if the bolt wasn't fully locked down.


Sorry for the confusion, it was a semi. I was typing fast and not paying attention, I meant the ejector that was blown back.

Horsager, yeah it's a glendfield 60, so we both knew it wasn't a real expensive gun, but he was mostly mad because it was his dad's when he was younger, so it to Alec it was an important thing. Not only was it his dad's first gun but it was Alec's, too. He's gonna take it to a gunsmith and get the firing pin replaced and the gun cleaned up.


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## Gohon (Feb 14, 2005)

> you'll find the chamber was dirty, the action didn't completely close, and the gas blew out the brass case instead of sending the bullet down the barrel


Sounds right on the spot to me and since Marlin uses the same action for all their rimfire autos which are a PIA to completely disassemble and clean, very few people do. They just seem to shoot them until they won't shoot any more, not realizing the gun really doesn't have to be completely field stripped that often for a decent cleaning. I've had at least one Marlin model 60 in my gun rack all my life and believe they are one of the most underrated little rimfires around as to reliability and accuracy. But, like all guns, they gotta get cleaned occasionally. Don't believe any ammo manufacture would bite on this one.

Kelly, a semi auto has a bolt also.............. it just isn't manually operated.


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

As it turned out, it was so terribly dirty that when he soaked the whole thing in a cleaning solution(with the stock off, of course) he couldn't see it sitting in 2" of the solution. The stuff was so black and nastly that he could've scooped gunk out with a fork... It shoots great again but wow, I never knew that a gun could even get so nasty like that... He doesn't seem to be so concerned about the federal thing anymore because he got everything cleaned and shooting just fine now.


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

> The bolt blew back 1/4", the firing pin was busted and the shell mushroomed out inside the chamber right above the primer. We managed to pry the bullet out and it was in worse shape than his now ruined gun that was his dads when he was our age.


I'm confused. When you say you pulled the bullet out of the chamber do you mean the bullet itself or the case?

If you mean the case it sounds like it fired without being completely chambered. Gun Problem

If you mean the bullet that would indicate that on the previous round the bullet had not cleared the barrel. Ammo problem


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