I got these photos this morning from a friend.

His friend had this experience in the weekend while shooting goats. He is a very experience shooter, reloader & hunter.

The rifle is a Sako 7mm Rem mag

The loads are said to be safe handloads. He shot a few goats and then fired this shot & BOOM! Hi face is a mess and lucky not to be hurt more and lucky to still have his eyesight.

What do you think happened & why?

I have my own theory & I will post that after I get input from you guys.

The rifle looks like the result of a case head separation. Metal fatigue due to too many re-sizes or over pressure from a hot load/wrong powder.

The two cases present an interesting comparison. I presume the lower case remnant is from the accident? Curious that it is a significantly greater diameter than the upper case provided there are no optical issues going on. Is it split on the other side? Hard to see how a case could expand to a size greater than the chamber unless the chamber split too.

Wrong powder or a gross overload.

Too fine a powder which enabled a double charge. FWIW, I always use a powder that can't be double charged. The charge should fill the cartridge 75-90%.

Can't tell for sure but it looks it could be the wrong cartridge in the magazine. Otherwise the pressure must have ironed out the belt?

Looks like a wrong cartridge was used.

quote:

Originally posted by cjw3:
Looks like a wrong cartridge was used.

.300 mag?

You would never get a 300 mag round in the chamber of a 7mm Rem. Could be a 284 Win round got mixed in with the 7mm Rem ammo.

.270 round slipped into the lot?

That is my feeling too.

Firstly the bottom case does not have a belt!

Secondly the mouth area is rounded - looks like a 308 or 300 WSM case that has stretched into the neck area of the 7m Maag.

Thirdly I have seen a similar situation at a gunsmith - a Brno 602 in 25'06 that had fired a 308 cartridge. I do not remember the case but the action & stock were wrecked but the bolt still stayed in the rifle & the shooter was not hurt. Speak for the strength of the Brno action. In that case the 308 bullet just went right through.

Ross Seyfried once wrote an article about someone in the range firing a 7mm Mag ammo in a 270 Weatherby rifle. This resulted in the barrel having issues. The bullet jammed in the throat and the jacket rivetted while the lead core went through.

I suspect that it was a 308 or a 300 WSM cartridge that was fired. If the case is sectioned and the thickness measured, it would show if the brass has become very thin.

If a 270 was fired, the neck would be fine and the bullet being smaller would have gone through.

Big lesson - this could happen to very experienced shooters / hunters.

quote:

Originally posted by cjw3:
Looks like a wrong cartridge was used.

Never tried but I seriously doubt a 300WSM dropped in 7Mag chamber would allow the bolt to close. A 308Win in a 7Mag chamber, slop city.

I definitely want to learn more.

It seems doubtful that a 270 Win could have been caused this since the smaller bullet would have allowed a split case but would also have produced lower pressure without having the bullet seal the barrel. Maybe a 7-08 could have caused this?

It appears that high pressure was vented down into the magazine well and that the stock cracked and had a recoil issue that split off a major chuck of wood.
But how did the case end up a round blob? Please find out more.

I printed the pic and took some measurements, it seems like a 308WIN for length.
I suspect that will chamber fine, plug the hole good and let the fury out backwards.

I think OP has hidden the case bottom for a reason ;-)

Is the bullet still in the barrel?
Its obvious that the wrong cartridge went into the chamber.

Firstly I got the photos and did not see the gun or case.

Secondly this came to me via a friend - yes it was his friend who had this experience.

Finally - I got confirmation last night - yes it was a 308 Win fired in the gun as I had originally suspected and told my friend.

The 308 Win ammo will head space with the bullet in the neck & so it will not be sloppy but could be off centre at the bolt head. Once the extractor slips over the rim, it will be centred enough to fire.

As posted earlier, I have seen a Brno 25'06 with similar damage that had fired a 308 win.

Just shows how even experienced shooters / hunters can make a mistake.

Good to know.

I was going to guess that the wrong case was fired in it as I've seen the blown out rounded over case before but I couldn't understand how the gun got destroyed.

I saw a guy fire a 308 cartridge in a Savage 110 chambered in 270 Win. The bullet actually made it out of the barrel and the gun was checked by a gunsmith afterwards with no damage found.

I've seen 308s fired in Garands with no apparent issues.

gas release from 308 fired in 7rem? it will do that -- a 270 fired in a 7rem will do the same - generally ruins the stock, causes at least trouser staining and shooter injury from gas releases -- clean seat and chamber, replace stock, and spend a year getting over the induced flinch

Something with a bigger bullet than a 7mm; otherwise it would not have developed that much pressure.
As for firing a 308 in a 30-06, that is totally safe, if it will chamber. Done it hundreds of times in 30-06s and 7.65 Argentines, but that is not what we see here.
Ask the owner what other rifles he shoots, and you will get the answer. Something shorter; the distance to the partial shoulder on the blown case is 2 inches or about 51mm.
Oh, like a 308.
Crap, now that I have gone back and read all the posts, I see that I am too late.

As said it was confirmed as 308 Win.

Spoke to my mate just now & his reply was that he had forwarded my email with my opinion to him & this was the reply

First reaction - "tell your mate I am not that dumb".
Five minutes later - "I feel embarrassed & I owe your mate an apology! It was a 308. Found a bit of the case head still stuck to the bolt head and it says 308!!!"

This guy cull goats on farms and usually has a bunch of ammo in his bum bag etc. It looks like he had one 308 round in the bag that he had missed and mixed it up with the 7mm Rem mag!

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
As said it was confirmed as 308 Win.

Spoke to my mate just now & his reply was that he had forwarded my email with my opinion to him & this was the reply

First reaction - "tell your mate I am not that dumb".
Five minutes later - "I feel embarrassed & I owe your mate an apology! It was a 308. Found a bit of the case head still stuck to the bolt head and it says 308!!!"

This guy cull goats on farms and usually has a bunch of ammo in his bum bag etc. It looks like he had one 308 round in the bag that he had missed and mixed it up with the 7mm Rem mag!

I was going to guess James, (Top Predator) because he's a goat culling machine and I know that he shoots a 7mm Mag but he's in England this week.

Small matter of a couple of thousand mile of the pacific ocean between West Island and New Zealand!

The UK is even further away!

No non of these guys are AR Members.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
As said it was confirmed as 308 Win.

Spoke to my mate just now & his reply was that he had forwarded my email with my opinion to him & this was the reply

First reaction - "tell your mate I am not that dumb".
Five minutes later - "I feel embarrassed & I owe your mate an apology! It was a 308. Found a bit of the case head still stuck to the bolt head and it says 308!!!"

This guy cull goats on farms and usually has a bunch of ammo in his bum bag etc. It looks like he had one 308 round in the bag that he had missed and mixed it up with the 7mm Rem mag!

I was going to guess James, (Top Predator) because he's a goat culling machine and I know that he shoots a 7mm Mag but he's in England this week.

Maybe the guy was loading some type of pistol and left a super fast powder in his uniflow and loaded his normal powder on top of it, I don't see anyway with a normal rifle powder, even if you filled it to the top you could create that much pressure. I think it was also loaded with a .300 wsm and the bullet caused the chamber to rupture, I see no other explanation to create that type of cartridge expansion

quote:

Originally posted by frankinthelaurels:
Maybe the guy was loading some type of pistol and left a super fast powder in his uniflow and loaded his normal powder on top of it, I don't see anyway with a normal rifle powder, even if you filled it to the top you could create that much pressure. I think it was also loaded with a .300 wsm and the bullet caused the chamber to rupture, I see no other explanation to create that type of cartridge expansion

You didnt take the time to read the other posts did you?
The explanation has been mentioned several times in multiple posts!

"well, apparently it didn't have a LONG THROAT" .. sigh

or
"this is a little over max in my gun, perhaps I need to back off a 1/2 grain..time to get it long throated"

Just goes to show you no matter how old you are, no matter how much experience you have, none are substitutes for keeping a vigilant eye on things when handling guns. Everyone is susceptible to a mistake. I'm glad your friend got away with some scrapes and bruises, hopefully nothing permanent.

I bet the next time he goes shooting, he'll be extra-careful!