Yesterday while attempting to set the 154 grain cup and core bullet in my 7mmx41 so it just touched the rifling we had a discharge as I closed the bolt. How it happened is somewhat of a mystery.
I was about 4 ft. away from the wall it hit. Before it hit the wall it hit two hard wood loading blocks edgewise that were about 3" from the wall. As it went through the wall it created a hole in the lath and plaster about !"X2".
The external plaster wall had a 4" dia. section PUSHED out. The bullet never really exited. My neighbor's house is only 6' away and there was sign of his wall being hit nor was there any bullet fragments between our buildings.
About 3" on the wall from where the bullet hit the loading blocks and 4" from the hole in the wall was a 1" X 2" lead smear, no hole.
There was a larger lead smear, greater than the hole size on the hole's periphery.
It would seem that when the bullet hit the 2 loading blocks it severely started to disintegrate.I was amazed after I got over the shock. That bullet was only traveling a little less than 2200 fps.
I'm not even sure what make that bullet was as it was in an unmarked plastic container some one gave me maybe 35 years ago.

FYI roger

Wow. I'm awfully glad there was nobody hurt and the damage sounds like it could have been much worse. I can't imagine how rattled you must have been when that happened, especially when going over your mental check-list you can't account for why it happened.

It reminds me that $hit can happen to even the most experienced of us.

If you can come up with the "why" please share.

Sounds like you literally dodged a bullet. Glad you're OK.

You set bullet depth using a live round?
I'm sure you've got 1/2 a lifetime more experience than I, but isn't that what dummy rounds are for?

Anyhoo, sounds like a slam fire, but with a bolt action, very rare. I'd love to know if you figure out more.


Please be safe, Roger.

A oh crap moment for sure.

Worn sear,finger touch the trigger as the bolt closed.

I am sure the ears are ringing.

I have patched a couple of holes in my house, and threw out a couple pair of shorts too!
A man who says that he has never had a shot go where he intended it to go or has never had an accidental discharge is either a liar, or has never handled guns before.

Paul

quote:

Originally posted by Paul K:
I have patched a couple of holes in my house, and threw out a couple pair of shorts too!
A man who says that he has never had a shot go where he intended it to go or has never had an accidental discharge is either a liar, or has never handled guns before.

Paul

Yeah. I too have a hole in my house I did not want.

The one rule I never break is this: I NEVER allow the muzzle to sweep a person. I trained myself to this when I was a kid.

And when I'm in the presence of anyone who is handling a loaded gun, I'm constantly alert to trigger and muzzle discipline until I'm sure they are as anal about safety as I try to be.

that's a lot of expansion.
I have a small hole in one wall I left un repaired as a reminder.
my BIL was over when I wasn't home and wanted to borrow a rifle but since each of my rifles has it's own ammo he wasn't sure which one went with which one.
he dumped a cast bullet round through the 2x6 on the front of the reloading bench a 2x4 brace the 2x6 on the wall, then the lathe and plaster wall, out the dry-wall on the other side took out the handle on the vacuum, and finally went into a solid oak coffee table.
it made it through the 1" top of that and into the leg another inch blowing a chunk out of that before stopping.

straight line penetration all the way through.

quote:

Originally posted by Dulltool17: . . . You set bullet depth using a live round? . . .

I occasionally set bullet depth using a live round too, but even if I don't I run every round through its rifle before pronouncing it okay for hunting/ground squirrel shooting. I want to make sure that every finished product will chamber.

Before succombing to this policy, I had an occasional round that would not chamber completely out in the field because the bullet was seated out too far (???) even though AFAIK the offending round(s) were loaded at the same time and with the same die settings as those that chambered just fine.

You can imagine the result: bullet stuck in the rifling which pulled it from the case . . . and powder in, on and around my action.

Glad you are safe.

I never chamber a round insde the house.

Damn, Roger, I'm glad you're ok. That's a nasty surprise. Something broken on that rifle, or did a finger go where it shouldn't have been?

quote:

Originally posted by B L O'Connor:

quote:

Originally posted by Dulltool17: . . . You set bullet depth using a live round? . . .

I occasionally set bullet depth using a live round too, but even if I don't I run every round through its rifle before pronouncing it okay for hunting/ground squirrel shooting. I want to make sure that every finished product will chamber.

Before succombing to this policy, I had an occasional round that would not chamber completely out in the field because the bullet was seated out too far (???) even though AFAIK the offending round(s) were loaded at the same time and with the same die settings as those that chambered just fine.

You can imagine the result: bullet stuck in the rifling which pulled it from the case . . . and powder in, on and around my action.

Every round ? For squirrel shooting ammo, that's a boat load !

Had a friend here do that once. Found the problem. His trigger was gunked up bad enough that when he closed the bolt on a .300 RUM, the round went off and totally destroyed a $5,000 leather sewing machine.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
Every round ? For squirrel shooting ammo, that's a boat load !

Well, 2 boat loads. I'm preparing for a couple of squeak shoots come late April and mid May. There will be 6 of us on our first trip, and there may be 4 on the second.

Two do not have squirrel rifles, so I'll provide one or two if needed or if someone just wants to try something different.

If I'm going to lend my rifles out, I feel responsible for having all my rifles working perfectly so as to maximize the positive experience of our guests. The last thing I want is for a cartridge to stick a bullet in the barrel or a cartridge to be excessively difficult to chamber. I want the whole project to be seamless, with people focussing on safety and hitting those rats.

At this point, this is where I stand for the two trips:

.204 Ruger for FCV (39 grain Sierra) 900 rounds
.223 Rem for LRPV (40 gr. Nosler BT) 700 rounds
.223 Rem for Stevens (40 gr. VMax) 570 rounds
.225 Win for Win 70 (40 gr. Berger) 398 rounds
.243 Win for LRP (69 Berger) 370 rounds

I'll also be taking my .17 HMR (Anschutz 1517), but for obvious reasons I don't chamber-check rimfire rounds.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
A oh crap moment for sure.

finger touch the trigger as the bolt closed.

Strong possibility! roger

quote:

Originally posted by B L O'Connor:

quote:

Originally posted by Dulltool17: . . . You set bullet depth using a live round? . . .

I occasionally set bullet depth using a live round too, but even if I don't I run every round through its rifle before pronouncing it okay for hunting/ground squirrel shooting. I want to make sure that every finished product will chamber.

Before succombing to this policy, I had an occasional round that would not chamber completely out in the field because the bullet was seated out too far (???) even though AFAIK the offending round(s) were loaded at the same time and with the same die settings as those that chambered just fine.

You can imagine the result: bullet stuck in the rifling which pulled it from the case . . . and powder in, on and around my action.

Big 10-4 roger

quote:

Originally posted by Hogbreath:
Had a friend here do that once. Found the problem. His trigger was gunked up bad enough that when he closed the bolt on a .300 RUM, the round went off and totally destroyed a $5,000 leather sewing machine.

Trigger Gunk was my first thought as I had this type problem with an accutrigger, Opened ,closed the bolt and touched off trigger at lest 20 times no problem.
roger

I'll probably have at least 2000 or so center fires loaded when I head to the field this year, along with 1000 rimfires (17HMR/22rf).

17 K-Hornet
17 Hornet
204 Ruger
218 Bee
222 Rem
223 Rem
6mm Rem