I just watched a guy shooting factory Hornady ammo blow up a Ruger M77/17 (17 WSM).

The case split.

The rifle’s gas deflection design worked. The gas was directed down into the mag well. The mag well was ejected, the left side of the forend and grip blew off, and the mag well on the left side blew out.

The action and barrel are fine.

The blow up starts at 19 minutes and some change. Blow up might be a strong word given the action and barrel held, but still discerning event.

The guy can be a little goofy, but still.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IdSh8e4lHMY

"I guess I should've had my glasses on". " I guess my eyes are ok". Duh!!!

I’m not giving him a hard time for the absence of wearing shooting glasses.

I’ve never went hunting wearing glasses.

His rational for what happened bring the claw pierced the rim creating a channel for gas to vent back into the action sounds probable.

I hunt with self bow
One time thing blew up and big piece missed my eye by 1/4”
I agree, who wears glasses hunting

quote:

I agree, who wears glasses hunting

Those who need them for good vision

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

I agree, who wears glasses hunting

Those who need them for good vision

I have worn glasses so long that I do not think I still have the reflexes to protect my eyes from brush whipping from the hiker ahead of me. I have one pair of safety glasses with a dent in the lens from a disintegrating Dremel cutoff wheel. Contact lenses would be a hazard now.

Unless I missed something the guy wasn't hunting. He was on a range.

True, but what’s the difference.

I sometimes wear glasses chasing pheasant, never waterfowl, and never rigid game.

The hull would have blown regardless of he was at the range or set up shooting groundhogs.

I’m not going to kill a guy for not wearing glasses. Few do or can all the time such as in hunting. The lack of glasses has nothing to do w the failure of the case. Yes, it would have protected his eyes. The action design protected him more than anything.

The case would have blown in any situation we find not wearing glasses acceptable. Thus, to kill him over glasses is hypercritical.

I did not wear glasses chasing grouse.

Should he had, had glasses on. Yes. Is it practical to wear glasses all the time no. It has zero effect on t on the hull blowing out the mag week and stock. The

I wore glasses from about 20 to 45 as a must to see.

I had lasik about then no more need for glasses.

I found that when out in the brush I missed them as eye protection.

Against getting slapped in the eyes from brush.

One thing nice is when you don't need them one can take them off. Or put them on.

Safety glasses have save my eyes more then once.

Even through I don't need them to see I wear them a lot just for the protection.

That rational cannot be argued with. However, few and far between use safety glasses when hunting. Had this happened when he was shooting a groundhawg no one would be trying to kill him over glasses. That is because few wear glasses for such shooting.

You started to because it was necessary for your vision.

If we want to have a discussion that we should be wearing safety glasses in all shooting activity. That is cool, but I see it as a distraction to critique him not wearing safety glasses to shoot a scoped rifle with factory ammo. The majority simply do not. It is not seen as practical by the majority of shooters to wear safety glasses in a hunting scenario with a scoped rifle. I would not like using glasses w a scope. I would not like being blinded more I am sure.

I think his explanation at the end of the video makes sense. That in single loading w that claw extractor he punctured the rim with the extractor. This made an area for the ignited gas to vent bs k into the action up ignition.

If the manual warns against this single loading practice, Ruger’s liability is significantly lessened on a theory of “failure to warn.” Failure to Warm is a products liability concept. Was the brass at the rim directive by bring too soft, out of spec?

None of the above withstanding his damages are minimal.

The action worked as designed diverting escaping gas into the mag well.

Do a search. You will find the 17 HMR has been rupturing cases for years now in a variety of rifles.
Most seem to lay the blame on the cases, as it's not even the same brands each time.
I have not heard of any injuries, but savage magazines blown out and ruined, and stock damage on other rifles. Not just in the USA but other countries as well. Sounds like all the rimfire cases on the 17's need upgrading.

He's done some decent Youtubes over the years. Wonder if he will rethink eye protection after that incident. It's easy to underestimate the pressures generated by rimfire ammunition. I had an old Stevens Favorite years ago that was looser than I realized on the lockup. A friend was shooting it when a piece of rim blew out from the top of the block and hit him in the eyebrow. Boy that little brass fragment made him bleed.