Thought I would share this with you. This is Rem 700 that came into my shop with a broken bolt handle. The owner broke it off with a hammer after locking the rifle up. I am not sure of the exact load as all he will tell me is that it was a Burger 168gr bullet at 3100 fps. The powder was Ramshot "Hunter". I have no more load info beyond this. He has no idea why this happened as this was the 70th round he fired with the same load and there were no issues and no pressure signs with the first 69rds.....
The bolt head is expanded and had to be forced out of the action. The bolt head and extractor left marks in the bolt counterbore in the barrel. The lugs have about .006 set back. The head of the action was also distorted. He said "why have a 7 mag if you cant hot rod it. It should be able to take this". He was not happy when I told him that I would not "FIX IT" for him. Just a guess here but I am thinking that I am only getting part of the truth!!! What do you think? Any ideas of the pressure it took to cause this?

QL calls 3100 with a 168 in a 7mag using hunter assuming a 26" barrel is in the 75,000+ range. A 24"closer to 80,000psi.

My guess he was in serious trouble way before this one let go and simply wasn't smart enough to see it. His comment pretty much says it all.

Total and complete dumbass. That's my take on it. God protects drunks and fools I guess.

Thanks
I was guessing in the 80k + range. Did it mention that the case is welded into the bolt head and that the mag box was sprung open.

Two things come to mind. He can be thankful the extractor didn't fracture and that this was a Rem 700 with an enclosed bolt nose.

I guess he is lucky the FAMOUS Remington 3 Rings of Steel were there to save his hide!
I don't think I would want to be anywhere near him at nearby shooting benches. I guess the Sako type extractor gave up the Ghost.

Westpac,
It is not very visable in the picture but the back of the extractor slot did start to crack. I can see it under magnification but I cannot photograph it. I have never seen where an action came this close to letting go but held. I am sure it has happen before but I cant believe this one held.

quote:

Originally posted by Bob G:
I guess the Sako type extractor gave up the Ghost.

Bob,
It was badly damaged from being forced into the barrel and again by myself removing the barrel and the bolt from the action. I removed it for the pictures.

Based on 50-year-old info, I'd estimate over 80K and probably over 100K.

My old friend Gerry Dykes (gunsmith & PE, RIP old friend) was paid by the DoD back in the late '60s to experiment in pushing a small-arms projectile as fast as possible, as a precursor to the hyper-velocity magnetic rail gun program. In the process he achieved pressures in the 150K range and he also blew up lots of rifle actions (grin).

The Remington was the strongest, BY FAR! Gerry was actually unable to blow it up. He soon bulged the bolt head and eventually brazed the remains of the case to it, but the lugs held. This was in the 100K-120K range, with velocities well above 4000 fps, almost 5000 fps. By evacuating the bore and using a specially-built cannon breech action with steel cases and saboted projectiles, he was able to achieve close to 6000 fps at pressures in the 150K-160K range.

His hands-on testing convinced me that the Remington was indeed the strongest of the bolt actions available at that time. IMO it still is.
Regards, Joe

Bloody scary! I am surprise the primer did not pop and blow back hot gas! Or did that actually happen?

I had one experience early in my reloading career - 1994-95 - with 243 Win in Rem 700 action shooting old Barnes XBT bullets - 85 gr BT. There was little loading data available in those days. So I followed a thumb rule of using a charge for a level up in normal lead core bullets. So I used a load of H4350 that I normall use for 95 gr Nosler BT.

The end result was a 3 shot group of less than 0.5 inchs but the final shot blew the primer and hot gas into my hair. With shaking hands I tried to open the action and it was a hard task. The case head was stamped on the bolt face and the case lettering could be read backwards on the bolt face! I later found that the mistake was in loading the Barnes XBT bullet 10 thou from lands instead of the recommended 50 thou!

Have never had that happen to me again and I never try to beat book velocity.

I still feel a bit foolish but am happy to share the story so that no one else has this happen to them!

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
Total and complete dumbass.

X2

WOW !

Usually you can send the rifle to Remington to have the bolt replaced and all is well again ...
In this case you just replace the entire rifle.

Do you have a photo of the cartridge case out of the bolt ?

Glenn

betcha that he only fired 1 round not 70

Makes me think of the Marlin XL7 that came in stuck, got it open and the case is now a belted 30/06. Teen-age kid had no idea what he had loaded in it. Dad wasn't too concerned either. The gun was not harmed but I don't want to be around those people. Goat

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
Bloody scary! I am surprise the primer did not pop and blow back hot gas! Or did that actually happen? QUOTE]

Yes, there was escaping gas. The underside of the Sako extractor was black, also the magazine box was expanded. I was told that the floorplate stayed closed.

quote:

Stonewall
WOW !

Usually you can send the rifle to Remington to have the bolt replaced and all is well again ...
In this case you just replace the entire rifle.

Do you have a photo of the cartridge case out of the bolt ?

Glenn

Glen,
I did not remove the case from the bolt head. Despite my best efforts it never even wiggled, I elected to leave it in place rather than destroy it. I am going to try and convince the owner to let me cut the bolt, case and all in two right down the middle. This may provide an interesting view.

Wouldn't have been a problem if Remington made stronger bolt handles would it!!!!

That was some serious pressure. The dumbass is lucky he had a Rem 700 action. He is lucky he didn't loose his eyesight or some fingers.