Kaboom!!!

[Lee Martin]

Saw this on another forum and thought I'd post it here as well. Apparently the guy left the cleaning rod in the barrel of his Savage 338 Lapua. Lit off 90 grains of powder and ended-up with this:















-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"

[patdaddy]

I'm thinking that was an expensive boo-boo.
Hope everyone is ok.

[cable]

hopefully his hand wasnt wrapped around the forend?!

[bulasteve]

Aw'crap, more warning labels to follow. Lawn and garden stuff can hardly be identified anymore due to the warning labels stuck on everywhere. WARNING , do not shoot when barrel is in water, mud, sand, while blowing nose, farting, or texting, on a bus, riding a moose, shoveling snow, or otherwise not bloody paying attention.   steve

[bradshaw]

Lee.... can't quite see in photos, but think receiver split at 6 o'clock----through feed ramp/lug abutment/forward action screw hole. While the circumstance differs dramatically----a cleaning rod----the inertia principle applies. Think of the cleaning rod as a bullet, a very heavy bullet. Powder combustion precedes much faster than the outlandishly heavy "bullet" accelerates. Pressure sees no way out. Finally, the barrel gives, followed immediately by the receiver. These parts in motion, the fiberglass stock doesn't stand a chance.

This is why pressures spikes easily when a heavy-for-caliber bullet is loaded over fast powder. A fact every handloader needs to learn and respect.

I would say under the circumstances that the Savage .338 Lapua is pretty strong. If not idiot proof.
David Bradshaw

[seancass]

Well, did he live?

[seancass]

Also, I'll be the first to say: eh, that oughta buff out!

[squawberryman]

Why would he be cleaning from the muzzle? Look at the ground in front of the bench, glad where I shoot doesn't look like that

[Lee Martin]

338 Lapua brass is notorious for tough extraction on the top-end. A lot of guys have to knock them out from the muzzle. From what I can gather the shooter was fine.

-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"

[bradshaw]

Helped a guy at the range with severe extraction in his Savage .338 Lapua and Hornady ammo. I think Lee is correct: shooter may have been using cleaning rod as an ejector, then forgot to remove it.
David Bradshaw

[cmh]

Have a hard time accepting a shooter that stupid........GEEESSSSHHHH!!!

[curmudgeon]

That's not the first time something like this has happened. Best photos tho. Glad guy is ok. Bet he won't do that again. Plus on extraction help, considered normal in many circles. Tapping on the bolt handle of many custom actions will result in dislocated bolt knob.

[squawberryman]

I'm shooting 300's at 2700fps, Defiance action, no issues. My buddy is loading his Sako with the same bullets at 3K. No problems on his end but he's got a spare Obermeyer waiting to replace the factory barrel that looks like the surface of the moon inside at 500 rounds. What kind of speeds are they having problems with? Is it just an "I gotta have faster" thing?

[woody]

I wonder how the scope held up?

[dan]

Great post I hope people check every gun before shooting. I always do a pre check before shooting any of my firearms.