A rifle blow up

[Bob Mc Alice]

Found this:



http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... _105642918

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/taylor/blowups.htm

[DanDeMan]

First of all, I find the stated "facts" very peculiar.

The rifle description states it was chambered in 300 Win Mag. Now why would anybody chamber a rifle with a silhouette stock - high cheek comb, vertical pistol grip - and no sling swivels for what is obviously a magnum hunting cartridge banded from silhouette competition? Inquiring minds want to know.

Next, in the pictures one can see "booster rings" to get the scope up very high off the receiver for better offhand hold. Why would anybody have such a setup for a rifle chambered in 300 Win Mag.

Also, the magazine looks to be too short for a 300 Win Mag round. That begs the question, if the rifle was chambered in that caliber when it blew-up, was it originally a 308?

Finally, it looks like the back of the barrel has suffered no damage. And, given the brass flow markings on the destroyed receiver it looks like the barrel might have been rechambered by an incompetent gunsmith who short-chambered it which allowed too much of the back of the case to be unsupported by the barrel.

One final thought, Sako had a very serious problem with low quality Chinese barrel steel a few years back with barrels blowing-up on shooters using reasonable loads. Could that receiver be made for similarly poor quality Chinese steel?

[Bob Mc Alice]

Dan, at our club, if a new shooter shows up and wants to try a match and all he has is a magnum, I let him. I dont mind anyone shooting a magnum at a club level match. We warn him that he will be beaten up by recoil. I dont worry about target damage, he wont hit very many anticipating getting thumped by his rifle. Any hits wont do any significant damage to them any way. We just want him to come back with a proper rifle. We have lent our own guns to new shooters in the past.

About a month ago a guy showed up to use the range right after we finished a match. Several targets were still standing and he asked if he could try and hit one. I asked him what his rifle was. "A Super Grade Model 70 in .375 H&H" he said. It had a Leupold 1.5 -5X scope. I said "sure, but off hand only". I suggested trying a pig. The remaining silhouette shooters gathered around to watch this guy slam a pig with a .375. After about 10 shots with no hits, he gave it up. Sure was fun to see him get slammed with many foot pounds of recoil, though.

As for the magazine looking short, well it is bowed out some. The guy might also have large hands. The bolt face in the second to last photo , to me, appears to be of magnum case diameter size.

I do not have any other info other than what was stated above. My own thoughts are that even the best grade of firearms steel simply would not have contained the release of over 80,000 to 100,000 PSI directly into the action. I do believe this was just a classic case of too much of the wrong powder as described in the supplied articles.

[Bob Mc Alice]

Found these photos of the Sako problems Dan was talking about.

http://forum.gon.com/attachment.php?att ... 1114605438


http://forum.gon.com/attachment.php?att ... 1114605571



http://forum.gon.com/attachment.php?att ... 1114605571


http://www.bpcr.net/site_photos/Sako-KA ... -2_jpg.jpg



http://www.bpcr.net/site_photos/Sako-KA ... ge_jpg.jpg

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/1101978285825

[savagefan]

So is this what is meant by "Exploded view"?

[dwl]

Some disassembly required!

[ShooterP14]

Redneck's famous last words: "Watch this fellers!"

[edgehit]

prefaced by "Hold my beer...and watch this"