AR-15 KABOOM

[qwkdrwmgw]

My uncle blew up his AR last week. He was on his first mag and shot the first 15 rounds from a bench holding on to the mag. Then he went to standing position, on round 21 KABOOM it blew the mag out the bottom and cut his arm a little. He said there was live rounds flying all over the place. He took it to a gun smith and it was confirmed to be a hot load. I won't give the name of where the ammo came from, because they said they would take care of any repairs. It turns out it cracked the upper and lower so he is getting a new AR. to the ammo manufacturer.

 

[Booya]

Might not be a bad idea to give the name, not for any bad reasons, sounds like they are stand up dealers and stand behind their product. Definitely a +1 to them. Thankfully your uncle wasn't seriously injured!

 

[CSK22]

Good thing your uncle wasn't hurt! Any pics?

What was the name for the record?

 

[karodger]

glad to hear he is ok! it takes a great company to stand up for that.

 

[dukeboy_318]

Well thumbs up to the ammo manufacturer for customer service, thumbs down for quality control, but I guess that happens. I too would like to see pictures if any are around. was this ar chambered for .223 or 5.56? the only time ive ever heard of ammo exploding an ar like this is if a 5.56 was used in a gun specified for only. 223 though ive never seen it in person.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

In the interest of everyone that shoots .223 / 5.56, it would indeed be nice if you'd post the make/model of said ammo. And, most importantly, the LOT NUMBER.

Thanks,

-J-

 

[DragonGunner]

At first I thought this might of been reloads, but doesn't sound like it. I assume the gunsmith pulled a bullet an looked at the powder to determine it was a hot load, can you really tell by looking at the powder what kind it is? That had to be really hot to that kind of damage.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

At first I thought this might of been reloads, but doesn't sound like it. I assume the gunsmith pulled a bullet an looked at the powder to determine it was a hot load, can you really tell by looking at the powder what kind it is? That had to be really hot to that kind of damage.

Can tell by it being factory ammo...

But I'm not sure what the difference in evidence there is between an overcharge and an undercharge.

Not even sure if an undercharge of this cartridge would result in a KB, but I know that it can with certain types of powders. (has to do with free space in case + burn rate + magic + voodoo).

If it were the case of a normal round behind a squib then there'd probably be evidence in the barrel of an obstruction + the squib case probably wouldn't have ejected.

Process of elimination can generally yield an "overcharge" scenario.

-J-

 

[1donos]

I would be interested in knowing if it was chambered 223 or 5.56?

 

[dudley0]

I just got my AR to start shooting right. I am also curious about the chambering and the brand / lot of ammo.

It is cool that they are going to handle everything, but if others have the possibility of a KB it would be best for them to contact the ammo maker directly before hand.

 

[qwkdrwmgw]

Sorry it took so long to reply I have been out of town. The ammo was factory reloads. The gunsmith said he thought that the ammo was loaded with pistol powder but I'm not positive. I won't have any pics until Thanksgiving because my uncle lives in Wisconsin. Sorry to everyone my uncle asked me not to give out the name so I will honor that.

 

[LPMan59]

i hope no one gets injured due a preventable kaboom

 

[jblomenberg16]

Sorry it took so long to reply I have been out of town. The ammo was factory reloads. The gunsmith said he thought that the ammo was loaded with pistol powder but I'm not positive. I won't have any pics until Thanksgiving because my uncle lives in Wisconsin. Sorry to everyone my uncle asked me not to give out the name so I will honor that.

Thanks for the clarification. I was going to ask if we knew what the powder was and if it was a reload or new production. Many of the common powders for the 5.56/.223 are close to filling the case when they approach the max loads, making it tough to completely double or overcharge. Pistol powder makes sense.

Thinking from a production standpoint, if they did one, they likely did several like that. If he hasn't already done so, I'd make for gosh darn sure he gets rid of the rest of the ammo from that box.

 

[at11kansan]

kaboom

My friend recently had the same problem with a Remington model 700 in .223 while shooting vmax ammo. The ammo manufacturer took the blame for the overcharged cartridge and is making all things right for him also by fixing his rifle, replacing his ammo and the luckily minor damage to him.

 

[reload4ever]

My ar went kaboom for the SECOND time last weekend. Exact same damage(with the exception this time it also cracked the face of the bolt)and the exact same damage to the shell casing. Exact same ammo sure would like to know!

 

[kevinj110]

I hope no one else is victim of this same problem. Wish we all could know what ammo it was so it wont happen to anyone else.

 

[thompal]

My ar went kaboom for the SECOND time last weekend. Exact same damage(with the exception this time it also cracked the face of the bolt)and the exact same damage to the shell casing. Exact same ammo sure would like to know!

I think you should NEVER use that exact same ammo again! EVER. Having it happen once is bad enough, but twice would seem to indicate that you may be overly optimistic.

 

[Lucas156]

wow wish I knew what ammo it was

 

[MACHINEGUN]

 

[JJGatesE30]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWygoxV_ApM]YouTube - AR-15 rifle explosion[/ame]

something to help visualize