Overcharged .22 LR?

[Montkun]

So today i made the trek to the range for some good old fashioned fun. The weather is absolutely perfect, 78 degrees with partial cloudiness and low humidity. Shot the 405 from 7 yards, ran flawless but i still need to get used to the sights. Also shot about 100 rounds from my PT22 and hit much better than normal since i painted in the sights, it made the 100 rounds i put through it go almost where i wanted them. To make me feel better i pumped 10 slugs into the target with my Mossberg. Moved over to 25 yards and ran another 10 rounds through the 12 gauge and felt even better.

7 Yard mix of .22 LR, .40 S&W, & 12 GA Slugs



Then i broke out my Marlin for some real .22 action, and that's where my troubles began. The first 100-150 rounds or so of 40 gr. Remington Golden Bullets ran great, and then out of nowhere i caught a giant puff of black smoke and hot powder to the face. Luckily it was the last shot in the mag, but that wasn't the scary part. The action locked back with the spent case halfway extracted from the chamber. Just removing the magazine allowed the case to fall out, but what i saw scared me half to death.

The case crumpled down to the primer and split a shard out of the ripple into the action. It shoved the action so hard that it sent the charging handle into the receiver and put a nice nick into it. Here are some pictures of the spent casing from 3 different angles, these are the best shots i could get with the camera on my phone so i hope they're clear enough to see.







It's the first time i've ever had a round deform in such a way, so i'm keeping it as a trophy so to speak. I'm wondering if i should contact Remington and see what they say about it. The next 60 rounds or so after that ran fine, but considering i still have about 300 rounds of them left to run. I'm actually happy it happened in the rifle and not the PT22, i don't know how well the little buffer would have handled that round and kept the slide from busting off the gun.

[j3hill]

Hard to overcharge factory loads anymore with everything being done by computers. But yes, call Remington, then follow up with an email and your pictures) and give the the lot codes from the box...you do keep the boxes right? Tell them what happened, I bet they not only send you a coupon for more ammo, but offer to pay or replace any damaged parts, They have for me once and the ammo was 10 years old.

[glenwolde]

I think it's more likely a defective case rather than an overcharge. But yes I would contact Remington, they'll probably want the case though.

[Montkun]

I'm actually in the middle of writing the email now, i've got to get pictures of my rifle and the box before i finish it. If they do decide to replace or repair my Marlin that would be pretty cool, wouldn't be hard since they own them anyway. But i'm not looking for anything, just want them to be aware just in case something like this were to happen with someone else. And yes, i always keep the boxes if i have ammo left or there's a problem. This is definitely a good reason to keep in that practice, and whether it was the case or the charge that's for Remington to figure out.

[ccviper]

This can happen a lot with 17 cal rimfires. A lot of times it has to deal with a bit of dirt being in the chamber and it not going to full battery. I had this happen to me once with one of my 17HM2 and yeah it was scary. That was after shooting 200 rounds. Shot 50 more and never had any more problems. It happens only with semis usually. You can probably google ruptured rimfire and see the results. I would still contact Remington like you are to see if it has been from a defective lot.

[Montkun]

Here's a couple shots of the rifle to show the nick and the usual full travel of the bolt. The main reason i thought it could be an overcharge is because of the gap between where the bolt should stop and where it hit the receiver.

[RandyP]

it is also 'possible' that with the previous round the bullet never cleared the barrel? Then the next shot over-pressured?

[Montkun]

I was thinking that could have happened at first also, but i saw the second round hit the target (Shoot & See's) right before i pulled the trigger the last time. The state range limits long guns to 3 shots per loading, so even though it's a PITA most of the time it is kind of good that i had the limit. Unless the second round fragmented inside the barrel and i just saw a piece hit the target, i'm not sure how it could happen personally.