Injury pics from cartridge explosion

[superior]

Here's my boo-boo and the pieces of shrapnel I recovered, along with the almost pristine boolit. Read my previous post "accident, explosion, injury" for details.

[Throckmorton]

it had to be a one in a trillion shot for that shaped bullet to set off a primer.Glad you were no more injured than you were.That would have had me changing drawers for sure !!!

[superior]

it had to be a one in a trillion shot for that shaped bullet to set off a primer.Glad you were no more injured than you were.That would have had me changing drawers for sure !!!

I agree! I compared it to hitting the lottery. Thanks, The man upstairs was watching out for me.

[swheeler]

The thumb will heal, thank the Lord it wasn't an eye!

[geargnasher]

Considering the astronomical odds of a) ejected cartridge hitting another when it popped out onto the soft case, b) hitting just right and hard enough to detonate the primer, and c) a piece actually hitting you and doing what looks to be some pretty permanent and severe damage to your knuckle, I think you're free to continue unloading that gun that way for several lifetimes with no worries of it happening again

Remember the movie where the couple is looking to buy a house, and suddenly a plane flies into it? I think it was The World according to Garp or some such. He said, "We'll take it. Do you know what the odds are of that happening again?".

Seriously, though, glad you're relatively undamaged from the indicent, and thanks for sharing so the rest of us can be a bit more careful of something that I at least never gave a second thought to doing.

Gear

[superior]

Considering the astronomical odds of a) ejected cartridge hitting another when it popped out onto the soft case, b) hitting just right and hard enough to detonate the primer, and c) a piece actually hitting you and doing what looks to be some pretty permanent and severe damage to your knuckle, I think you're free to continue unloading that gun that way for several lifetimes with no worries of it happening again

Remember the movie where the couple is looking to buy a house, and suddenly a plane flies into it? I think it was The World according to Garp or some such. He said, "We'll take it. Do you know what the odds are of that happening again?".

Seriously, though, glad you're relatively undamaged from the indicent, and thanks for sharing so the rest of us can be a bit more careful of something that I at least never gave a second thought to doing.

Gear

I appreciate the positive feedback, and I'm glad that if I can only help even one person to think about safety, then posting this experience will have been worthwhile.

[BigRix]

I have to admit I was extra careful when unloading my guide gun today after reading of your experience.

[HollowPoint]

Any time I can walk away from a potential catastrophe like this, I consider it a good reason to walk to the corner store and buy a lottery ticket.

Even if I never win the lottery, the short walk to the store gives me some time to clear my head and thank God I'm still in one piece.

Not to make light of the situation but, if you're a lever gun shooter and you have a shooting-related scar on any part of your body, I can't think of a better place to have it than the part of your body were you have it to remind you to be extra careful every time you pick up your rifle.

If I look close enough in the mirror I can still see the tiny scars where the hot gasses and unburned powder sprayed me in the face a while back.

HollowPoint

[oldgeezershooter]

I read an article in "Handloader" magazine that talked about a couple of instances where a primer was set off in the magazine due to the large belly and a wide nose cast bullet. Starline started making brass for Buffalo Bore ammo with small rifle primers, however I don't think it's available to the public.

[shovel80]

Deffinately glad it wasn't worse!..That is Really strange...Was there actually a mark in the Primer from the bullet hitting it??..I've had some pretty good firing pin marks in primers where they didn't go off until trying twice!...

Terry

[superior]

Deffinately glad it wasn't worse!..That is Really strange...Was there actually a mark in the Primer from the bullet hitting it??..I've had some pretty good firing pin marks in primers where they didn't go off until trying twice!...

Terry

I mentioned in the previous post that I never found the case head, but I remember seeing the whole event take place while my life kinda flashed before me. I saw the edge of the meplat smack the primer, and judging the velocity of the spinning round, I can fully understand how it happened.

[7of7]

Glad you are okay...

I guess it really did happen, as he posted the pictures to prove it....LOL... (not laughing at your injury, or you,... just the saying on the forum .. if you don't include pictures, then it didn't happen)

[muskeg13]

superior, you asked how I had a magazine tube explosion in my .44 Mag Rossi M92. First, I ask you, what load were you using, specificaly, what was your powder and primer combination?

I had 6 rounds go off in a near instantaneous chain reaction. I notice that your boolits are exactly the same shape as mine were. Although I can't rule out a high primer causing the first round to go off, there may be a bad combination of other causes that eventually sent me to the hospital. I was using a moderate load of 10 gr of Unique set off by Fed 150 primers and a SOFT (1:20) cast 200 gr boolit. These commercial cast boolits were left over from my cowboy action shooting and were marketed as being great for black powder loads.

I had already fired several rounds, so it's possible that one of the boolit tips deformed and extruded into the primer pocket ahead of it, setting it off. Other factors not in my favor: Fed 150 primers are considered about the softest/easiest to ignite; Unique ignites easily and burns relatively fast; and, there's not much space in the M92 magazine tube for gas to safely dissipate when it's nearly full of large caliber straight sided cartridges.

When the first round went off, the rest followed, creating an over-abundance of gas that had to go somewhere. My the way, I recovered several boolits that bear the perfect imprint of the cartridge rim ahead of it. You can clearly read that it was Federal brass and see the outline of the primer pocket and anvil. The magazine tube split and blew out of the receiver directing boolits, case fragments and the magazine plug towards me, primarily into the left side of my face. The muzzle cap and magazine spring blew out of the forward end, never to be found.

I had brass fragments like those that tore up your thumb imbedded in my face and cheek. My prescription eyeglasses with polycarbonate lenses protected my eyes, but bore brass marks, and a cotton baseball cap protected my scalp. The magazine plug did me the most damage, cutting a plug out of my cheek and knocking out a front tooth. I wore a heavy cotton sweatshirt that protected my torso except that one of the stray boolits left a nasty bruise on my left collarbone.

The moral of my story is that I no longer use Federal primers or Unique in rifles with magazine tubes, and I double check every round to see that the primer is seated below the rim.

[canyon-ghost]

The moral of my story is that I no longer use Federal primers or Unique in rifles with magazine tubes, and I double check every round to see that the primer is seated below the rim.

For Leverguns, how about ram-prime? I use the RCBS ram prime. It never changes adjustment, the depth is constant regardless of what size primers I use. It always sets the primer .004 below the case head. You adjust nothing after the first time you set the Ram-prime. It's just one of those safety things I started with, 10 years ago, and only about $60.

[canyon-ghost]

Oh, and Superior, I'm glad you weren't all torn up by that incident even if the thumb took a nasty slice from shrapnel. Bet that hurts! I'd have never thought you could rattle ammo together enough to make that happen.

[7of7]

The moral of my story is that I no longer use Federal primers or Unique in rifles with magazine tubes, and I double check every round to see that the primer is seated below the rim.

Never a problem for me, in a 30-30... I use CCI Primers though.. I don't think it would have much to do with the powder, but more to do with the primer cup material.. I also use 10 grains, but it is under a 130 grain bullet.. really a comfortable shooter for plinking.. Very little recoil at all..

Glad to see that you are okay too muskeg..