After a Hot Load - would you feel safe?

[moosehunter71]

Hi there,

I recently fired a "hot load" from my factory RemM700 .300 WSM (168 TTSX and VV-N550 powder). My question is this - would you feel safe firing a gun that had the following experince (see below)?
Alternatively, have you had a similar experience to mine, and yet, kept firing you rifle?


Here is what happened and here is what I recall:

After firing the hot load,
- I had to hammer with my HAND to get the bolt open.
- The case "wanted" to eject (ejector was pushing on one side), but the case head expanded enough that the rim of the case was getting caught on the "extractor" (the protrusion on the sidewall of a Remington bolt-face).
- the primer popped out of the primer pocket as I removed the case from the bolt-face.
- there is now a "barely visible" etching on the bolt face (a very small and 1/10 of circular "scratch") - my guess it was caused from hot primer/gunpowder gases

-here is the most concerning part to me - I chronographed the velocity of the hot load at ~300 fps faster than the maximum velocity I was shooting for (i.e., 300 fps faster than the 3140 fps I was using as my max velocity). This load was supposed to be 6% below the max charge - obviously it wasn't.

I have fired 18 rounds out the rifle since (the first 15 rds after my hot load, I used a friend Hyskore "remote" shooting rest - the last three, without). Everything seems normal - bolt-lift is the same, rounds feed and eject as normal, case headspace measurements do not indicate any changes from before and after the hot load.

Some have suggested I trash the gun because the high pressures needed to attain the recorded velocity are so high that it may have changed the physical characteristics of the action/chamber/barrel (i.e., making it unsafe) and that no gunsmith would be able to definitely say it was safe? Obviously, I don't want to have to trash the gun. However, if those much more experienced than me in shooting/reloading advise that the gun should be "retired" for safety sake, then I guess it would be prudent to do just that.

Thanks for any input

 

[Minesweeper3433]

There was a very active post on here just recently regarding this same situation. Lots of good info cam up on how/where to get the action tested and what to watch out for.

 

[CatShooter]

The action and gun are fine.

 

[40X Guy]

I second the action/rifle being fine. I had an incident with a .243 AI Rem 700 years ago with 70 grain BT's and waay too much H414 :-[ bullet came out of barrel and sounded like nothing i had ever heard. I had to hammer on bolt with a small piece of 2X4 to get open and spent primer was laying in the mag. Rifle came out of it fine.

Frank

 

[338Lapua]

About 5 months ago I was testing a near max load that seemed fine the week before but….. on the second test of that load the same thing happened to me as happened to you. The cartridge was stuck to the bolt face and the primer fell out. after very hard bolt lift..... But my rifle is fine, though I did have a slight ring on the bolt face, but it was more caused by the case head being hammered into the bolt face than anything, but no damage was done. It cleaned off with some hard rubbing and bit of KG-12 bore solvent

 

[NorCalMikie]

That's a good reason to keep a small "dead blow" hammer in your range bag. Been there, done that. :-[
Reinstalled the extractor plate after replacing the missing ball and removing the blown up pieces of primer out of the bolt.
Loaded up and fired another 100 rounds with "No Problem". 8)
If you don't think it's safe, my bet is there's a bunch of guy that would take it off your hands, no questions asked. And I'll bet they would even pay the shipping. ;D

 

[wooger]

I think if you were able to open it by hand then you are probably ok.

 

[highmaster82]

don't beat on rem 700 bolt handle they are silver soldered on and will break off.if you have a stuck case put a steel rod down the barrel and have someone tap on it while you try to lift the bolt handle . been there done that. Byron

 

[bigedp51]

moosehunter71

The Remington 700 is used by our military as a sniper rifle and must be able to withstand an oiled proof pressure test round NATO EPVAT standards. The oiled proof round exerts twice the normal bolt thrust and if the rifle has excessive bolt setback the rifle fails proof testing. Civilian SAAMI proof testing only requires a single dry proof round be fired.

A simple test would be to check your headspace checking for bolt setback and see if it is within limits. Cartridge brass begins to flow at approximately 70,000 psi and fails by 80,000 psi and letting go inside the chamber.

As long as your cartridge and chamber were free of any grease or oil and your headspace is within limits you should not have strained anything. The over pressure cartridge case you fired in your Remington 700 is thinner and not as heavily constructed as a proof pressure test round. So I do not believe you came close to or exceeded standard SAAMI proof testing requirements.

NOTE: Your .300 WSM cartridge case is shorter and has less surface area with a larger base diameter. This type of cartridge exerts more bolt thrust than normal but it is my understanding the locking lugs are larger on these calibers to absorb and spread the load to the receiver.


Pressures, Case Strength and Back Thrust
http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/pressures-case-strength-back-thrust-2.php

Cartridge Pressure Standards
http://kwk.us/pressures.html

Signed
Ed Horton AKA Don't lube your ammo Grinch

 

[expiper]

Mooseman....dont fret...that is a common reloading delima.....just about every one that shoots has done the same thing....look the bolt over for damage to the lugs .....and field strip the fire control (fireing pin assembly) out of the bolt and look for primer pieces and debris which culd make the gun fail to fire....and make shure you didnt ruin the trigger...it is a common damage that occours when this happens....prolly everyting is fine....and OBTW...use just a lil' less powder next time ,,ahahahaha.....Roger

 

[djtjr]

Happened to me last week with a 300 rum. Sent it to my smith to be sure he said it was fine. It seems my first firings were on the hot side even thought it showed no signs and the 2nd firing where things in the primer pocket were a bit looser caused the phenomena
D