Scary first shot, who would you blame?

[schmalts]

Long range day. My buddy comes along with a brand new Savage 110 in 300 win mag. Factory Federal ammo. First shot, bolt won't lift. Try harder and get lift and eject what is left of a Factory round. Again, never fired before, Factory ammo. Gun jacked up or a super hot factory round? I told him to contact both Savage and federal and see what both say.

 

[winmag]

Whoa. Case head separation. That primer is mega flat too. Wonder if it was overloaded by Federal? Otherwise it would be excessive headspace, which is a Savage problem.

Did he clean it before going to the range? Maybe a bore obstruction of some kind could do this too.

I’d be calling both Federal and Savage.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Following along to see what the cause was

 

[mikwat]

Hard to tell from the pictures. Were you able to get the remainder of the brass out of the chamber?

 

[cahunter805]

Yikes!! I just saw another post about a m70 exploding. Federal ammo on that one also.
I’d certainly be contacting both but I bet they blame each other.
Is the rest of the case still in the chamber?

 

[El Jason]

My money would be on incorrect headspacing.

 

[SaskHunter]

My money would be on incorrect headspacing.

2x. I don't think a hot round would've popped the primer out that way and believe it is more likely due to improper rearward obturation resulting from extra room in the chamber. You can see that the primer had some wiggle room and was pushed out and formed itself against the bolt face.

 

[Dougfirtree]

Yikes. That rifle would be heading right back to Savage.

When I shot Federal factory ammo, I always got flattened primers, but never had any sticky bolt, etc. I think it's a rifle issue, as well.

 

[schmalts]

Hard to tell from the pictures. Were you able to get the remainder of the brass out of the chamber?

Not going to try. Do not want to disturb evidence. Besides, how can you? putting a rod down the bore and nothing let to tap it out. I told him to call Savage first and see what they want him to do.

 

[schmalts]

Yikes!! I just saw another post about a m70 exploding. Federal ammo on that one also.
I’d certainly be contacting both but I bet they blame each other.
Is the rest of the case still in the chamber?

Yep, I told him to not F with anything and even if I would get it out, no way in hell I would shoot that thing without it being inspected by Savage for damage.

 

[schmalts]

My money would be on incorrect headspacing.

I was thinking that, or a super hot round but those long lines in the case looks like that case was stretched out to the point it got thin enough to fracture it.

 

[El Jason]

Don't touch it or even think about shooting it. I'll bet a six pack of beer the chamber is too long.

 

[mikwat]

Not going to try. Do not want to disturb evidence. Besides, how can you? putting a rod down the bore and nothing let to tap it out. I told him to call Savage first and see what they want him to do.

Cerrosafe, but not sure how that would play with the warranty of a new rifle.

 

[El Jason]

Cerrosafe, but not sure how that would play with the warranty of a new rifle.

It creates unnecessary complication for sure.

 

[Walkathon]

I'd send it back to Savage without messing with anything to have them check the head space. I bought a Tikka once that wouldn't chamber a round due to lack of head space, so I'm sure it could happen with excessive head space as well. Hope they come back with a definitive answer.

 

[cahunter805]

More than likely it’s a headspace issue as others have stated. I’d hope that savage would make it right and just replace the rifle but they may just readjust headspace or install a new barrel on it. It’s amazing what passes a QC check these days!

 

[schmalts]

I already told him that if Savage wants the gun back I told him they need to replace it with a stainless model for his hassle. If I was Savage and that thing was the problem I would give him the rifle of his choice

 

[std7mag]

300 Win headspaces on the belt.

I find it curious that the body of the cartridge is close to the same diameter as the belt.

 

[ChrisC]

I had no idea what headspace was so I googled it and a video by Brimstone Gunsmithing came up. He describes this same problem just shy of 3 minutes into the video about it breaking apart where your picture shows.

 

[wgiles]

300 Win headspaces on the belt.

I find it curious that the body of the cartridge is close to the same diameter as the belt.

That is true, so there is a possibility that the chamber was reamed too deeply. It seems unlikely because the reamer would have to be defective. The Savage 110 headspace can be adjusted by loosening the barrel nut and tightening the barrel. I like to keep a set of go - no go headspace gauges around to check Savage rifles, but I don't have any belted magnums. I think that a trip back to Savage is in order.