Theres a lot of skills/maneuvers that fall under this heading, and thats the reason they should be practiced when your life isn’t at stake.
While I’ve personally never had to mortar my carbine, and I can count on one hand the number of times it’s been necessary while I’ve been present (read: small sample size), I’ve never seen damage to the gun.
We get a lot of novice shooters at drills, and the combo of dirtier cheap ammo, lack of lube, and lack of user knowledge sometimes contributes to malfunctions. Sometimes the malfunctions can only be cleared by mortaring. It’s a simple progression.
Furthermore, the courses of fire that are set up during the matches are meant to simulate a real life possibility. If you’re not gonna practice mortaring, or any other skill that might be critical for that matter, in a semi controlled environment that is meant to simulate a serious situation, when are you going to do it?
just curious, what powder were you using and was it on a single stage or progressive set up?? Any idea how many loads the brass had??
Will be interesting to see what your smith says. I can see a faster powder (double charge) causing the problem but my guess is the squib…although you would think there would be a bulge??
When I was in Iraq we discovered several batches of older Prvi Partizan ammo that would kaboom in the Ak47’s we were using. I was almost able to get it down to the lot. The rounds seemed to exhibit exactly what I see here which is the rear of the casing blown out and the remainder stuck in the barrel. My guess is that this round was overcharged.
Hey guys,
I hope I can answer some questions that have come up.
I was not crimping at all. I was using neck tension produced through the use of a bushing die from Redding. The brass had 1 load in it.
This is the major change I will implement on my reloading in the future putting some sort of crimp. I did this on the recommendation by a fellow shooter that does A LOT of it.
I was using H335 powder on a progressive press.
Some commented on mortaring the gun. Rob was right, I was trying to stay in the fight. Initially i did’t realize it was as serious as it was. I just thought it was a slight overpressure load. When the bolt locked up I was just going to unlock it and keep going. It’s a mindset thing I guess. I have to admit though the amount of smoke around me and the gun should have been a real clue. LOL It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Either way mortaring is a very acceptable way to get a gun back in the fight.
I’m making some changes to the system now. I ordered the Vltor receiver, a LMT BCG and bolt and another Lothar Walther barrel. The lower works and so does the old BCG and bolt, minnus extractor ofcourse. As for the stock the great people of Vltor are sending me a new one at no charge. At this point I’m waiting for things to come in. I’m having all the parts cryoed too. I think the extra strenght that provides has helped with the parts and the fact that the barrel had easily 15,000-20,000 rounds through it and was still shooting sub moa.
At a minimum it was a big lesson on reloads, and if it wasn’t for the amount that I try and shoot I would be buying my ammo.
I am going with the set back theory based on the information in this thread. No way you can get huge overpressure with H335 due to case volume constraints (using normally seated and crimped bullets). My approaching M193 load and 62 grain bullets basically is a minimally compressed load IIRC – been a while since I used a similar combo. You can get over pressure but I think not enough to cause a massive blowout. The bullet setback changes everything of course. That greatly reduces the case volume which can cause a huge increase in pressure.
If you want to reuse the BC, that’s fine but I would relegate that bolt to emergency spare status only or shit-can it entirely after an event like that.
Hey heavy Metal,
You’re right. I ordered a LMT BCG and bolt. I already have a cryoed spare at home, so that’s going in the gun and the new LMT is will be the spare. I’ll hold on the the kaboom one as an absolute spare.
I’llsay this though. I shot with that whole BCG and bolt last night and everything worked well. That tells me something on the quality and strength of the parts.
To collapse the stock if collapsable, then holding the rifle vertically and hitting down on the ground with it while holding the CH open to force the bolt to open.
Was my description clear as mud?
Example grab a bat with both hands then hit the ground with the base of it. Same thing with the rifle.
With the hit, you’re hopping to force the BCG to open.
When I was in Iraq we discovered several batches of older Prvi Partizan ammo that would kaboom in the Ak47’s we were using. I was almost able to get it down to the lot. The rounds seemed to exhibit exactly what I see here which is the rear of the casing blown out and the remainder stuck in the barrel. My guess is that this round was overcharged.
We had 3 ak-47s in one relay blow up on us, group of Iraqi soldiers were shooting what I think was Chinese ammo (few years ago, not 100% sure it was Chinese)
I thougth some would like to know.
I asked the smith about the condition of the lands and grooves of the barrel and he said it looked brand new inside. He said that if I had told him the barrel had 100 rounds through it he would have believed me. It has at least 15,000 if not more through it. He also said he could sell that barrel right now as brand new. I asked him if he thought the cryo treatment had anything to do with it and he said absolutely.
I guess between the quality of the barrel (Lothar walther)the thickness and the cryo the proof is in the pudding, at least in this case.
It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.