Ruger Rifle Kaboom ...

[fatboy]

I wish I had pics... a brother of a friend at work took his relatively new Ruger bolt action, laminate stock in 25/06 to sight in for an upcoming hunt. Before my friend showed up at the range his brother wanted to fire off a few rounds. First round he touched off felt odd... he couldn't figure out what happened. My friend showed up shortly thereafter and saw his brother with blood on his forehead and arm. Noticed the Rugers stock had splintered around the mag well and the bottom blow out... Brother was a bit dazed.
After checking him over and finding no serious injuries (they did go to the emergency room for precationary reasons soon after) he asked his brother what he was shooting. He pointed to his box of ammo on the shooting bench and said his 25/06.. The brother noted that you "dumbass" thats a box of 308 Win.

The brother contacted Ruger.. not to complain of course but just to thank them for making a strong rifle that could survive such a stupid, stupid mistake. He was happy not to be hurt worse. They asked for the rifle... he sent it in for them to look at...

He just received word that they were sending him a new rifle to his FFL ... for free..

 

[w8n4rut]

at least there were no serious injuries. how did he get the bolt to chamber a 308 round?

 

[Quarterbore]

Yea a 308 would chamber in a 25/06 just fine. It is something I keep in mind as I have mostly 308s but I do still have a 270. There are times where consolidating cartridges has some benifits and this is one if you happen to have say two rem 700s - one in 308 and a second in 270.

 

[Ethang]

Mistakes happen and all but I question the wisdom of sending a free replacement rifle to an individual under these circumstances....

 

[Skalkaho Slim]

Free rifle for being a dumbass?!

I'm off to the range with some 44mag and a 45 Colt New Vaq! :lol:

 

[Watergoat]

"Question the wisdom?" Folks, that is the cheapest rifle they ever made! They have it; no way the dumbass can decide to sue later. The evidence is GONE! Besides, destructive testing is a well known procedure. This is a real world example for the engineering staff.

 

[Ethang]

"Question the wisdom?" Folks, that is the cheapest rifle they ever made! They have it; no way the dumbass can decide to sue later. The evidence is GONE! Besides, destructive testing is a well known procedure. This is a real world example for the engineering staff.

I understand the why...but is he really smart enough to have another firearm or sharp eating utensil for that matter....

 

[Greg Mercurio]

There are 2 kinds of people in the world: Those that measure twice and cut once, and those that cut twice and it's still too short.

 

[gfw1985]

And people wonder why I avoid shooting ranges! Another "Here's your sign" award.

 

[wwb]

They say you can't fix stupid. Darwin tried to fix it, but an over-engineered Ruger rifle got in the way. Would I let that bozo ever touch another firearm? Not on your (or my) life. If you can't tell a .308 from a .25-06, you hadn't oughta be handling anything dangerous.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

So when all of the pressure is contained in the chamber the only thing that prevents the barrel and bold from grenading is that little relief cut in the barrel at the bolt face plus anywhere the pressure can force it's way out, correct?

 

[Quarterbore]

It's possible the 308 bullet may have been swagged to 270 in the process too! That is a load of force behind that bullet!

 

[mattsbox99]

I'm constantly amazed at the number of people that have never made a mistake.

Good that the guy is okay and another example of Ruger going way beyond what any other company would have done.

 

[fatboy]

I'm constantly amazed at the number of people that have never made a mistake.

Good that the guy is okay and another example of Ruger going way beyond what any other company would have done.

That was the purpose of the original post. I was amazed that Ruger would send him a new gun...

 

[SteveRuger]

I personally above all,
I am glad he is alright! I am glad that it was not worse! I have a High School friend I played football with that did the same thing with in a Winchester post 64 Model 70 that has had 3 plastic surgerys from the damage it done to his face He was lucky he had glasses on.
Ruger done well in both, minor injury to the Shooter & Replacement of the Long Gun!.
J/S

 

[cellar701]

I'm constantly amazed at the number of people that have never made a mistake.

Good that the guy is okay and another example of Ruger going way beyond what any other company would have done.

+1

I don't know the circumstances behind what happened in OP, but similar almost happened to one of my hunting buddies a couple of years back. He and a good friend of his bought identical Rem 700 BDLs at the same time, even put the same slings and Leupold scopes on the rifles. One was chambered in 30-06; the other in 7mm mag. A few years later, time for a little range practice at the hunting camp, so the 30-06 hunter pulls "his" rifle off the rack, takes it to the bench and loads his 30-06 ammo - except the bolt won't close. He tries again, and again, getting really frustrated. Calls me over to help - I look at the rifle, and it's the 7 mag!! He looked at the rifle again and couldn't believe it wasn't his rifle... And I thank the Good Lord that he decided on a 30-06, and not a .308 Win.

Stupid mistake? You bet it was - and we were very lucky it didn't turn out badly. Go ahead and throw some more rocks - we all did a little bit at my buddy because it was a stupid, very serious mistake - but we all talked about it and learned a valuable lesson or two.

BTW, I grew up upland game bird hunting in western Kansas. I had two favorite shotguns; one a 20 ga humpback Browning and the other a 12 ga double. Another story for another day...

 

[hutchman]

It is said that there are two types of boat owners...those who have left their drain plug out and those who will eventually. I have always believed that it was kind of ignorant for those who have not to laugh at those who have,.......

I am glad hethings was not hurt badly!

 

[Watergoat]

EVERYBODY makes boneheaded moves at times. Part of being human. We need to learn from our mistakes so at least we screw something different up next time. And here, I will put in a big plug for shooting glasses. FWIW, my local Stihl yard equipment dealer has safety glasses on sale right now for 50 cents a pair. Don't know if this is a national sale, or just the local shop.

 

[Quarterbore]

It is said that there are two types of boat owners...those who have left their drain plug out and those who will eventually. I have always believed that it was kind of ignorant for those who have not to laugh at those who have,.......

I am glad hethings was not hurt badly!

I remember well when my Grandfather retired and went out and bought a boat to enjoy fishing. He tried to sink the boat the very first time he took it out on the lake, yea he forgot the plug :wink:

Personally, I like to learn from others mistakes! I consolidated my guns to relatively few cartridges to help prevent dumb mistakes but having identical guns always comes with risks. My 41, 44 and 45 Colt Bisley Hunters sure do look the same sitting in the gun safe as an example.

 

[gasbag]

I'm constantly amazed at the number of people that have never made a mistake.

And they spend all their time on internet forums.
We are lucky to have their sage advice and razor sharp criticism. :roll: