Winchester Expert HV exploded in my gun today...

[dacaur]

OK, Here is something scary, never had this happen before. I had a Winchester Expert High Velocity blow up in my Ruger mark II Target 22/45 today... It was the last bullet in the last clip of the day, (go figure) Not wearing ear protection because we were shooting .22 exclusively and the last shot HURT my ears... I was thinking "what was that?" at the same time my wife waiting in the jeep asked the same question. I said "I dunno" and went to release the bolt hold open, when I happened to look inside the chamber....

I did check the barrel and the bullet did make it all the way out...
These are the uncoated lead hollowpoints in the bulk pack.
I will definitely NOT be buying these again. 1 in about 25 wont even feed, just gets stuck on the feed ramp, and 1-3 in 10 just plain dont fire. One dud in 10 I can handle, but this........ anyone else had something like this happen..?

 

[sebtool]

Never had that happen thankfully. But I can guarantee that I'd be on the phone to Winchester 1st chance I got!

Save the box with the lot # on it, as there may be more of that screwy stuff out there, and I'm sure they'd like to have all of it back before someone gets hurt! Just think what could have happened if someone had shot that particular shell out of a p.o.s. Rohm, or an old F.I.E. Coulda got bloody.

 

[Geezer]

It looks like it fired before the bolt was fully closed, it happens. My Rugers feed this ammo, as well as the Federal bulk, just fine. The main problem that I see was that someone was charging $30 for these.

 

[blume357]

I've had it happen... but did not have a squib load with it as I recall... thank goodness for needle nose pliers....

Just because it doesn't sound that loud when you shoot 22lr, doesn't mean you should not be wearing hearing protection.

 

[Snake45]

Looks to me like a classic OOB kB! (out of battery ka-BOOM!). The round didn't fully chamber, but it went far enough in that the gun's disconnector function disengaged. .22 converted AR-15s are notorious for this, and they will fire with the bolt open a full 1/8" or more.

A dirty tight chamber can contribute to this. But I think the problem is with the ammo itself. I bought 8 boxes of this stuff last year, two different lot numbers. One lot ran just fine, the other gave me hella chambering problems in ALL my guns to the point where I gave them to my kid to shoot in his bolt action just to get rid of them.

I'd never had any problem with the Win-XPerts before last year, but now I won't buy any more of them unless there is just NOTHING else available.

 

[wwb]

I wonder if the bolt face somehow caused an OOB ignition.... note that there is absolutely no indication of a firing pin strike anywhere on the rim of the case.

Never tried the Winchester bulk ammo before.... just Remington and Federal. Once the Remington stuff was all shot up, it has been nothing but Federal since. I guess I won't bother trying the Winchester.

 

[I_Like_Pie]

Suck....Awesome comment on that box.

I would call the manufacturer and see if they want the lot numbers....just in case it was more than an out of battery fire.

 

[Kevin]

Yea, I would have worn ear protection as well. 22 is too loud from pistols. I've shot that Winchester ammo before. It is dirty stuff.

 

[Snake45]

I wonder if the bolt face somehow caused an OOB ignition.... note that there is absolutely no indication of a firing pin strike anywhere on the rim of the case.

Very interesting. My son had one of these happen in my DPMS .22 M4 the very first day he shot it (oversized bullets--Feds--in that particular box was the culprit) and the recovered, blown-out case from that kB! also shows NO firing pin mark. But he swears he pulled the trigger on that round, i.e., it wasn't a slam-fire double, which many .22 autoloaders will do from time to time.

 

[Bucks Owin]

Send the rest of the ammo to me. I'll gratefully feed it to my SS6's with fine results! Nothing wrong with that ammo IMO...Dennis

 

[mattsbox99]

I don't think its that big of a deal, .22LR cases are thin and weak, and defects do happen. It was louder because it blew out the bolt opening and not the barrel, but could have been a factory overcharge.

IMO, nothing to have kittens about.

 

[CraigC]

The separated case head is nowhere near as disturbing as the fact that you were shooting .22 pistols without hearing protection!!! You need proper hearing protection no matter what you're shooting, even .22 rifles can produce enough noise to permanently damage your hearing with prolonged exposure. Take it from somebody who learned the hard way....

ALWAYS WEAR HEARING PROTECTION!!!!!

 

[joshheat25]

wow u paid 30 bucks for that!!! I bought the same thing for 16 But contact winchester they'll prob send you out another box

 

[tomiswho]

I don't think its that big of a deal, .22LR cases are thin and weak, and defects do happen. It was louder because it blew out the bolt opening and not the barrel, but could have been a factory overcharge.

IMO, nothing to have kittens about.

+1

 

[rugerguy]

alll good comments above, and great pictures by the way...send them to Winchester, talk with them, send them the end flap or whereever the 'lot number' for the ammo is and COMPLAIN....no do NOT tell them you were shooting with out hearing protection, they will think much less of YOU.....NOT smart....................you've already been told........

good luck

 

[dacaur]

Hearing protection, got it... didnt realise.... Thanks!

There is definatly a firing pin mark on it though...

I didnt think the firing pin could move till it was in battery?
I just tried and the gun wont (dry) fire till the bolt is FULLY closed. I slowly let the bolt in pulling the trigger over and over, and when it flinaly goes "click" and I let go of the bolt, it doesnt move even a fraction of an inch more.

Unfortunatly, all I have left of the box is that top flap, I loaded the rounds from the bulk bock into my CCI boxes a week ago...

 

[Snake45]

That round clearly went off OOB.

My MKII will fire out of battery, though not very far. In fact, the only .22 automatic (rifle or pistol) I have that won't fire some distance OOB is an old JC Higgins 31 (High Standard). That one won't fire if the bolt is even a hair out of battery. Everything else will.

OOB kB!s are more dangerous than just the hella noise. They can blast brass shrapnel out the ejection port, and can even blow the extractor out of the gun and/or wreck the magazine. Seen it happen. In addition to ear protection, always wear SHOOTING GLASSES when shooting, even .22s!

 

[Bucks Owin]

OOB kB!s are more dangerous than just the hella noise. They can blast brass shrapnel out the ejection port, and can even blow the extractor out of the gun and/or wreck the magazine. Seen it happen. In addition to ear protection, always wear SHOOTING GLASSES when shooting, even .22s!

Yep, I've had it happen to me with a M-490 Win autoloader. Broke the extractor in half when it fired OOB and blew the back off the cartridge case. :shock: ....FWIW, Dennis

 

[Geezer]

I have a friend that had an out of battery discharge on his MK III. It blew the LCI out of the receiver. Just another reason not to like the LCI.

 

[Kevin]

Hey Geezer: My brother had a Mark III, same thing happened (out of battery discharge). Had to send the whole pistol back to get repaired. This was perhaps 5 or 6 years ago when the Mark III was a "newer" design. Makes you wonder...