223 goes kaboom

[ArmedGinger]

What happens when a Norinco 223 meets it's maker.

This was the gun of a coworker that had this happen to him earlier this evening. Our head gunsmith took a look at it and deemed it to be a combination of bad metal in the receiver and something to do with the ammo.

The ammo was factory Hornady Superperformance 53gr.

Either a "hot" load or most likely from what we figure is a bullet pushed too far down into the casing causing a dangerously compressed load. The reason we are leaning this way was due to one of the other factory loads having a bullet pushed too far down into the casing and because the shooter really slammed the bolt home and may have pushed a bullet father into the casing causing over pressure.

Luckily the shooter wasn't injured at all and was a little shaken.

 

[Modoc]

Ouch! How are his hands, face, and eyes?

Would theses deep seated bullets be visible to the un aided eye or would someone need a tool to find them?

 

[acudaowner]

ouch , glad the shooter was not killed he needs to buy a couple lottery tickets and thank the angles that saved him ...

 

[whatsupdoc]

WTF the barrel is pinned, like a rimfire. I first thought it was JW-15.

EDIT: The locking lugs are in the rear so the barrel connection of the receiver failed.
What a POS Design.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Found your problem.

Sirhr

 

[hafejd30]

Beautiful lightly used Serbu you have there!

 

[kthomas]

Glad shooter is okay.

Not sure why Canadians (which I'm one of), have a fascination with piece of shit Norinco guns.

You get what you pay for.

 

[Im2bent]

Should be spelled Norchinco

 

[ma smith]

Anyone else looking at the grain structure of that metal? Looks a little bit like cast iron

 

[perttime]

No chance of another bullet being stuck in the barrel?

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

Anyone else looking at the grain structure of that metal? Looks a little bit like cast iron View attachment 8040517

I’m no metallurgist, but I was thinking the steel had a strange look to it, like it was very brittle and not malable.

 

[MK20]

Yeah. That steel doesn't look right at all.

A slightly deep seated bullet isn't going to do that. Even if it overpressures the gun, it shouldn't fail catastrophically like that.

 

[johnnyvw]

Maybe powdered metal?

Good thing it wasn't a bullpup

 

[264win]

This is what can happen when you mix the cheapest gun you can find with notoriously unstable factory ammo.
Glad the shooter survived. Hopefully a lesson or two was learned.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Anyone else looking at the grain structure of that metal? Looks a little bit like cast iron View attachment 8040517

That was my first impression.

Sirhr

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Maybe powdered metal?

Good thing it wasn't a bullpup

Doesn’t look sintered. But looks like the steel is the wrong alloy or not cooled properly. Could be a casting… not a forging?

Doesn’t look right at all for a high-tensile application!!

Sirhr

 

[spife7980]

This is what can happen when you mix the cheapest gun you can find with notoriously unstable factory ammo.
Glad the shooter survived. Hopefully a lesson or two was learned.

Ha! I was going to say it sounds like a normal pull of the trigger on superperformance ammo to me

 

[MarshallDodge]

I would lay the blame on the ammo and have seen worse- a Savage 110 that blew to pieces when the ammo was at fault.

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

Why do they keep selling it like that if the superperfomance ammo is too hot? Is this a known thing?

 

[264win]

Why do they keep selling it like that if the superperfomance ammo is too hot? Is this a known thing?

because people keep buying it and apparently no one has sued them yet or enough

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

because people keep buying it and apparently no one has sued them yet or enough

I don't know anything about that ammo, as I don't buy ammo much. If that ammo is known to be a gun buster seems crazy to keep making it. Berger had an issue and it is well known here so I won't rehash it but they recalled the ammo lots that had the issue. Hard to imagine any other response to guns blowing up. That rifle looks pretty crappy honestly so I wouldnt just blame the ammo without knowing a lot more but I do value what @spife7980 says. (Accept when he's dogging Curtis and it looks like others are aware of this too. Just seems nuts to me

 

[264win]

Hornady had a series of bullets that were known to vaporize enroute to the target. Hundreds if not thousands of complaints. They blamed everyone and everything but them selves. It seems like as long as a product sells they don’t care about anything else.

 

[FisherT&C]

Anyone else looking at the grain structure of that metal? Looks a little bit like cast iron View attachment 8040517

I agree, the grain looks inconsistent with crystallized pockets. That means impurities are present in the steel or improper heat treating.
The grain structure in that cast part is at least consistent and cast parts are infamous for breaking at a joint like that.
When I have seen rifles that have blown up like this it was due to pistol powder being mixed in with the rifle powder; it has happened in factory ammo.

 

[FisherT&C]

No chance of another bullet being stuck in the barrel?

There should be damage to the barrel if that was the case. I've seen guns that blew up like this due to over pressure and the barrel had no noticeable damage. Spooky.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Shit rifle, shit ammo. Color me surprised

 

[ArmedGinger]

It wasn't a barrel obstruction, we checked that over. We found the rear of the casing stuck in the bolt face as well I just forgot to get a picture of it.

 

[whatsupdoc]

Weakest point failed where the barrel is pinned to the receiver, typical Chicom make it cheap.