Out-of-Battery Firing Injures Big-Bore Shooter
As posted in the Calguns.net a while back, there was a nasty out-of-battery firing incident involving a BOHICA Arms .510 DTC AR15 upper. The cause of the out-of-battery firing is not certain but it appears that the ammo was not sized properly and the firing pin may have been stuck in the extended position. As a result, the round went off before the bolt was closed with the lugs seated. In the process, the bolt handle broke off, as the bolt retracted violently, actually ending up outside the bolt raceway.
The shooter was badly injured, with multiple broken bones and ligament damage to his left hand and tissue damage to his right hand. The shooter was holding the rifle with his left hand near the front of the chamber where a gas vent was located. Gas and shrapnel existed the vent hole causing the severe injuries to the left hand.
From range reports, it appears that the shooter had been struggling to chamber previous rounds, and was having trouble closing the bolt. After talking with one of the rangemasters, a poster on AR15.com reported: “The guy was using new reloads that weren’t exactly fitting well into his chamber. [The shooter] was slamming the bolt handle with his palm trying to get the cases to lock in. The guy was also slamming the bolt forward full force from the rearmost position back and forth trying to ram the cases into chamber in an attempt to squeeze the rounds in so the bolt could close. Finally, on one of the attempts … the possibly stuck firing pin rams into the primer and explodes the round when he slams the bolt forward (zero lug engagement hence the KB) and shooter puts himself into a world of hurt.”
Lessons Learned — Don’t Try to Force Oversize Ammo into a Chamber
By all reports, the shooter’s ammo wasn’t fitting his chamber properly. In an effort to force the ammo into the chamber, he worked the bolt with excessive force. That MAY have caused the firing pin to extend or the hammer to fall without the trigger being pulled. One theory is that the trigger system may have been modified, allowing the hammer to fall from the force of slamming the bolt forward. Others have speculated that the firing pin may have failed to retract because the bolt handle was over-torqued — a safety issue listed in the BOHICA manual.
Whatever caused the out-of-battery firing, it appears that improperly-sized ammo (or a poorly-cut chamber) was the root cause of the problems. If you go to a range and find your bolt does not close easily over the ammo — STOP SHOOTING — don’t try to force the issue. Disaster may result. To paraphrase Johnnie Cochran: “If the ammo doesn’t fit, it’s time to quit”.
Photos by Wildcard, originally posted on Calguns.net.
In the original post where new of this incident caught my eye it was reported that the shooter had been using a hammer / mallet to close the bolt on earlier rounds….
Clearly a potential candidate for a Darwin Award – fortunate not to win this time….
a 4X optic on a 1000yrd+ gun?
Who was holding his beer while he did this?
The article is hinting at all sorts of possibilities that the firearm may have added to the situation. I think it is very flagrant to put these kinds of speculations out there when no one really knows what has happened so far.
If the shooter is slamming his ammo into the chamber, then the shooter is the cause of the problem as he should have investigated what was going wrong instead of using excessive force leading to a dangerous situation.
Until investigation proves otherwise, and I don’t think it will, Bohica has done nothing wrong.
Please don’t let this guy procreate.
Hmmm… Am I the only one who sees the dark humor in getting injured by a firearm made under the “BOHICA” label? That’s the dumbest name for a gun company that I know of.
“The stupid shall be punished”!
Another reason to be full length resizing…
A guy slamming on a rifle to chamber a round is ALWAYS an idiot. However, a guns designer must assume that there will be idiots who operate his weapon. I’m not saying the company is at fault but just looking at the article, I think this design leaves something to be desired. Why, for instance, does the vent hole, which injured the shooters left hand, have to exit the left side of the rifle horizontally? Might a vertical (as in up) vent hole be better? Secondly, if the firing pin can stick out from improper maintenance, that also strikes me a recipe for problems.
While nothing’s proof against fools, this design seems lacking.
Gabe
I saw a Weatherby mark V that had a similar incident. Dave Tooley and I tracked the problem to high primers. The cases were tight going in and the primers were high and the shooter was slamming the bolt to get it shut–finally one went off before bolt was closed. I ma not sure about the Bohica, but on a Wby Mark V the firing pin can NOT protrude until the bolt is down. Thorough investigation showed the primer had no firing pin impact and was most likely caused to ignite from the hard and sudden slamming impact
Dittos on the high primer. We have seen quite a few cases where guns went off out of battery, and the primary suspect is always a high primer. That is why the spec for primer seating depth are a critical defect in military ammo.
What a Dumb ass!!!!
On the Bohica website, there is a picture of a jackass showing you his rear end…I didn’t just make that up either. I would guess that is a picture of their average customer. From the looks of it, the jackass was probably shooting this gun. Are people really that cheap and stupid??
“Are people really that cheap and stupid?”
Yes.
Slamming a bolt closed is like many things, just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
The BOHICA website does mention they use a tighter chamber than a M2HB.
Jon says:
February 11, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Who was holding his beer while he did this?
I don’t care who you are, that’s funny.
Chip
“HERE’S YOUR SIGN”! —Bill Engvall
I dont see a bolt handle on either side, did it go into orbit? or just into the next trailer park? I am unfamiliar with such “hickey” style weapons that try to digress away from technology and make an excellent semi-auto weapon into a P.O.S. single shot cannon.