Man dies after rifle explodes

The Morning Call (Allentown) ^ | July 1, 2002 | Joe McDonald

[vannrox]

[Mortimer Snavely]

Where is that, Indonesia?

[MissTargets]

the cap on the end of the ammo tube (or whatever it is actually called) came off and the whole thing just went to pieces.

Pretty sure, its a magazine cap. The one on my Remington 1100 comes loose when I am shooting trap. I tighten it after about 4 or 5 shots.

[Redbob]

Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim

You made that name up!

[Redbob]

You'll never blow up a gun just from using old brass.
Case might blow up, spilling gases out;
Case might get stuck, fail to extract, etc, but it'll never blow up the gun.
It's NOT the case but the chamber that contains the force of the powder burning.

[Gumlegs]

I'm reading "Explosion Aboard The Iowa" now. Thanks for the link to the other book!

[rockfish59]

What a disaster.

[Gumlegs]

True. And an utter disgrace in the way it was "handled" by the Navy.

[AnAmericanMother]

Agreed. I shoot .303 British, so I've had plenty of blown cases due to the slack locking lugs (I neck size only now, works much better). Even a complete case rupture won't do much of anything with the bolt locked down (except of course requiring one to use a cleaning rod to get the front half of the brass out of the chamber when you have a complete head separation).

This sounds like a squib round lodged in the barrel. It's a shame, but if you're rapid firing (or don't hear the difference in the sound that a primer-only or low charge makes) it can be deadly. Happened once to a friend of mine with FACTORY ammo (admittedly it was pretty old). In that case nobody was hurt, but the rifle was a wreck.

[archy]

I wonder if he was shooting reloads.

I think the circa 1890 Lee straight-pull rifle, whether as issued to US Navy and Marine troops in the XIX Century during the *Boxer Rebellion* or a sporter version of similar vintage is a mich more likely suspect than the ammunition, though I can't yet say whether Glenn was using commercial or hand-crafted ammunition in the original 6mm military chambering. I can tell you that if Glenn had loaded it himself, it was done with professional attention to detail and meticulous craftsmanship, as his capabilities were far beyond those of the average kitchen-table reloader [nothing against those who craft such reloads in restricted-space apartments or trailers, I've done it myself. But Glenn had MUCH better facilities available.]

We must say a painful goodbye to our dear friend,
GLENN deRUITER

Glenn was involved in a tragic accident this past Saturday, the 29th.  He was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, PA, but was not able to recover.  He was 54.

Glenn was a devoted employee of Sarco for 28 years, and specialized in military firearms. He had a tremendous love for guns and was passionate about his work.  He was among the most well respected and knowledgeable people in the industry. He was a member of the Forks of the Delaware Weapon Association, the New Jersey Arms Collectors Club, a life-time member of the National Rifle Association, and a committee member of Boy Scout Troop 191, Bethlehem.

Glenn was a good friend and was very much loved by everyone. He had frequent visitors here at Sarco who looked forward to intelligent conversations with the gun connoisseur.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Glenn's family and friends. 
 

He will be painfully missed.

There will be a funeral service on Wednesday, July 3rd, 2002 at 10 a.m. at
MARTIN FUNERAL HOME
1761 Route 31, Clinton, NJ
(908) 735-7180

Visitation will be Tuesday, July 2nd from 2-4 and 7-9 pm
at Martin Funeral Home. 

Directions for Martin Funeral Home

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Glenn deRuiter may  be made to Boy Scout Troop 191,
c/o Scoutmaster Joe Smith,
201 Asbury-West Portal Rd.,
Asbury, NJ. 08802

[toddst]

I can tell you that if Glenn had loaded it himself, it was done with professional attention to detail and meticulous craftsmanship. . .

Well, so much for all the speculation about this man being less than thorough with his cartridge reloading.

As a reloader for over 33 years I can say confidently that few who pay attention have problems with their reloads. Our proceedures catch anything that would be an oversight.

It would be appreciated if you would report back on what did happen, assuming the incident is thoroughly evaluated.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

[archy]

Well, so much for all the speculation about this man being less than thorough with his cartridge reloading.

As a reloader for over 33 years I can say confidently that few who pay attention have problems with their reloads. Our proceedures catch anything that would be an oversight.

It would be appreciated if you would report back on what did happen, assuming the incident is thoroughly evaluated.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Well, anyone can make a mistake or have one slip by, and one is all it takes. But I think that's less likely in this case, but we shall see, and yes, I'll pass along whatever I learn regarding the possible cause.

The 6mm Lee is not a particularly notorious case for causing such problems in any event; it's the parent case of the .220 Swift, of course, so there's no reason to particularly expect likely problems from that source, but we shall see.

Another possibility, particularly if he was assembling light loads for use in the rifle, is the secondary explosion effect most commonly noted when double-based powders are used in lighter charges than normal, resulting in detonation of the powder charge rather than deflagration. That's been noted in *Bullseye* target loads for .38 and .357 revolvers, with 2.8 grains sometimes offering results that'll completely wreck a good-quality service revolver, a load much lighter than normally thought of as safe in those chamberings.

More details as to the ammo and rifle will be forthcoming, I'm certain, but the end result is clear now. And I know that Glenn would have wanted any such incident to serve as an example that safety comes first, and I expect it will.

I'll pass your kind thoughts along to those who also cared for Glenn. He'll be missed by them and by me, and you missed out on knowing a knowledgable and interesting fellow shooter.

-archy-/-

[Mr_Magoo]

http://subguns.biggerhammer.ne t/reloading.cgi?read=4022

Is a first hand account of this Ka-Boom incident. Reposted here before it expires.
[start paste]

I'm cross-posting this to all the email lists that have

mentioned this

incident (that I'[m subbed to). Some have had accurate pieces of

info,

some have not. Since I was there, I want to let everyone know what

happened, as I saw it. There are some lessons in this and in the

hope that

Glenn's death not be in vain, I will present them so others will

not make

the same mistakes that Glenn fatally made.

I was at the Easton Fish & Game on Saturday, taking a Defensive

Shooting

class. During a break in our class, someone came down from the

100yd range

and said, "Does anyone have a cellphone? Someone call 911. A guy

shot

himself. I think he's dead." I looked down and saw a cellphone on

the

table. I dialed 911 and handed the phone to someone standing next

to me

and took off around the corner to see what happened.

I was one of the first to arrive at the scene. Glenn was lying on

his

back, bleeding from a single wound to the center of his forehead. A

quick

survey of the scene showed his rifle in two pieces, looking like it

separated at the receiver ring. I knelt down to Glenn and check for

a

pulse. I easily found the pulse in the carotid. A couple quick

shouts to

see if he were conscious were futile and he wasn't breathing so I

pulled

the jaw down and pushed the tongue down to open the airway. He took

in a

deep raspy breath. I then moved to the forehead. I gingerly felt

the open

wound for protruding metal. Finding none, I began to apply pressure

to the

wound. About this time, Pete showed up and immediately began to

assist. For the next 12 minutes, Pete maintained his airway and I

kept

pressure on his forehead to stop the bleeding. He was unconscious

the

entire time, most likely from the initial explosion. Pupils were

dilated

and fixed for the entire period as well. When Pete & I handed him

off to

EMS, Glenn was still breathing on his own and had a good heartbeat.

After EMS took Glenn away, I began to examine the scene. Mixed in

with

the blood was brain fluid. This meant the skull was breached. Since

there

was no exit wound, this meant that either there was piece of metal

inside

the brain area or he had been dealt a glancing, ricochet type blow

that had

cracked the front of the skull. It looked like he lost about 1.5 to

2

pints of mixed fluids.

I looked at the pieces of the rifle. The barrel metal was

completely

intact, with the expended cartridge still in the chamber (more on

that

later), and the wood was badly splintered. It didn't take long to

see that

the receiver had failed. The upper half of the receiver ring was

missing

as were tops of the rails for about 1-2". Upon closer examination,

the

metal showed an obvious crystalline fracture, with the outer edge

areas of

the ring and maybe 1/2" back showing stretching/tearing, rather

than

crystalline breakage. The missing metal was nowhere to be found,

although

some wood splinters were recovered. The bolt would not return to

battery. I couldn't tell if the bolt had been completely in battery

when

the round was fired but I am unfamiliar with the Lee so I don't

know if it

is possible to fire a round when the bolt is out of battery.

I then turned my attention to the barrel. The brass was stuck in

the

chamber. There was a hole in the brass, in the extractor area. The

primer

was missing, the base of the cartridge was blackened and slightly

bowed out

into a convex shape. Surrounding the hole in the brass was obvious

flow

into the unsupported area of the extractor. The semi-rimmed brass

was now

obviously rimmed. Obvious, major headspace problem. Obvious, major

overpressure situation.

Looking through the barrel, I saw that it was plugged. Obtaining a

rod, I

slid in down the muzzle until it stopped. Marking the length with

my

thumb, the obstruction was at or near the end of the chamber. A

shake of

the barrel was silent. Driving the rod into the barrel to drive out

the

brass took a few sharp strokes, the first couple feeling like

something was

wedging in the barrel. After popping out the brass, I inspected the

barrel. It was free of bulges and the barrel actually looked quite

nice -

dark but with strong rifling. The chamber was in good shape as

well, with

no obvious deformities. Examining the brass, I immediately noticed

that

the bullet had never left the barrel because I had driven it back

into the

powder area of the brass when driving it out and that it was what I

had

felt for the first couple blows. I did not notice any rifling marks

on the

bullet but could not see it that clearly inside the brass.

I next turned to the shooting table, where Glenn had his box of

ammunition. Glenn was apparently testing handloads because he had a

few

pieces of paper with different loads written on it. I recall them

being

30gr or so of IMR powders but don't remember the numbers (I'm not a

big

reloader) with 100gr and 150gr bullets (Hornady and Speer). I do

recall

that one of the loads was 11gr Unique. Looking at the ammo in the

box, I

realized that the fatal shot was his second as there was only one

previously expended round. Picking it up, it was obviously deformed

as

previously described: obvious brass flow into the extractor area,

blackened

& rimmed base, missing primer, except no hole in the brass. Looking

at

this first round, I have to wonder how hard it was to extract. It

looked

like a hammer-beater to me.

And that's as far as I got before the police started to impound

everything.

It wasn't until later that I found out that when Glenn was taken to

the

hospital, x-rays revealed that a piece of metal 40mm on its long

side had

penetrated the brain, ending its straight though travel at the rear

of the

skull; destroying his sinus cavity in the process.

Lessons:

It doesn't matter how much experience you have, if the brass is

obviously

deformed, stop shooting.

If something looks wrong, it's most likely because it is. Resist

the

temptation to take "just one more shot". Figure out what's wrong

FIRST.

Always have a first-aid kit with you.

Always have latex gloves with you.

When you go shooting, make sure that EMS knows how to get to you,

wherever

you are.

A cellphone is no longer a luxury. If it works, it can shave

valuable

minutes off the emergency response time.

Glenn didn't need to die. From what I've read about him over the

past

couple days, I wish I would have met him in better circumstances,

he

sounded like a helluva guy. He was smart enough to notice that

there was a

problem. He either wasn't paying attention and missed it or he

choose to

ignore it; and continued shooting. Learn from his mistake.

No fancy closing words here, just a reminder that this is a

dangerous sport

and to be careful out there.
[end paste]

[Jhoffa_]

Grim, who ruled the death an accident, said the malfunction happened in the rifle's receiver ring.

Hot handloads or an obstruction (like mud maybe) in the muzzle?

Two sure fire ways to change your weapon from a rifle into a hand grenade.

[Jhoffa_]

Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim.

alrighty..

[mamelukesabre]

That was what I was thinking.

[mamelukesabre]

I once had a 22 rimfire lodge in the barrel of a rifle. For some reason, the front half of the brass went with the slug, and caused it to jam half way down the barrel. The barrel swelled up, but didn't burst.

[AnAmericanMother]

.22 doesn't develop much chamber pressure.

This Lee rifle obviously did . . . given that the brass of the only previous expended round had flowed into the extractor area. And the receiver couldn't take it.

Couple of additional warnings for those who, like me, load for and fire old military rifles:

1. Get a headspace gauge, and USE IT! "Go" and "NoGo" both. The .303 Lee Enfield is notorious for headspace problems.

2. Work your loads up gradually. Don't go over middle range recommended loads in any old rifle, especially unusual rounds for which you have old data.

3. At the first sign of excess pressure (backed out primer, flowed brass, sticky case) STOP! Please!

Prayers for this poor man and his family and friends. Remember, guys, all it takes is one mistake or a moment of carelessness. . . . be safe!

[mamelukesabre]

When your 303 is worn out, have it rechambered to shoot 7.62x54R russian.

[nightdriver]

"Most likely an overload."

Could have also been an underload. A lot of handloaders have experienced "detonation" instead of "deflagration" in the load when the powder fills only a small portion of the cartridge chamber. I saw a 0.5 gr. Bullseye load blow the cylinder out of a perfectly good Super Blackhawk.

They make inert fillers just to prevent this irritating little phenomenon.