Rem 721 blew up

[Leadlobber]

A friend shoots a 6.5 -.284, Rem 721 . Last Thurs night his first shot... gun goes bang , back end of the bolt is blown an inch maybe 2 inches out the back of his bolt , the hand made benchrest style stock split 5 inches along the receiver . Shooter was wearing glasses but his face was cut along with his hand . Once home the bolt was tapped open and bolt removed .Previously, the bolt was modified to use a Sako style extractor. That piece is broken and missing .The Lapua case is stuck to the bolt face.All bullets were pulled 48.5 gr of powder same as last 2k he has fired .
Besides the shooter being really lucky ...what say ye gun grues , did the bolt up and fail ?? Shooter is considering replacing the bolt and driving on , the trigger will also need work . Stock has been repaired
So is action salvageable ??
What was the cause .??
It is believed there was NO obstruction in the barrel.
Made me a believer in shooting glasses.

 

[Lakenut]

Take it to a smith. Sounds like a pretty major failure of the locking lugs either on the bolt end or the bbl end. Personally it would scare the poo out of me to pull the trigger ever again with that rifle.

 

[cktad]

A friend shoots a 6.5 -.284, Rem 721 . Last Thurs night his first shot... gun goes bang , back end of the bolt is blown an inch maybe 2 inches out the back of his bolt , the hand made benchrest style stock split 5 inches along the receiver . Shooter was wearing glasses but his face was cut along with his hand . Once home the bolt was tapped open and bolt removed .Previously, the bolt was modified to use a Sako style extractor. That piece is broken and missing .The Lapua case is stuck to the bolt face.All bullets were pulled 48.5 gr of powder same as last 2k he has fired .
Besides the shooter being really lucky ...what say ye gun grues , did the bolt up and fail ?? Shooter is considering replacing the bolt and driving on , the trigger will also need work . Stock has been repaired
So is action salvageable ??
What was the cause .??
It is believed there was NO obstruction in the barrel.
Made me a believer in shooting glasses.

Depends on who or what was involved with modifying the rifle but is it possible that caused the problem?

 

[Okie4570]

Actions are cheap, compared to the risk of continuing its use.........I wouldn't reuse it.

 

[Leadlobber]

I am with you guys , I would have a hard time sitting behind that rifle/ same action, and pulling the trigger.

 

[aviator41]

Yeah, I dont think I could either. If he does, he needs to proof the setup.

 

[Boehlertaught]

With the stock and the bolt trashed there is little left. Particularly since he has 2K rounds through it...the 6.5 x 284 wears out barrels really fast. It's not uncommon to see changes in accuracy in less than 1000 rounds. Actually, there's a chance throat erosion messed up the head space and caused the blowup. If this receiver was mine I would rebuild it using only the receiver. And only after the receiver past a really thorough tolerance check by a gunsmith I really trusted.

 

[GlockPride]

Who knows what metal fatigue has been accrued due to this failure. It would be a wallhanger for me and an opportunity to start over fresh.

 

[streak]

inspect for bolt failure and to ensure rounds were loaded with the correct powder. Happened to someone on here a while back IIRC they put pistol powder in rifle rounds.

 

[mr ed]

Pictures would be nice. from your description it sounds like pierced primer or failed primer,
cocking piece is jammed to rear like its supposed to, in such a failure. gases released by failed primer went down and out as supposed to, thereby cracking stock. if it had been a BDL it would have blown the mag parts out on the ground and you would have gotten less in the face debris. extractor was blown away by gases. sounds pretty much standard for a remington.
I've worked on rifles that the shooter chambered the wrong round and pulled the trigger and they do the same thing but they are easy too tell. take bolt face and hold to mirror. the printing on casing is printed real good on bolt face by pressure.