Case Failure .338 Win Mag

[wingrider]

Had an incident at OGC on Sunday. 200 Meter range. Case failed on a newer Ruger in .338 Win Mag. Bolt action.
New Factory Hornady Superformance .338 Win Mag ammo. Shooter got a face full of hot gas.
His glasses probably saved his eye.
This case is from the third shot he fired on the 200. First 2 were on paper so barrel blockage appears unlikely.
I wanted to share this picture of the case. Worst one I have ever seen.

[Ghost]

That does not look like fun.

[JJ]

338 Win Mag is a belted case. I'm not seeing a belt...

[wingrider]

338 Win Mag is a belted case. I'm not seeing a belt...

This is a pic I took of the box after the event.
The case is pretty deformed and I didn't look at the rest of the brass in the box.

[JJ]

Didn't happen to look at the head stamp did you? Looking at the case, I see a distinct lack of a belt. Also look at the case mouth, and you will notice the ring. That appears to be the case neck entering the lands.

As well, you can see a distinct ring just behind the shoulder. That would be the original shoulder of the parent case, that has FireFormed to the chamber wall.

I am 99% certain this is the wrong case fired in the wrong chamber.

[wingrider]

Didn't happen to look at the head stamp did you? Looking at the case, I see a distinct lack of a belt. Also look at the case mouth, and you will notice the ring. That appears to be the case neck entering the lands.

As well, you can see a distinct ring just behind the shoulder. That would be the original shoulder of the parent case, that has FireFormed to the chamber wall.

I am 99% certain this is the wrong case fired in the wrong chamber.

The 2 RSO's working the 200 checked the head stamp and the shooter next him checked it. I was the lead RSO and I had to fill out the paperwork for the club so I checked it too. The gun was definitely .338 win mag.
I got a picture of the base of the case but it was so deformed it was unreadable.

[crbutler]

And if you read the case head it looks like it says Springfield, ie .30-06 case.

Don't doubt the box is right, but this is wrong ammo in the gun. Maybe some SOB changed a bullet or two out of the box or something, but it's not a .338 WM case.

[Seismic Sam]

Well, the lesson for the day is to wear your safety glasses with EVERY shot! Yowtch!! That does look about as ugly as it can get. I think JJ is right on point, and if you double click the pictures they come up full size and considerably magnified. No trace of a belt anywhere on the case, and the case mouth definitely still has a crimp in it. Yes, the box says 338 Win Mag, but if you really magnify the case head you can see the Hornady name in the lower right quadrant, and "maybe" the numbers 338 up towards 12 o'clock, but that's a pretty sketchy call. The lower left quadrant is still readable, and the last 4 letters appear to be "SPRP". That would mean it's the Hornady 200 grain SP-RP bullet, which conflicts with the SST labeling on the box. The problem is that there doesn't appear to be enough space left on the rim for 338 Win Mag. The other thing is the case is all bulged to hell above the rim, so whatever went in there was smaller than it should have been. The only guess I can make is a 338-06, and that would be about the right number of characters for the space on the case head..... If it had been that, there would have been a pretty substantial headspace problem because the 338-06 is shorter, so the firing pin could have kicked it forward and thus jammed the case neck in the lands. The neck of the 338-06 case is noticeably longer than the 338 Win Mag, so it would have stuck in the lands.

Check the links below and look at the case neck of the blown cartridge. It DEFINITELY looks like a 338-06 neck length, and seeing as the neck isn't split, it couldn't have been a 30-06.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.338-06

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.338_Winchester_Magnum

It would have been interesting to check every case in that box.

[Rip Van Winkle]

Hornady doesn't have a listing for 338-06 brass or ammo. So unless Mr. Kaboom was a reloader savvy enough to neck up his brass, it was a 30-06.

[MXGreg]

Looks like the 30-06 head stamp.

[Seismic Sam]

Based on that case head picture, I have to agree it was a 30-06 SPRG. No telling if that was a factory error or somebody was comparing rounds and screwed up and put them back in the wrong box.

[cobb]

Even on my Ipad can enlarge enough to see that the case is marked 30-06 Springfield. The markings and pictured case on the box are interesting also.

[Eric Marleau]

I've had my .338 WinMag since 1973. I have reloaded for this caliber for 40 years.
THAT is not a .338 WinMag case.
A .338 case, as stated, is belted. Also, the case is shaped different at the base.
Somebody messed up big-time.
Just another reason why I make sure all of my shooters wear safety glasses.
The guy got dumb lucky on this one.

Eric