Garand Kaboom

[flatwins]

That hadta hurt.

 

[mr ed]

You would feel a very noticable difference in recoil impulse with a squib load, or as we called it in the US Army "pop no kick". If you watch the vid on the last round before the kaboom, you'll see her clear an empty that only partially cleared the chamber. That should have been a big hint for her to stop shooting an inspect the bore, not to continue shooting!

+1000 this! new shooters should be instructed that if anything feels strange or different while shooting to stop immediately and inspect the gun thoroughly. this includes different sound, different recoil, change in gun operation.
all 3 of these indicators happened in this video.

 

[Perplexed]

You would feel a very noticable difference in recoil impulse with a squib load, or as we called it in the US Army "pop no kick". If you watch the vid on the last round before the kaboom, you'll see her clear an empty that only partially cleared the chamber. That should have been a big hint for her to stop shooting an inspect the bore, not to continue shooting!

Thanks. So how common - or rare - was a squib load using M2 Ball ammo? I'm still wondering if those two people hadn't been using steel-cased ammo because those cases looked shiny white, not yellow. Perhaps that stuff wasn't mil-spec.

 

[Sanjuro82]

Yeah that was 100% a squib load. Poor girl probably wasn't even aware that there is always a possibility of a squib load when firing. And she definitely wasn't aware of the tell-tale signs (less recoil, lower noise level) of a squib discharge.

When something doesn't seem right, always visually inspect the chamber and bore, before chambering the next round and pulling the trigger!

 

[mr ed]

Thanks. So how common - or rare - was a squib load using M2 Ball ammo? I'm still wondering if those two people hadn't been using steel-cased ammo because those cases looked shiny white, not yellow. Perhaps that stuff wasn't mil-spec.

Why would it matter if steel cased? U.S. had steel cased in WWII. The material used in the casing doesn't make a squib, not putting powder in it does. It doesn't matter if your using the finest, most expensive ammo in the world. Squibs happen!

 

[Perplexed]

Why would it matter if steel cased? U.S. had steel cased in WWII. The material used in the casing doesn't make a squib, not putting powder in it does. It doesn't matter if your using the finest, most expensive ammo in the world. Squibs happen!

I was just wondering if the steel-cased ammo might have been a commercial product. The woman in question does say it was "newer" ammo they were using; here are her latest comments:

I was very lucky with the outcome. I have lots of splinters and bruising, but nothing broken. My left hand took the brunt of the blow to my wrist and palm of my hand. Still pretty painful, but I will be fine. Thanks for the concern.

arizonagirl24 1 hour ago

I am the person this happened to. The 7th round jammed, which is nothing unusual for this gun. It happens all the time. That is why I didn't really hesitate to shoot the final round. We were using newer ammo, so we don't think that's the problem. My brother has been looking at his M1, and we noticed it will still fire with the chamber not fully closed. The chamber can be open up to 1/2" and the weapon will still fire. We think that's what happend.

arizonagirl24 1 hour ago

Wouldn't her comments indicate an OOB incident?

 

[Buzzdraw]

He fired 8 rounds, with the en-bloc clip ejecting with the last empty case. She shot 6, then did some sort of rifle clearing exercise. The KaBoom then followed for her. Beyond that, I can't be absolutely sure what happened. Garands will fire out of battery, so the stuck bullet theory is a possible. A primer-only loaded round wouldn't push the big old .30 jacketed bullet very far. If the bullet was stuck just forward enough to block the succeeding round following from completely chambering, the bolt could have been unlocked, but the hammer would still fall.

 

[Lone Wolf '49]

Another M1 Garand lost forever, that is sad.

 

[Glocktogo]

Hmm. What if you can't hear - would you feel any difference in the recoil with a squib round? Any other indications besides the sound and the lack of a visual impact downrange (assuming you're shooting at something that reacts visually, like a hanging steel target or a paper target with a gravel / dirt backstop)?

You can tell as she shoots each successive round, her control over the rifle deteriorates. She's probably not used to shooting it and wouldn't recognize the telltale signs of a squib.

 

[HMFIC]

Looks squib to me, did she answer on the comments ever about whether the round she cleared was fired or not?

She sure did wimp the bolt back forward after clearing, but I wouldn't expect an OOB to go all blow'd up like that.

Another factor to consider is that military .30-06 for M1 Garands is loaded low compared to commercial .30-06. Normally, the shooting of commercial .30-06 can result in a bent op rod, but at the extreme end of pressure could it cause a kaboom too?

Good learning lesson to be absolutely aware of what's going on.