Rifle/Shotgun quals next week, so on a day off I hit the range to confirm zero and shoot the new CMP Garand.
40+ rounds in I had a KaBoom.

I've had the rifle several years, unknown round count, 3000-4000 maybe?
LMT lower, upper is a BCM Midlength, LMT or early non-logo BCM BCG, don't remember which, bought from BCM.
KMR added last year.

Ammo: Federal black box XM193

Like I said, about 40 rounds in, I was doing snap drills at the 100yd silhouette plate.
A round fired, but sounded weak like a squib, and the brass didn't eject.
I manually ejected the case and inspected it - perfectly normal. No signs of pressure, no splits, cracks, etc. & primer looked fine.
Took the upper off the lower, ran a patch thru the bore, bore looked fine.
Ok, I thought, we're good.
Put it back together and inserted magazine. Round wouldn't fully chamber. Inspected the round and it looked fine.
Pulled the upper from the lower again, and reinspected everything.
Nothing visible in the chamber. BCG, everything else looked fine.
Got out the kit and ran the broken shell extractor thru 3 times. Inspected again. Everything looked good and perfectly normal.
Checked the magazine and those rounds looked fine and normal.
Put everything back together, inserted magazine, round chambered fine.
Bang, bang, both normal, then KaBoom.
Here's the result:









No idea what happened. Can't think of what I could have missed.
Bad ammo?
More pics to follow as I try to strip it down.
Bolt is locked up into buffer tube, rear takedown lug is sheared off.

Glad I have a backup for next week, and SWMBO is so glad I'm not injured (other than my pride?)
that she's insisting that I replace it with whatever I need.
I'll be getting on the BCM website to see what they have in stock.
Stay safe out there.

ETA:
Able to remove buffer tube and KMR.
Lower looks good, micrometer measurements check out.
The BCG is solidly fused in the barrel.

To answer some questions, after the "squib"-like round, everything checked out.
clean, unobstructed bore, spent round looked 100% normal, nothing caught by the broken shell extractor.
Zip, zilch, zero nada.
Then 2 more rounds fired perfectly normally, pings on the 100yd steel plate.
Then "big bada boom" a la 5th element.
Hot blast of gas in the face - eye pro intact, always wear them guys!
Hot blast of gas at my feet along with the mag baseplate and several deformed rounds.
And a surprised/shocked/pissed off look on my face.
Moar pics:
BCG is set back into buffer tube area

bolt driven back into BCG



E Lander mag will not buff out I fear.


rounds blown out the bottom of the mag. I was going to just run them thru another gun....


I'm out a middy upper, BCG and ambi CH.
And the Vortex FH is fused to the barrel, can't get it off.
I have no issue with BCM. The gun stood up well to a kaboom, better than some I've seen.
Thank you Paul for a quality product.

I strongly suspect ammo is the culprit.
So for all the talk of Federal making this right, who's done it?
How did you do it?
No ammo box, no lot #.
The ammo was acquired some time ago, as I had intended to test these E Lander mags last year, and just now got around to it.
I have 3 other mags full, loaded at the same time. No intention of shooting it up though.

When my son Utahvarminter gets home from work, I'll have him post better detailed pics with his super expensive camera.

Thanks for all the condolences, and well wishes.
I'm happy that I'm not injured too.
Guns are just stuff, and stuff can be replaced.

ETA Tuesday 1300 MST
Haven't heard back from Federal yet.
Emailed BCM to see if they have a better way to get ahold of Federal
from prior catastrophic failure issues like mine.

ETA Wednesday 1000 MST
Head back from BCM. They're a great company that stands behind their products, and have offered assistance.
I'll leave it at that.

Sent a second email to Federal.
Will be wasting time on their phone tree next.
And then maybe a stern letter from my lawyer buddy?
Should I go that route? I detest lawyers, even him, a little.
I feel dirty when I'm around him. Is that weird?

ETA Wednesday 1420 MST
Just got an email back from Federal, sent them some details and pics.
We'll see where this goes.

ETA
Federal has had it for 3 weeks, no response to email today.
Aimpoint has had the T1 for 13 business days, no word back from them either.
Big companies, I'm sure that they're busy, and have lots to do,
but this is 'merica, and I demand instant gratification dammit!!!!
Sure is hard to be patient some times.

ETA
No email response from Federal, no call, no tracking #, rifle just shows up on my doorstep yesterday.
Included was a letter stating they blame an OOB for the damage.
They were kind enough though to include a check for $47 for the ammo that was shipped back.
Federal can go choke on a bag of....

All who believed Federal would make it right, you guessed wrong.
All who said Federal wouldn't do jack squat, go out and buy lottery tickets.

Too pissed off right now to decide what to do next.
Maybe I should spend the $47 on a bag of dicks , and mail it to them?...
http://www.skdtac.com/skd-bag-of-dicks-p/skd.808.htm

Uh oh.

OST for later review.

First?
Damn, well in.

Do you have the rest of the ammo from that box?

Do you have the box from the ammo? You need to contact BCM and Federal about this

Not good.

OOB?
Edit:  acronym for Out Of Battery

Part of the powder charge from the weak round ended up in the casing that went kaboom or the round was under-loaded enough to cause the casing to explode.

Federal will be buying you a new rifle.




 

Federal XM193 eats another gun.

Yeah, I wouldn't shoot that again.

Dang, glad you are okay.

Another possible outcome is  primer fused to the bolt face and then when it chambered the next round it fired OOB.

That happened to me 10+ years ago.

I agree with contacting Federal and BCM. That said, it would be very interesting to see a few of the XM193s pulled down and weighed.

Gas key fucked up ?

oohhh  in on 1

My thoughts as well.

In!!!

This is what happens when you trust your life to these hobby guns.  You need a quality, factory built upper.


Oh... wait...

A-HA!  "I don't know what happened, baby, it just blew up!"

Just kidding.  Glad you're not hurt.  Interested to hear the diagnosis.

Reading your troubleshooting steps and scratching my head.   Not sure what you could have missed.

Glad your face didn't get fucked up.  Or would it have been an improvement?

glad you're okay

tagscribed.  All of your actions seem logical.  I am curious as to the cause and the resolution.

 
He did everything right.  Federal is at fault here.

Perhaps but what caused the round to not chamber fully when he assembled and went to shoot it again?  Prior to the KB?   Seems the gun was trying to tell him something...but what exactly?

That almost has to be ammo problems.  Glad you weren't hurt.

it sounds like he ejected the suspected squib round and inspected the primer still inserted in the spent case.

Sounds like an ammo problem. Without seeing the BCG out of the gun it looks like it was overloaded.

That sucks man, I'm glad your OK.

that looks like OOB boom

Tagged for updates. Sorry man that's shitty.

Can you torn the light on in the basement and take some new pics?

Looks like an overloaded round or maybe it fired slightly OOB.

 
I'd have to call that unrelated.  Failures to feed properly happen all the time on the first round.

Yowza, good that you did not sustain an injury...

Glad you weren't injured, OP.

Tella ya what happened right there is the thing gone and dun blown up.

Seriously tho it looks like a overcharged round, MAYBE a OOB but I really think overcharged round.Most of the OOB kB's have more signs of damage around the front of the receiver and less at the rear as we see here. Too much pressure and gas for the carrier to handle.

Must be the ammo. Trouble shooting steps seemed logical. Did you check for obstructions after you ran the broken case extractor ?

Glad to hear that you are ok OP.
Without breaking it down it is hard to know for certain but I would guess that it it was caused by overpressure and that can also happen when a round is loaded too light and the primer lights the whole load at one time.

fixer right up!
As long as you have all your fingers and eyes..........

Glad you're OK op. I know Memorial day isn't about barbecues and sales but you should wait until the weekend before buying anything. Could be some nice deals. Just a reminder.

Contact both, sounds like it's on Federal. Sorry bout your rifle.