So, some of you will recall this thread wherein many speculated upon the cause of the kaboom
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1870920__ARCHIVED_THREAD____HOLY_CRAP__BCM_Middy_KaBoom__Federal_says_not_our_fault__pg_9__new_pics_pg_10.html&page=1

Then, if you will recall, Aimpoint replaced the T1 that was on the kaboom'd rifle.
Many kudo's to them
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1891275_Kudos_to_Aimpoint.html&page=1

Well, I sent the rifle back to Bravo Company a few weeks ago, and got a call today
and some pics.
Seems that the squib was actually the bullet jacket and core separating
and the 3rd round fired after the " squib"couldn't pass thru the jacket, and thus the rifle blew up.



Seems Federal didn't check jack squat when they had it FOR A MONTH.
The boys at BCM used a bore scope and then sectioned the barrel.

Pics were sent to Federal to see what their response will be.
Egg on face?
A serving of crow perhaps?
A press release of "hey, by the way, once in a while our bullet jackets may separate from the core, just so ya know..."

ETA: No response from Federal for a week, so I called and left a terse message yesterday (Monday).
Received a call at work today (Tuesday). They will be replacing my parts.

Wednesday update.
Nope, just got an email.
Now they'll ONLY reimburse me the cost of the parts IF BCM sends them the upper.

I'm being reasonable.
I'm only asking for replacement cost.
I'm letting them off easy
They could be looking at replacement cost, plus legal fees,
plus punitive damages for screwing around on this and failing to do due diligence.
I was annoyed before. Now I'm pissed.
Could'a lost my eyesight, could'a lost fingers
Spent a bunch of $ to get my backup rifle set up in time for qualifications
Could be asking for more than just actual replacement cost, and they're pulling this?

Latest update, Tuesday Sept 6th.
Federal got ahold of BCM, BCM cc'd me on their reply.
BCM won't ship the upper to Federal. They are shipping it back to me.
When I get it, Federal wants to send me a shipping label.
As soon as they have a tracking #, they send the funds.

Final Update 09/20/16
Federal has the upper. I have been financially compensated.
It only took 3 months and 27 days.

Things I've learned:
1) SilenceThis is a Prophet in his own minor way, because on day 1 he said:
"Lol federal ain't going to buy SHIT. They will say BCM is at fault and BCM will say Federal is at fault and OP will still have a blown up gun 5 weeks from now."
Fortunately that wasn't the end of it.

2) Some people on GD:
a) Don't believe in reading comprehension.
b) Will believe what they want despite overwhelming irrefutable evidence.
c) Just want to stir up hate and discontent.
A pox upon them.

3) There are some VERY generous individuals on here who offered to help me out.
You know who you are.
Thank you for your offer.
Just because I declined your offer, does NOT mean it wasn't greatly appreciated.
Please pass that generosity to those who really need your help.

4) Bravo Company is an OUTSTANDING company that stands behind their products 150%, and offered to take care of me, despite it being an ammo issue.
Had I gone that route, I would have likely had a new rifle within days of the incident.

5) On day 1, I was convinced it was an ammo issue, and never felt right about BCM or people here on ARFCOM replacing it.
It took a while, but when pressed, Federal eventually did the right thing.
I feel good about that.
I'm glad it didn't have to go to court, but I was prepared for it.

6) Wear eye and ear protection at all times.
Had I skipped the eye pro that day, I very well may have lost my eyesight, or had it severely damaged.
I have several extra pairs of eye pro now, just in case.

The LMT lower that survived has been christened "Lazarus".
It will go to the range again.

Cheers
MadMacKintosh

Crow doesn't taste like chicken...

yikes

Those are pretty cool pics.

Pressure of course.    

 

Awesome job bcm.  Good luck op.

The BCM employee I talked to, said that they had only ever seen one other case like this.
Just my luck.

I would love someone to explain what happened.

I assume the bullet was under filled with lead, or the jacket was too thin at the nose, or too thick.
Something along those lines.

Nice to know what the real fault was..mope they take care of you OP...

damn, nice of everyone to replace your shit

It looks like Federal owes you a new rifle.

Wow that's awesome how they sectioned the barrel .


How the hell do you do that.

I bet they did that with a milling machine...

... a section at a time...

 

Oops

I'm not convinced the jacket separated before the kaboom

I'm wondering if it was a regular old squib and when the next round exploded it melted the lead core of the squib round and blew it out

Lol

My guess would be Wire EDM

This would be my guess also.

 

How long does that take?  Any video link?

Federal didn't check jack shit...

Even without a scope you should be able to see that clear as day.

 

TNVC and BCM really do care about their product and their customers. I've seen some really stand up stuff out of both these companies lately.

vid  edit,  posted above, that is cool





 

(•_•)
So, the postmortem revealed the cause of death to be indegestion?
( •_•)>¬¦-¦
I guess it's true what they say...
(¬¦_¦)
You are what you eat...

Yeeeeaaaaahhhh!!!

Seriously though OP, glad it sounds like they're trying to make it right for you.

OST

GD has assured me that you're just paying for a name though.
I'm so confused!

Would it leave the metal with that color coating?  It sure isn't bright shiny metal like it was machined and left bare. Or think they just doped it to keep it rusting regardless of cutting method?

 

Anything with "Federal" or "Government" in the name is bound to be a fuck up.

That was def. Wire edm, on my antique fanuc A1B that would have taken 8 hrs can not wait for a new machine

I take it you've heard of 3-D printers, right? Well, they also make 3-D erasers. All they do is take the 3-D print file and tell the machine which sections of the part to erase. Then, the printer simply applies exorbitant amounts of heat to the areas they want to erase and, vwalla! Your cross section is complete!

Wire edm leaves that surface finish, you can clean it up some with just scotch brite...be careful with those razor sharp edges though

If you can't trust factory, then fucking handloads on a gun you cherish is the only way to go.  

Shame, I was partial to federal cause they had ammo that shot great out of my 10/22 and browning 30-06

So, what kind of bullet was that?



(quoted from the other thread) I never would have imagined that a single box would contain multiple headstamps.

Ok cool.  Threw me for a loop earlier as I've never seen fresh cut stuff only finished products. (In pictures because my broke ass can't afford edm cut gun parts. )

 

on chromemoly? yeah, looks about right. EDM'd parts come out looking sandblasted with maybe a hint of brass color. lightning slicers are cool

THat is known as recast on the EDM'd surface.  We just tumble blast it off of the parts.

QFT.

I have seen all sorts of screwed up ammo come out of a factory box. Primers and bullets loaded backwards. Jacked up cases. Pat Rogers had a huge binder he would show at classes of tons of this stuff. Ammo usually is the source of woe in these issues.

Tag for later.

Good luck hand loading for that 10/22 ! ! !

I'm sure BCM is keeping that section but it wold be pretty cool to have hanging on the wall in the shop.

This.

I've found jackets from bullets in front of a firing line several times over the years. It looked like the bullet squirted right out of them...
Never had one clog a barrel as far as I know...

Tag

That cross section is very cool and interesting. How could the jacket get lodged into the throat of the barrel that way? Where is the core? Vaporized somehow? Or shot out of the barrel as part of the initial squb...

What is even more astounding to me, and from the OP's original thread, is that it appears that at least 2 shots passed through the copper jacket, before the kaboom happened.

I think this is an ammo issue, but a couple very extraordinary things happened in this instance.

ETA, from the archived thread, AF304 called it:

Correct. Ours would cut that at a rate of 10 square inches an hour. They could have 2 passed it and made the finish a little better for the pictures

The ammo manufacturer will blame the rifle.
The rifle manufacturer will blame the ammo.

Seems like that keeps happening recently...

If federal missed that while they had your gun specifically to look for such a problem, what do they miss on a fully automated loading assembly line?

Had a round of Federal 38spcl lead round nose blow up my dad's Colt Cobra. Lot of sentimental value in the gun. Federal had a "fuck you" attitude about it and did NOTHING. That's the reason I screw with EVERY Federal employee I ever run into.

ETA: Federal is why I started handloading.