I am repeating my topic from BG section.

After 70-80 rounds, my new Bulgarian hunting AK rifle made [color=Red]kaboom[/color].  It was[color=Red] SLR 95 HMB with serial number AD46 0119 , 7,62x39mm[/color]. I have injures on my face and left hand. The shooting glasses save my eyes from the blast.  
The rifle , the  bullets and the magazine are made by "ARSENAL" Bulgaria ( www.arsenal-bg.com )  
They refuse any efective customer service to me. The director of ARSENAL mr. Ibushev, know about my case, but didn't answer to my lawyer. Yesterday we sent a court-invitation to ARSENAL.
These rifles are AK modification. The trigger assembly and reciever are different than original AK. Construction of SLR is [color=Red]dangerous[/color] and fire in [color=Red]unlocked [/color]slide position.

And some pics:

http://www.jose.snimka.bg/album.php?album_id=45884&photo=76

http://images21.snimka.bg/004263673-big.jpg
http://images21.snimka.bg/004263675-big.jpg
http://images21.snimka.bg/004263676-big.jpg
the neck of the case rest in the barel

http://images21.snimka.bg/004263716-big.jpg
the magazine..

http://images21.snimka.bg/004263721-big.jpg

http://images21.snimka.bg/004263833-big.jpg
The original quality certificate, with the signings of the quality inspectors of ARSENAL.

Dang, I'm wishing you a speedy recovery.

What type of ammo were you using ??

WOW I am glad you're not seriously injured or blinded!

It didn't fire out of battery, you can see the case rim stuck to the bolt and the rest of the case still stuck in the chamber.

From the looks of things, I'd say that you had some wildly over pressure round that just blew up.  Rather than chasing Arsenal about the gun, you should be talking to whatever manufacturing plant made the ammunition you were shooting.  

By all means, do not shoot any more of that ammunition in any gun until you figure out for sure what happened.  Don't throw that ammo away either, I'm sure who ever loaded it will be interested in getting a sample back for inspection.  

A case blowing up like that is probably not the fault of Arsenal the gun mfg.  So at this point, it would probably be a good idea to be polite to the gun mfg. and not have your lawyer rack thier balls too much just yet.  It looks to me like the gun itself only did what it did because of the faulty ammunition.

That'll buff right out.

I agree ILAK. The way that the brass is flowed back into the bolt head is an indicatior of major over load. I personally was with a friend of mine on a parie dog hunt in western Nebraska when he blew out a Remmington 700 BDL in .243 Winchester. The bolt head looked just like the one in the picture. When we checked the reloaded ammo he was using we found out that there were several rounds that were almost six grains over the max load limit. I am thinking that something like that happened here too.

 If the rifle had fired unlocked, Your eyeballs would be in the first photo -- One on each side of the boltface.

 Modern rifles are designed to handle case failures by venting copius amounts of hot high-pressure gas out of the action in a safe direction.  It looks like that's just what happened.  

Why when I read a complaint thread does the OP always seem to have a post count of around one?

I hope you recover 100%.

Quoted: Why when I read a complaint thread does the OP always seem to have a post count of around one? I hope you recover 100%.

Could it be that a Kaboom or other unsolved gun issue/complaint may inspire a "lurker" to join and post?  Kinda...     ...pushes you off the fence and into action I would think.  It could be "other" motives, but lets not assume without reason.  Some of us read a lot, talk FTF a bunch too, but post very little.


On the OT, It does look like a bad ammo to my un-expert eyes.(speaking of eyes, THANK GOD you were wearing safety glasses!!!!!!)  And considering the ammo and rifle were both made by Arsenal Bulgaria, I think your making the right moves with the "court invitation".  Crap happens to everybody and every company, and they should make it right to you IMHO.

Tex78
Tex78

BTW, could you post more pics of the bolt and lug recesses (on the receiver)?  Maybe from different angles?  Have you had the headspace checked out with a Go/NoGo gauge?

Also, what are the firearm laws like in BLG?
Tex78

Nice flooring..

All you need is a new dust cover....

looks like copper washed early 1990's chinese ammo.

First of all, the ammo used was fresh "Arsenal" made. So in this case the manufacturer of the rifle and the ammo are the same. The "overpressure" was created thanks to the fact that the catridge went off from unlocked bolt, and without the locked bolt opposition the bullet went forward thru the barrel and the bullet case and the gases went backwards. Thankfully to the design of the AK bolt group the gases erupted to the sides, rather than into the shooters face. Also the gases went downwards and blown off the magazine. Thank god it didn't ignite the rest of the ammo in the magazine. These conclusions are the opinion of any single gunsmith that've seen the gun.

The suspected cause for this critical failure is the bolt not locking in. The reasons for that are complex. First of all hunting rifles based on AK lack some key mechanical parts of the original rifle. That is done so the rifle couldn't be "remade" to full auto. Unfortunately those parts act as safety that disables the weapon to fire without being fully locked. In the Civilian variant of the rifle the matter is resolved differently. The factory quality control actualy tests each individual rifle with the bolt in forward but unlocked position. Rifles that do fire are scrapped. It would seam that "Arsenal" as beaing cheap communist era SOBs, decided to skip that process and save some dollars. A quick check at different gun stores, with the full support of gun traders, several "Arsenal" SLRs of different models where checked if they would fire unlocked. The tests proved that this happens in most of them, though not all of them. After this incident some similar cases have surfaced. "Arsenal" dodged the matter and over a month they avoided making the promised "expertize" on the blown up rifle. As a result legal action was forced. It should be mentioned further that the incident happend with the use of "Arsenal" made ammo, which lead tip being suspiciosly soft, might broken off and obscured the lug groove, so preventing the bolt from locking. Without the safety of the original AK, the rifle fired from unlocked bolt and caused the explosion, thankfully without the cost of life, this time.

P.S.: Follow the link for all the photos of the blown "Arsenal SLR 95":

www.jose.snimka.bg/album.php?album_id=183294

If you look at the rear of the bolt carrier you will see a little piece of metal that extends to the rear above the bolt. This piece of metal is there to prevent the hammer from hitting the firing pin with enough force to discharge a round with the bolt in the open position. It is a safety feature in all AK type rifles. Either the firing pin was stuck or jammed with something and it fired from an open bolt or the ammo was the problem.

As I wrote we made a little experiment on some SLRs in the gun store and it turns out that this feature you mention doesn't do anything. it should, but it doesn't. That's the problem - the quality control. Rifles are being sold without proper testing. 2 out of 3 rifles that we tryied could fire unlocked.

We'd like to know WHAT critical parts are being left out of the rifles.
The AK is a rather simple design without that many parts.
I just can't think of a part that could be left out that would allow the rifle to operate, but fail to prevent a slam fire.

The projection on the rear of the bolt carrier should prevent an out-of-battery discharge unless it's been ground down, or the hammer has been altered somehow to allow it to by-pass the bolt carrier projection.

It's possible a defective round of ammunition or a stuck firing pin allowed a dreaded slam-fire.
American shooters of the M1 rifle are pretty well aware of this danger caused by ammunition with soft or high primers.
When the bolt slams shut, the bolt striking the high primer causes the defective round to fire before the bolt can lock.

Quoted: We'd like to know WHAT critical parts are being left out of the rifles......

He refers to an auto sear. Aside from enabling the gun to fire in full auto, it is also serves as "safety" device that insures that the bolt is closed prior to releasing the hammer.

BTT

And the rate reducer/hammer delay

http://images21.snimka.bg/004318021-big.jpg




http://images21.snimka.bg/004318022-big.jpg


http://images21.snimka.bg/004318023-big.jpg



http://images21.snimka.bg/004318024-big.jpg

http://images21.snimka.bg/004318045-big.jpg

THOSE pictures are MOST creepy!

OK - that hammer is ON the FP with the bolt out of battery.  I can't tell if it's the hammer config, or if the carrier tail has been bobbed - but the hammer face is definitely in contact with the rear of the bolt, and the bolt is not closed.

AK bolt is fully closed way prior to BC reaching full forward position.
On all my AKs it is about 3/4" - 1/2".
BTW, the full auto sear releses the hammer at about this distance or larger.

Folks, finally Arsenal replace my rifle and add some compensation. I returned the broken rifle in their storehouse and i am waiting for te explanation of the last kaboom-problem of thei experts.