Blown-up gun?
I'm needing a little help with a gun my son shoots that blew-up in his eyes this past weekend. I think I will need to send it into Browning, but I would like to know what I'm dealing with before sending it to them. The gun is a Browning 270 bolt action. It had just recently been cleaned, broken apart and completely cleaned, deer season was over. The 270 bullets were purchased mid-December at a local "big-box" sporting goods store. The extra shells had been kept in the sling attached to the gun. He went hog hunting this past Sunday. He placed the shell in the gun and locked down the bolt. When he shot the gun the whole center piece of the stock shattered/splintered into pieces. He said it was like the gas from the bullet shot out the rear of the bullet. The projectile hit the hog and killed it. The bolt is now seized closed - it cannot be opened. There are two cracks on the barrel below the bolt action. When he pulled the gun away from his face he was bleeding from both eye areas. He has/had two black swolen eyes, with a couple broken blood vessels in his right eye. Soes this sound familiar to anyone? It could have KILLED him! I will try to put some pictures up, maybe those will help. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Lori
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Contact Browning by telephone, don't e-mail them, call customer service by telephone. Don't touch the gun and do not attempt to open the bolt, you want to be exactly as it was when the incident occurred. Save the remaining ammunition and if you have the ammuniiton box keep it since it will be marked with production information. The folks at Browning will give you precise instructions on what to do as far a shipping the rifle and the ammo to them for examination. 0 -
Do you feel like I need to have someone - gunsmith - look at it before I send it to Browning? I'm concerned Browning might not give an unbiased report of their findings? Can I put pictures up in my threads? Lori 0 -
It sounds to me that the ammo is the root of your problem, rather then the rifle. Although it's impossible to diagnose the problem remotely over the net, my 2? would be to check the ammo very closely. There is always a possibility that a mistake was made in factory of loading the ammo with the wrong kind of very fast burning gun powder. Or that some AH in the big box store switched one of the cartridges with a home made pistol powder load for S & G. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by LoriAnne
Do you feel like I need to have someone - gunsmith - look at it before I send it to Browning? I'm concerned Browning might not give an unbiased report of their findings? Can I put pictures up in my threads? Lori
Once a gunsmith, unless his shop is an authorized repair station for Browning firearms and he has the okay to proceed by Browning, starts tinkering around with the rifle any claim you might have for damages is going to be in jeopardy. As rufe-snow already said, ammo is going to be the first thing that will be looked at and the Browning factory will be the ones to determine if the ammunition was suitable for their rifle.0 -
Is there any ammunition remaining in the rifle magazine?
It shouldn't be shipped as it is if there is ammo in it.
Let Browning tell you what to do as some ammo may have detonated in the magazine and jammed it.
Your son is lucky he wasn't injured.
Have his eyes examined by an eye doctor.
Good luck with this.0 -
I would be contacting the manufacturer of the ammunition as well as browning. The odds of it being gun related are minimal in comparison to a problem with ammunition. Take lots of pictures, including the damage. Make sure your son gets checked out for fragments in his eyes.
On a side not:
Will the shoulder of a 30-06 round let you chamber it in a 270?0 -
Here is the inofrmation for Browning Customer Serivice:
Browning Service Department
One Browning Place
Arnold, Missouri 63010-9406
1-800-322-4626
There are authorized Browning service centers all over the country (but I apparently none in GA) but you'll have to wait for the factory to give you the okay to ship the rifle.0 -
oil left in chamber can cause excessive pressure and damage. I wouldn't send the gun or ammo to anyone without taking pictures of everything including your sons damages, I might even talk to a lawyer just for some insight. 0 -
This link shows how to post photos in our forum. If you would like to share the photos with us we'd be interested to see them.
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2592940 -
You mentioned the rifle was cleaned prior to the failure. Assuming the same ammo was used as previously without any problem and the rifle performed previously without any problem then I would suspect the cleaning procedure. Excessive oil, heavy oil and or patch left in the throat area or any barrel obstruction could cause this failure. Expert analysis of the rifle will reveal the problem. 0
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