So there i was, setting record after record and wooing the crowd with my speed shooting skills at the steel match doing elite operator triple and quadruple taps with splits so fast my finger should be tax stamped as a BATF class III device when all of a sudden the front half of my fortune and fame goes flying downrange and ending my dreams of world class steel domination. Well, some of that is true anyways.

 

Looks like a squib lodged itself near the muzzle end of the barrel and the next one pumped into the back of it caused the barrel to blow out catastrophically and completely separate in two and send the front portion flying downrange. The barrel is a carbon sleeved ultralight with a thin barrel liner that is all fastened together with a muzzle cap. Both the cap and the sleeve went flying leaving a stump of a mangled barrel left behind. Check out the part of the barrel peeled back like banana, cartoon style!

 

I was shooting Federal 745 bulk pack ammo which i've never had an issue with before, but there's always a first i guess. The Manufacturer was super kind in getting me fixed up and running again as he's a fellow competitor and very understanding that "stuff" happens. Also put in a claim in with Federal for reimbursement of damages and return/replacement of that ammo. Don't want to shoot any more of that case if there's an issue with the lot.

 

The carnage!

 

holy crap! glad your OK (you are right?) that stuff is scary. this might be a dumb question but what kind of rifle was it?

Not being a record setting shooter like yourself, I am unable to tell what type of firearm you were shooting. So umm...whatcha shooting?

10/22?

Thats a taccom barrel on a dedicated .22 rimfire ar15 platform --- Certainly not the barrels fault -- Glad it let go where it did and didn't cause injury although could have been bad for your support hand

 

I've got the aluminum wrapped barrel and not the ultralight, carbon fiber version shown here

Looks like it's a TACCOM3G barrel for an AR. Sorry to see that happen to you. As long as you came out ok and can keep on shooting the next day, it's all good. Parts can always be replaced. Your well being, not as easily. Glad the manufacturer stepped up to support his customer.

Ah, beat me to it. Do you think if it was a heavier standard barrel like a CMMG, it would just blow the squib out, or would it generate excess pressure causing failure and blowout at the chamber instead? Almost seems like this can be considered a safety feature. Wouldn't like either, but I rather have a rupture 20" from my face than a few inches.

Correct on the brand and fortunately no one was hurt in the making of this paperweight. Tim the owner delivers top notch customer service and should be a model for vendors everywhere.

 

Its probably fair to speculate that a heavy bull barrel may not have sustained the same type of damage, however, due to the construction nature of these type of lightweight sleeved design, the liner does act as a safety valve for such an overpressure situation. My only indication of something being wrong was the carbon sleeve and barrel cap going downrange in my peripheral. Luckily the system is very modular and can be easily repaired at minimal cost without needing to replace the entire system.

glad to hear your alright.

Jon,

 

Can you show a pic of that rifle?

I was there, it wasn't as exhilarating as Jon is making it out to be.

 

 

Wow!!! That's an entertaining little fairy tale. I kind of remember it as an "oh well" kind of moment.

Didn't this happen a few weeks ago?

Yeah, it did happen at the last steel match but since my replacement parts just arrived, i was reminded of the incident and figured i'd share. And alec and steve must have been off in the woods screwing around when it happened because it was every bit as exciting as i described! Between the blinding sparks, ear shattering explosion, thick mushroom cloud, women and children screaming everywhere and schrapnel raining down like the apocolypse, it was surely a sight to behold! Actually this and probably most barel kaboom's are fairly mundane. Like an ordinary gunshot, its over before you know it and thankfully a statement like "well, that's that!" is as best as you can hope for in lieu of potential bodily harm.

 

Wanna know the real kicker? Even with the rifle destroyed, Alec lent me his for the rest of the match and i still went on to beat him even with a half botched stage and a unfamiliar gun.

 

Sorry princess, couldn't resist.

Bryan, this is what is is supposed to look like.

 

Oh, thats gona leave a mark..

What kind of rifle is it Jon? Looks like a mp15-22 mag but not like a 15-22

 

Wanna know the real kicker? Even with the rifle destroyed, Alec lent me his for the rest of the match and i still went on to beat him even with a half botched stage and a unfamiliar gun.

 

Sorry princess, couldn't resist.

 

Oh, thats gona leave a mark..

 

I'm sure princess will be along shortly to comment.

 

It could have been much worse, thankfully it wasn't. I think we spent more time looking for the end cap than we did wondering how it happened.

What kind of rifle is it Jon? Looks like a mp15-22 mag but not like a 15-22

Its basically a completely dedicated 22LR AR15. Real AR lower (lightweight polymer) but with 22lr dedicated upper ( barrel is 22lr specific .223" bore, 22lr chamber, no adapter, etc) and a lightweight stock with no buffer system. 15-22 mags work in a AR with some thin spacers you can buy online to tighten up the fit. They work better than all the black dog and cmmg mags in that they have a bolt hold open feature and are easy to load with the follower button (And they're cheap!).

Hey Jon sorry to hear about your rifle. I believe I handled it back a while ago when we shot a steel match together. It was

very sweet. Hope you can get it fixed and glad no one got hurt.

Good to hear that Tim stands by what he is selling. I've got a barrel on delivery for Tuesday. I also plan on running the Federal bulk stuff thru it but I'm wondering if I should break it in with something else first.

 

I've got the black dog magazines though.

Tim is definitely top notch in the service dept.

 

For break in, i dont know if it really matters what the actual ammo is. In fact, this instance of a "squib" seems odd in that Federal bulk is always extremely consistent. Coupled with the fact that its generally quite abundant and inexpensive, you see a LOT of people shooting it both casually and at matches so it certainly strikes me as odd that it would happen with this brand. Cheap Remmy or Winny ammo sure, but not Fed.

 

Anyways, the only thing to keep your eye on during break in is leading. I got a fair amount of it with the first barrel and need to run a brush through there fairly often to scrape it out. Eventually after the first 1000 or so rounds, it seemed to stabilize and no more leading but it can certainly wreak havok on accuracy and raise pressures.

Sweet piece, glad you are ok and I guess this is where we learn from your experience.

My god, a .22 LR blowing up? Must be a flimsy barrel to start with to do that! I mean, has anyone ever heard of another .22 LR barrel blowing up, ever? I didn't think the round was powerful enough on a regular .22 rifle, even if you packed the barrel full of lead, to blow it up. Must be an ultra thin barrel on this one.

kman, this particular barrel is of the tensioned/sleeved variety so the construction is not like a traditional monolithic solid steel bull barrel. On order to achieve the exotic light weight, a minimalistic barrel liner is used and tensioned with a outer sleeve to impart the rigidity needed to stabilize the overall barrel. While its by no means delicate or weak, it won't shrug off an extreme overpressure event like a heavy barrel will. The massive airgap between the barrel liner and sleeve is an unbelievable weight savings but clearly does nothing to support such a "rapid expansion". lol

I was shooting that gun as if it were a pistol last year. Could not believe how light it was. Yeah Steve, we spent a lot of time looking for that piece. Couldn't believe it went all the way to the berm where Jon found it.

Just tried my Taccom today and was a bit disappointed. I had quite a few FTF. It would get jammed while feeding the round into the barrel. I tried the federal stuff and CCI mini mags.

 

I also had an issue with the NFA lower trigger where it would not reset. I'm going to replace the crappy poly FCG when I get home with one of the spare ones I had in my LPK that I did not use.

 

I need to get some 22 snap caps to diagnose the feed issue. Buddy suggested polishing the end of the lip of the barrel.

.

 

I need to get some 22 snap caps to diagnose the feed issue. Buddy suggested polishing the end of the lip of the barrel.

 

Just use spent casings, will have the same effect as snap caps.

Darn, forgot to pickup some.

 

Would spent casings be effective to diagnose feeding issues though without the bullet?

Could always use plastic wall anchors, much cheaper than snap caps. Not sure what size you need but a search should tell you as it's been mentioned before.