SmallCaliberCentral

My name is Jim Keener from Dover Ohio. Recently I had a M77. 204 blow up in my hands. Here is what happened. I had shot 14 Hornaday 32gr Vmax just to get the scope close. At that point it was time for reloads as follows. I used new Remington brass which I lubed and sized using RCBS full length dies and RCBS Case Slick. After sizing I wiped off the brass with lighter fluid to remove any residual lube. Used CCI BR-4 primers. 29.3 grs of Hodgdon CFE223. 32gr Hornaday Vmax bullets. I loaded 10 rounds. The first round went fine. The second round blew the gun apart splitting the stock to pieces and disforming the gun. I attempted to open the bolt but would not open at all. Note that both bullets hit the paper target within 3/4" at roughly 80 yards. I sent the gun back to Ruger and their comment was the gun needs replaced. They will gladly sell me a new gun at a reduced price. My gut feeling after receiving that letter is that something is wrong here. If anyone has had this happen to them or know of anyone with a similar experiance please contact me through this forum or at hijk21@frontier.com, 330-602-1155, cell 330-243-6423.

I have an M77 mark II that I have owned for 10years. It shoots great with over 2,000 rounds of 204 through it. Never never had any problems. I would be interested to see how things come out on this. --Derral--

I also would like to know the findings on this one. Overload for your rifle or slip up on powder charge ? Thankfully you were not injured seriously. Bill K

As I was not there, when things happened, or with you in your reloading room, You may not want to hear my opinions. From what you mentioned in your post, it sounds like you had a very highly overcharged round! I would suggest that you pull apart all of the reloads you have left, and carefully weigh the powder charge in each round.
Also, when shooting in the temps of summer, you need to be cautious about where you keep your ammo. Keeping your ammo in direct sun, or in the heat in your car, can and will increase the pressure in your loads when fired. Even in loads that are considered safe in normal conditions. I speak from experience!

Thanks for you response. I did just that. I had 7 reloaded left. I pulled 6 of those and they also where at 29.3, using both my 5-10 and my digital RCBS scales and I only trickle my loads and only ever have one powder open on my bench.. The reloaded where taken directly from my reloading room in my basement the temp is a constant 75. I never, never reload when there is anyone around so there is no distractions and I've been doing my own reloading for nearly 40 years, with this being the first of it's
kind for me.Finally I found out that there is gentleman in Colorado that also had an M77 fail on him. I'm waiting on his reply. Thanks again.

jim204 wrote:Thanks for you response. I did just that. I had 7 reloaded left. I pulled 6 of those and they also where at 29.3, using both my 5-10 and my digital RCBS scales and I only trickle my loads and only ever have one powder open on my bench.. The reloaded where taken directly from my reloading room in my basement the temp is a constant 75. I never, never reload when there is anyone around so there is no distractions and I've been doing my own reloading for nearly 40 years, with this being the first of it's
kind for me.Finally I found out that there is gentleman in Colorado that also had an M77 fail on him. I'm waiting on his reply. Thanks again.

Hi Jim,

One other thing that should be checked is the Brass's Trim Length. I know you said this was once fired, If for some reason the Trim length was overly long (out of spec) that could cause an excessive high pressure.(A chamber not cut to Sami Spec's could also contribute to a Problem).

Ops...I see it was new Remington brass that you had full length sized- did you check the Trim Length after re- sizing?

Yes I do with all my rifle rounds I load including my. 270 .300 .264 creedmore 22/250 .308 etc. Then obviously check each and every round after inserting the bullet in to the brass. Hodgdon reloading data says to start with 29 gr to a Max of 31.8. I filled a new brass and weighed the powder which came out to 33.1 of Cfe223. Also the gentleman, Don, from Colorado got back to me and his M77 malfunctioned shooting Hornday factory rounds

I had a blow up with my Rem. Mod. 700, .204. It wrecked the bolt but didn't seem to harm anything else. I was shooting 30 gr. BLC(2) and 40 gr. V-max, which I had shot hundreds of times before. First shot was fine next shot was excessively loud, noticeably more recoil and I felt gas hit me in the face. The bolt was locked up, I had to use a hammer and block of wood to get it open. Severeal people looked at it, including two gunsmiths and almost everybody seemed to think it was detonition (underload). 30 gr. fills the case just about up the bottom of the neck so it couldn't have been a double load. I throw every load a little light from a powder measure then trickle it to the exact weight so I don't really see how it could have been an underload either. A real mystery that I never figured out. Could yours possibly have been an underload? Just a thought.

Don't think so. But a good thought. Its my gut feeling that possibly just possibly the chemistry on the powder could be off. Just my thought.

I stand corrected. Hogdons Max load is thirty.nine

Srange things can happen and sometimes we never do figure them out.

scary stuff, indeed. it appears that all loading and shooting bases have been properly executed, and if so, that leaves only the firearm in question.

had a very similar thing happen a few years ago on one of my custom built Ar's. Never really came up with a solid explanation. Feel free to read my story if you like. Glad you weren't injured. I thought i wasnt gonna hear outta my left ear for second when it happened to me.

To end it all, Ruger refuses to tell me what happened. I then told them to send it to a lab that does critical fail analysis for the company I work for to see if they could come up with a cause. At that tlme, Ruger agreed to a replacement cost of $200.00. Received the new rifle but have yet to shot it. It's in the safe collecting dust. Don't know if I ever will!!!!! My new glasses weren't cheap. But I guess I can lucky I had them on. Thanks to everyone for their impute.

W-O-W; glad to hear you're ok. I like your idea of having it sent out for failure analysis from an independent company. It would be interesting to hear back if Ruger goes along with it.

I'm under the impression that most firearm companies will void the warranty when reloads are used. Maybe Ruger doesn't.

Jim