Colt Expanse Kaboom

[Benito]

Wow! Glad your friend is OK.
Very interesting.
It seems like the pressure would have had to have been significantly higher than normal to account for that amount of carnage.
Powder charge? Type of powder??

[Iraqgunz]

Someone who gave you advice in the ARF COM thread made some valid points. I would probably listen to him. In every case I have seen like this, ammo was almost always the factor. With that said, a .223 gage will be worthless with a 5.56 chamber (assuming Expanse crap is as advertised).

.223

The only modification of the rifle is a California complaint magazine lock.

[Stickman]

S. In every case I have seen like this, ammo was almost always the factor.

I was just going to post this and add, the title is misleading, it isn't the weapon that had the issue, it is the ammunition and should be addressed accordingly. People title these things like weapons are running around exploding in a vacuum.


Yo, faulty ammunition be faulty Yo! Maybe that makes it easier for some to remember....

[markm]

Jookie ammo is my vote. I've no idea what that box is, but Federal and 5.56 are generally a problem.

[Arik]

Jookie ammo is my vote. I've no idea what that box is, but Federal and 5.56 are generally a problem.

Are you saying that Federal 556 is bad? Honestly curious. I've used them as plinking ammo off and on without issues. Their black box, the dark green box, red box even the camouflage pattern box. Always seemed fine

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[JulyAZ]

As someone who shoots lefty this scares the shit outta me. I'm waiting for the Kaboom thread of a Bullpup and waiting to see how that turns out...

My it's hard to tell what happened there, bad ammo, would be the best guess. But it's also a range rental, so god only knows what they've done to the gun or issues it's had in the past.

[ww2farmer]

If it wasn't from a squib ( I didn't see where you said they looked down the barrel with a light to check for internal ringing, squibs don't always produce a pronounced easy to see/feel bulge on the outside of a barrel), or an OOB discharge, the only other culprit is the ammo, as no amount of other problems with a functioning AR would cause that.

That's the kind of kaboom that happens when you have a full charge of fast burning pistol powder in a rifle cartridge case.

I'd be on the phone ASAP with Federal. And/or grilling the guy shooting it to make sure he didn't sneak a few of his own reloads in to shoot through the rental gun. My local range requires you to shoot/buy their ammo through rental guns for liability, but it never fails, they often catch some jackass using ammo he has in his coat pocket to save a few bucks over buying their ammo.

[556BlackRifle]

Could be a light charge. Powder burns too fast and pressure spikes.

[call_me_ski]

The only theory I had was that it must be ammo related. However, I assume Mike has procedures in place to prevent someone from using great great grandpappy's reloads in his rental guns. I also trust that he reviewed the video to ensure no mystery ammo was removed from a range bag and used in the rifle. That would leave factory ammo as the culprit. While not unheard of it would be less common.

Interesting idea about the light charge. I had never heard of that being a potential problem.

Hopefully his account will get approved shortly so that he can answer questions directly instead of me playing the telephone game via text.

[GH41]

I hate to say this because I have a ton of Federal ammo but if you google it you will find more than one ka-boom story.