AR Kaboom injuries

[Suwannee Tim]

Of the couple of dozen or so kaboom accounts I have read over the last couple of years it seems like neither the shooter or bystanders get serious injuries. Contrast this with bolt action rifle failures or others like the M1, M1A, M14, et cetera where failures always cause facial burns and injuries from fragments, sometimes the injuries are very serious. I have always thought this is one of the admirable characteristics of the AR, the ability to protect the shooter in a failure.

[markm]

Yeah... I've never heard of any sort of injury you couldn't rub dirt on....

Yet every thread with an AR Kaboom is guaranteed to have the typical goober thanking the Lord above that no one was vaporized by this earth shattering event.

[mtrmn]

IMHO, the AR platform has a lot more air space in the lower receiver/magwell area for the expanding gas to vent into. Almost every kaboom I've read about (never seen one in person) in AR's blew the mag to pieces and once the shrapnel was cleared, the basic gun was GTG after inspection. (barrel, upper/lower, etc) Yes the occasional upper receiver/BCG has been damaged/destroyed but the bulk of the overpressure was safely vented away from the shooter. Bolt guns have very little interior air space or gaps to serve as vents and therefore turn into more of a bomb when they kaboom.

[SomeOtherGuy]

All the dirt and junk that the DI system fills the receiver with creates a "safety cushion" effect, protecting the shooter.


JUST KIDDING

[blasternank]

Interesting, I've never thought of that but it's true, I've never heard of anyone getting injured when their gun goes kaboom!

[Captain D]

Check these rocket scientists out....
.... here is what happens with some piss poor reloads...Likely never see it with Quality factory loads...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh1lyMyejpI

[duece71]

Check these rocket scientists out....
.... here is what happens with some piss poor reloads...Likely never see it with Quality factory loads...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh1lyMyejpI

Looks like it all vented out of the mag well and blew the mag apart. I'd say he was fortunate. Looks like a few FTFire, probably should have left after the first 2....

[rob_s]

Check these rocket scientists out....
.... here is what happens with some piss poor reloads...Likely never see it with Quality factory loads...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh1lyMyejpI

yay! forward assist!

Seriously, I think the thing that saves most AR kabooms is the relatively weak magazine and magazine retention system, giving the energy a direction to go that's largely safe. I've witnessed a few firsthand, in some cases standing right next to or running the shooter, and the magazine has always shot out of the magwell, straight down. Sometimes dissembling itself in the process.

[wahoo95]

Mr. Stoner was a genius

[Suwannee Tim]

Interesting, I've never thought of that but it's true, I've never heard of anyone getting injured when their gun goes kaboom!

Plenty have. I have read Hatcher's Notebook where he details failures of low number Model 1903s. Lots of folks were maimed, lost eyes and several killed. There is a Winchester Model 70 mounted on the wall of my gun club, blown to hell, the shooter lost an eye. Seems like no one ever gets a serious injury from such an incident with an AR. The closed top upper seems to direct the force of the explosion down, away from the shooter.

Funny about the video, the shooter uses the bench to shoot at 50 yards. Tryin to keep them on the paper I reckon.