broke one of our 450s....

[tridentarmory]

ok guys it can be done!
before we begin... let me state that for the record, we were experimenting as a manufacturer, and with proper safety precautions in place..

tested one of our 450s the other day, and forgot all about posting it, but i broke one....
i swedged down some 458 projectiles, and was reaching for 3000fps, and i never made it...

the case stuck, our extractor held strong, bolt survived, but i blew parts of the gas tube out of the forearm... pics to come



FACT: YOU CANNOT REACH 3000FPS WITH A 300G PROJECTILE IN THIS CASE/RIFLE...
FACT: IT IS POSSIBLE TO BREAK YOU COLLAR BONE TRYING...
FACT: REGARDLESS, TRYING TO DO SO, IS ENTERTAINING..
FACT: WE DID REACH A NEW HIGH VELOCITY WITH THE GUN....
by drilling multiple holes for gas ports, filling them with screws, and placing gas blocks over them to help hold pressures, we found that somewhere in the 9.25" neighborhood, we are consistantly able to achieve higher than normal velocities without pressure signs... I ran out of ammo tho, more tests to come next week.

[tridentarmory]

ive got some spectacular pics of the gas tube with a 2"rip in the left side.... this would be a dangerous situation.

from what i know about gas tubes tho.... it should not have been the weak link.... so we may start again sometime.
bolt held up fine tho...

the only reason btw that we are doing this, is so we can discuss the actual fracture point of our system, and hopefully someday see what it takes to cause issues...
someday id like to be able to allow the lifetime warranty to be maintained for handloaders too.

i hate buying a rifle, loading it myself to the best of my ability to increase accuracy or even power a little, and if a firing pin snaps on round 100, im totally out of luck.

[commander faschisto]

Wow...now we know! I hope none of your own personal self was in the way of the flying tube chunks.. ...sounds like the pressure pulse was just to much for it with the case stuck?

[tridentarmory]

honestly, i think the case sticking was not the major issue.... i think it was a faulty gas tube... the case fell out at home with a bump from a wooden dowel after cooling

[MarkCO]

With a short gas system, slow powder and relatively slow projectile in an AR, the gas tube could be the weak link.

[Wicked Hunter]

Are you running a standard gas tube? I think they are made of aluminum. Sounds like a stainless Steel gas tube may be in order. I've heard of guys using SS brake line for heavy gas tubes. They typically do this in Full auto rifles were the heat can become a problem. I think you may have to turn the brake line down a bit where it goes in the gas block and upper reciever to make it fit.

[Hoot]

...snip....I think it was a faulty gas tube...snip

+1

FWIW, the only kind I've ever seen were Stainless Steel. IMHO, Aluminum wouldn't stand a chance in this kind of service.

Hoot

[wildcatter]

honestly, i think the case sticking was not the major issue.... i think it was a faulty gas tube... the case fell out at home with a bump from a wooden dowel after cooling

You're not supposed to shoot it from under the track of that M1 Abrams you've got, that you call your Pick-Up Truck, while it's at the bottom of the Marianas Trench!!..wink.

My only Question is, .."what did that gas tube kill"?..Double Winks..

..t

[Stealthshooter]

I'M sorry man but someone has got to say it. You claim this was a safe setup but then you tell us this gun was shoulder fired with this kind of load? The only way this would of been safe was locked into a vice and remote fired.

[Hoot]

I'M sorry man but someone has got to say it. You claim this was a safe setup but then you tell us this gun was shoulder fired with this kind of load? The only way this would of been safe was locked into a vice and remote fired.

I suspect he was speaking in jest about shoulder firing it.

BTW, there are two threads over on the Olympic Arms site regarding two WSSM based rifles that failed in the exact same way.
One was a .243 WSSM and the other a .300 OSSM. Both appear to have torn the barrel extension apart as a result of bolt thrust. I am watching the two threads with interest as most of you know that until last fall, I had one of those and I ran a lot of loads through mine trying to work up some accurate loads. I hope they are random occurrences, but they serve to remind us that every time you shoulder an AR15 sporting a caliber never imagined by Eugene Stoner, you roll the dice.

Also, they point out that there are worse failures than a split gas tube.

Please don't race headlong into a disaster trying to be the member with the hottest successful load to boast about.

Mom