Savage 11 blew up

[hdball]

I've been a member here a while, don't post much, really just research. I have a few savage rifles stock and custom builds never had any complaints. This past Saturday night my sons 11 243 blew up. He shot a coyote, ejected the case, and when he tried to chamber the next round, the rifle blew up into 3 or 4 pieces. Never had a chance to even try and lock the bolt. Blew the bolt back into his hand, case blew up, gun came apart, and something cut his hand wide open. Bolt is now bent just ahead of the handle where I'm assuming it push back into his hand when the shell detonated. We're not sure if shrapnel from the case or the bolt split his hand open. The doctor did have to dig some metal out of his hand before stitching it up. We don't reload, so factory loads. Upon further investigation the cocking button is still in the cocked position but the firing pin is still sticking out in the fire position. Only thing I can figure is the firing pin broke and got stuck sticking out through the bolt face but everything else cocked as usual allowing him to attempt to cycle the bolt. When the case seated in the chamber he was pushing hard enough to ignite the primer. I've searched all over the internet and haven't seen any cases of this happening before. Usually savage firing pin issues cause the gun not to fire. There have been some cases where closing the bolt has caused the firing pin to fire, but that doesn't explain the cocking button still in the cocked position but the firing pin still out. I guess I'm just posting this to give everyone a heads up. Not really sure what direction we're going in next. Gun probably hasn't had more than 3 boxes shot through it. He saved up his own money and bought the gun when he was 13 or 14 yrs old. He's 17 now and has always taken meticulous care of this rifle. Its just scary when something you count on working has a catastrophic failure like this.

[J.Baker]

There was one account I read about a while back with an Axis where the owner had a similar out of battery detonation. In that case however, the shooter had chambered a round and pulled the trigger, but no bang. He then opened the bolt about half way to make sure a round had chambered and as he was closing the bolt to try the same round again it went off. That one sounded more like a hang-fire from a light primer strike to me.

Best I can tell you is to contact Savage. I'm sure they will want you to send them the rifle so they can check it out and possibly see what could have caused it. A broken and/or stuck firing pin sounds logical though.

[Orezona]

And please, take meticulous photos and document the event while everything is fresh in your mind before you send that rifle in. And don't shoot anymore rounds out of that box of ammunition. I'm glad your son is okay and not at risk of any permanent injuries.

[charlie b]

It does sound like a broken firing pin that got wedged in place.

Glad the injury wasn't worse. I'd also take a bunch of pictures of the rifle before sending it back.

[sharpshooter]

I've heard and saw strange things that end up catastrophic, but the firing pin situation doesn't add up. Not that it's impossible, but I've never seen a firing pin break, let alone wedge itself in a bolt head, protruding.

[hdball]

I'll take a pic of the bolt. Button is in the cocked position, pin is sticking out easily far enough to strike the primer.

[hdball]

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[Dave Hoback]

Praise The Lord your son is ok. Sounds like what you are saying. But I’ve never heard of this one either. Makes perfect sense though. Otherwise, how’d it go off? Firing pin hanging up...and good enough bolt racking, and you have an instant firing out of battery! 60,000psi will tear anything apart.

Still, it doesn’t turn me off Savage. They don’t “KB” at any higher rate than any other firearm. Sometimes machines just break down. I agree with others. Take lots of YOUR OWN pictures and contact Savage to arrange sending it to them.

[wbm]

Ouch!

[Bill2905]

I'm glad to hear that your son is ok.

[Shortbox4x4]

Although I’ll say more information is needed and pictures would sure help as well but I will say I’ve seen plenty of guns that have fired out of battery over the years. That bolt not being locked into battery and has been said....now you have 60k psi that isn’t contained and things are coming a part.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

[oley55]

I pray your son fully recovers, both physically and mentally. Stuff like that can stick in your head, but then young folks are mentally bullet proof and mostly fearless.

[hdball]

I posted a response with pics. It hasn"t shown up yet. My son is already talking about hunting again but he's out of commission until his hand heals. Looking at at least a month probably. My wife yells at him everytime he brings it up. She's still pretty worked up over it all.

[wbm]

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/10/24/man-insane-battery-firing-savage-axis-can-happen/

[hdball]

I tried to post pics yesterday of the bolt so y'all could see the position of the pin and the cocking button but it still hasn't shown up yet. We went over every possible scenario trying to figure out what happened. Checked the first shot case, everything looked normal, correct ammo. Couldn't find the detonated case to verify it was correct but did find the bullet a couple inches in the ground about 8' from where he was standing. It was 6mm. So after that is when I took another look at the bolt and realized the pin was sticking out but it was in the cocked position.

[Robinhood]

My opinion was that possibly the trigger weight and/or possibly the spring tension on the firing pin had been modified. Something was abnormal.

[hdball]

My opinion was that possibly the trigger weight and/or possibly the spring tension on the firing pin had been modified. Something was abnormal.

How does the button indicate it's still cocked with firing pin sticking out? We haven't touched the trigger or firing pin spring. I guess anything is a possibility. Just trying to think of every possible scenario before savage looks at it and tries to tell us it's our fault.

[sharpshooter]

Did you tear the bolt apart yet?

[Robinhood]

Possibly the cocking piece became unscrewed allowing the firing pin to strike the primer. How else could it fire with the bolt open cocked position? Even if he was squeezing the trigger the bolt would be closed before the cocking piece pin could go home. The pin cannot pass the sear arm unless the trigger is pulled. The pin cant fire without the bolt being rotated. If the bolt is rotated closed then the bolt could not move rearward. Only other thing is there was a barrel obstruction. Since we cant see the pictures all we have is conjecture. Unscrew the BAS and check.

[Dave Hoback]

Honestly, this is the first case of a bolt action KB, from firing out of battery. I guess it’s just the first one I have really paid mind to. Just after 2004 was basically the beginning of the AK/AR “Build” culture. I was doing that from the start, and I remember hearing of out of battery KB’s fairly often. By the grace of God neither myself, nor anyone I knew was ever a victim of one.

Just strange, I never really thought of a bolt action to exhibit the condition. So, thank you for sharing with us hdball.