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.