A few days ago a buddy of mine fired his 22 lr and one of the cases ruptured. It was all bulged and split in two places at the back end. He actually had to get some pieces of metal taken out of his eye because of it. has anyone else heard of something like this happening with a 22?

Semi-auto?

Yes, and usually the cause is a dirty chamber. That back end that burst wasn't contained by the chamber when it was fired. Semi-autos have a disconnector that is supose to keep the firing pin from falling unless the breech is all the way forward, but most have enough "slack" in the system that they will fire with the case a little bit out of battery. Crusty chamber is the most common reason for the round not to be fully chambered, but one that has been "buggered" (a dent or a little fin of lead) by the loading cycle can also do it.

Are other causes in semi-autos that can cause the hammer to fall (or striker to strike) before the breech is fully in battery, but dirt or mangled ammo tops the list.

Even if you are one of those people who brage about how many rounds they can fire from their rifle wihout cleaning (which seems a lot like bragging about how long you can wear the same underware before your personal parts turn green from mold), ti would pay big dividends to sweep out the crud from the chamber now and again.

If that was some hand operated action, and it fired that far out of battery, then he's got a headspace problem of pretty large proportions.

First of all let this be a lesson to everyone to use shooting glasses even if it is "just a .22."
Stuff happens.

I have seen this before. What kind of rifle was being shot when this happened? In some rifles the hammer will fall even if the bolt is not all the way forward. As a kid, more years ago than we will discuss, I had an old Sear's .22 auto that when it got dirty the bolt would not close all the way. As strange as it sounds, once in a great while it would still fire with the last 1/8 inch or so of the case unsupported. When that would happen the case would bulge sometimes rupture. Usually when this happend the rifle misfired, but as I said, once in a great while things would happen just right and the rifle would fire.

The gun was actually a bolt action. But you're right for sure, unless i'm hunting it's safety glasses for me from now on.

Is possible that the case was faulty or weakend by poor storage. Are certain chemicals that will attack and weaken brass...and there are occasional faults from the maker (had an old lot of Peters HVHP that will crack rims nearly 50% of the time).

(Taking a break for a story: Wife had a cat named "Meme"...Meme mistook my ammo locker for her litter box...which is how I discovered that cat urine will not only discolor brass, but signifcantly weaken it. Meme-2 had better sense. Do you have to ask what heppened to Meme-1?)

Still...with a bolt action, it's pretty hard to get it to fire unless the bolt handle is turned down. Not impossible, have seen tight headspaced rifles fire from attempts ar rapid bolt manipulation...really slamming the bolt back and forth can do it if you put your mind to it, but if that were the case, the round would have fired with the bolt not locked, and you'd have noticed the bolt "slapping" your palm as it pistoned back from the round firing.

So I'd have to guess that (1) that rifle doesn't offer the best gas escape system if he got tagged with brass bits (2) either that round fired with the swollen part not in the chamber or in a chamber that is grossly oversized for .22LR's. Was he perhaps shooting .22LR's in a .22mag chambered rifle? Is that rifle an old one, well worn, and perhaps in need of a gunsmith's attmetions?

Another possibility presents itself...take a look down that barrel with a good light. IS there a buldge or "ring" in that bore. If there was an obstruction, that could havbe raised pressure high enough to blow the case and cause the injury. Usually an obstruction will elave evidence, a buldge or a ring (which is just a radial buldge all the way arround the bore). A tight patch on a leaning rod will feel it out, the tight patch suddely frees up and jumps a bit in the swollen section.

I have a Rem. model 552 auto that will do this when it gets to dirty. Its an older gun, and I have to clean it every 30-40 rounds to keep it safe and functioning properly. I just run a bore snake through it, seems to do the trick.
When this happened it scared the #!%$ out of me, its not only dangerous, but not too good for the ear drums either.

When I was 14, I was shooting a single shot bolt action 22
rifle my dad inherited from his grandfather.

It did exactly the same thing you mentioned.

Difference was I only had to flush powder residue out of my eye.

The chamber was too big for some reason. The cases were
all buldged. This one tore the case.

No, it wasn't a magnum rifle that I was shooting LRs through.

And it was all new ammunition.

Dad said that gun had been splitting cases for as long as he
could remember. Wish he had told me before I started
shooting it. It has never been shot since.

He still has it, even though I recommended cutting it up
with a torch.


Dave

Old ones seem prone to that..combination of soft barrel steel, old corrosive ammo, and lots of wear and tear. Not too uncommon to find the breech end of old rifles worn to about 6mm. Have otehn wondered \exactly what the process is that erodes breeches...is it split rims, gas, and corrosion...friction from cleaning witht the rod off-center from the breech....I honestly don't know exactly why so many have breeches worn almost .02" but with bores still in reasonable condition.

best advice is to find the empty cases that DIDN"T rupture, and take a hard look at them for swelling or other signs that they were close to rupturing. Will probably find many of them swollen, but they somehow held together.

If that's the case, one thing is for sure: the rifle won't heal itself. Will need either the attention (and expense) of a gunsmith or retirement.

Aren't that many real gunsmiths out there...are a lot of parts replacers, but if they can't find a replacement part, they don't want to deal with it.

I wonder if dirt adhering to the outside lubrication on 22LR cartridges is a culprit in the enlargement of the breech? I can't tell you how people I've seen drop a cartridge, then pick it up, load it, and fire away!

Or a stuck case, that someone creatively removed with a drill bit :)

I have had this happen once, but it split at the front end, it was in an autoloader, for some reason the shell jumped up a bit to high at the front end and hit the lead against the back end of the barrel instead of going into the chamber, the slide slambing forward hit the rim and set it off. It made a extra load bang, a few pieces of hot powder hit me in the lower part of the face and left arm, the split case and flatened bullet were both still sitting in the gun, I have them saved.

Michael Grace