well a bad day at the range to put it litely. anyway was setting up like normal was shooting my ruger #1 and then my ar-15. then jumped to my very plain jane 788 rem. in .223. anyway chambered a round. fired no problem. chambered the second BIG PROBLEM>!! fired the round powder burns in my eyes and face huge. was confused about what had happened. i could see again after few minutes i realized not only did my face get slamed with powder that should been going down the barrel instead of in reverse. but wait theres more it gets better after the dust settled i realized my bolt had severe crack in it. then i couldn't get it opened which wasn;'t a big surprise after seeint the crack. got home put it in the vice and knocked it lose. to my investigative surprised the case was slammed into the bottom of the bolt with no primer after it had ignited. but i couldn't bust the shell lose for nothing it was like it waselded to the bolt. so to shorten this long little story. one anyone out there that can tell what might of made that happen. secondly can i get new bolt for it. and where would i look to do that.!! i killed some many ground hogs and so many coyotes with that gun it kinda special to me. it no reall fancy smancy thing but it was so accurate i could kill sparrows consistently at 200 yards on any given day so if it salvageable please let me know where i can get my repair parts. also should have the lansing and chamber inspected for damage it would make sense to me to do so. but iam just wondering if theres someone who has more knowledge. by the way the ammo was realoads i used the same reciepe for about 5 yrs and never once had a problem ever. so please any wisdom would be greatly appreciated. thanks joekid25

See if you can find a real gunsmith (not a parts replacer or a gunstore sales clerk).

Hate to tell you this, but there is a very good chance that rifle is scrap..in fact, from your description, i'd be on it. To blow the bolt as bad as you did, there is probably damage to the barrel and the action.

Sorry...this one is not for home repair, and possibly, not for repair at all.

Welcome to the forum joe. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

As for your 788 I would have a gunsmith check it out. He may or may not be able to get a new bolt for it. You can check on parts availability at Numrich Arms. Here's the link.

http://www.e-gunparts.com/dept.asp

It sounds like you experienced an overload. If there was enough pressure to actually crack a bolt you may have some barrel and chamber damage and need to see what the headspace is. If your barrel is salvageable you many have to have it set back and rechambered along with putting in a new bolt.

There's a good probability that the rifle may be beyond being fixed for a reasonable price and a gunsmith can tell you that.

I'll put it simple, plan on scrapping it out. Sorry about your loss. The way a 788 is put together, I would not even attempt a repair on it. Buy a bbld action and rebuild from there. I've had a few and the most recent was a sweet .222, that would be a great loss.

question. about powders. is it possible that by a shear mistake that if h110 was slighty mixed with a rifle powder for .223 bolt rifle. military surplus WC-860) could it cause a overload?? i can't seem to come to any other conclusion why i had mishap with my bolt .223. i used the same exact load for 5 yrs. never ever had a problem before. i been retracing my steps in my mind. i am elimanting avenues of what might have happened to make this mishap take place. thats the only possible thing that i could of played human error in. is a slight mixng of powders. the only other thing is the gun itself had or developed a potential defect or some kind weakness that was worn apon it over time and the stress of shooting. any wisdom on this would be great. thanks joekid25

How close does your old pet load come to filling the case (to the base of the bullet)?

How do you charge your loads? One dipper? Two? Weighed charges?

What is the powder, charge, bullet, & primer?

How would the different powders have been mixed?

Do you crimp those loads?

On the previous shot, did you hit the target?

How bout on the blow up shot?

mixing of powders, intentional or otherwise, is bad business. Don't do it.

Yes, firearms can develop stresses over time and fatigue just as well as any other mechanical device, especially if always operated at the maximum level of performance.

The main thing is that you weren't hurt permanently. There is one other thing to consider, its rare, but it happens. If you use a powder measure, and something lodges in the drop chamber or tube, it can retain part of one load and dispense it with the next causing an overload. This happened to me when a small piece of that Styrofoam can seal fell unseen into the powder inside the can. When it fell into the measure it became a "damper" like that in a stove, sometimes dropping the whole charge, sometimes holding some back until the next time. That drove me nuts trying to figure out why the charges were varying so much. Fortunately I weigh each thrown charge! If the measure is stored for any time, or is installed on the bench without a cap, things can get inside, even dead insects.

I too have a 788 in .223, and it indeed is a nice little rifle that mashes ground squirrels at long distance. If the locking recesses didn't set back, it may be salvageable, but most parts are unavailable, when they are, they are expensive; a new magazine costs $75.00! Indeed, you may want to think about buying a new rifle (how about a Savage they shoot better and are reasonably priced?) because that Remington bolt is fairly flexible, as you found out.

When I was using H335 in my 788 .223 I experienced several blown primers AND IT WASN"T DUE to overloading, it was due to temperature. The load I'd developed in Montana when the gun was new didn't like , for lack of a better explnation, the elevation change and temperature extremes here in CO. The boltface now has a couple of craters in it from the blown primers but it otherwise is none the worse for wear.

Like others have stated, take it to a real gunsmith and have it checked out and like Bob said Numerich is the place to get parts for them if any are available.

RJ

One very real possibility was that you did select the wrong powder. Replacing 860 with the same volume of H-110 would definitely have this result. If you accidentally dumped a measure full of H-110 into a bottle of 860 it would be possible to get anything from straight 860 to straight H-110 in the hopper next time you filled it from the same bottle.

A second possibility and this has happened to me, was a bad case. Was this a new case and it's first loading? I have twice had badly expanded heads on cases on the first load that were definitely a result of that particular case being too soft from the factory. Fortunately, it was with a cartridge developing much less pressure that the .223!

Regardless, if you are unsure, and there is any possibility that you mixed two types of powder, dump it on the lawn for fertilizer, it isn't worth enough to take chances with.