Ak74 blown apart

chubbs47 · 02-12-2011, 15:34

Today my cousin took his ak74 out for the first time. On the first round he stopped, and said there was something wrong. The hand guard was cracked and missing pieces on both sides. The palm of his hand was bloody and powder burned.
I'm not really sure what happened. When he purchased it we cleaned it and oiled the gun.
He was shooting wolf military classic. When we had him bandaged up we inspected the gun and found hairline cracks in the barrel along the sides.
The bore was free from obstruction, and I don't think it was a double charge.
I don't know much about ak's, and I was just wondering if you guys had some ideas of what might have happened.
Thanks for any help.

frank_drebin · 02-12-2011, 15:47

For a barrel to crack there would almost have to be an obstruction of some sort. Possibly a squibb or a bent barrel. Can you post pics?

PlasticGuy · 02-12-2011, 16:06

It takes a huge amount of over-pressure to blow the barrel of an AK. I'd guess you had something lodged in the barrel when that round was fired. Any other option would involve ammo problems of some kind, but that's extremely rare with Wolf 7.62 and 5.45 ammo.

***faawrenchbndr*** · 02-12-2011, 16:26

Damn sorry to hear of this,.......how's his hand?

What brand Ak was this?

chubbs47 · 02-12-2011, 16:42

The barrel looks straight, the gun was cleaned put in a case until he pulled it out to shoot. That is what I was thinking that it was obstructed, but I don't know how any thing could have got in there.

Is it possible that the barrel was cracked before hand? What would happen if you fired a cracked barrel?

I'll try to put up pictures later if I figure out how.

chubbs47 · 02-12-2011, 16:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by faawrenchbndr

Damn sorry to hear of this,.......how's his hand?

What brand Ak was this?

His hand is burned and missing a few layers of skin, but it will heal.
As far as the brand I'm not sure. I think it was made in Romania.

***faawrenchbndr*** · 02-12-2011, 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by chubbs47

......Is it possible that the barrel was cracked before hand? What would happen if you fired a cracked barrel?
.

My thought would be that if he cleaned it, them placed it into a case, I would not
think a barrel obstruction would be the case here.
I believe the barrel was previously damaged in some way, then this first shot
caused the barrel to split.

sopmodm4 · 02-15-2011, 02:23

Was it a US made barrel or a Romanian barrel(please give us the make and model of the rifle). If you fired the rifle with a cracked barrel it probably wouldn't cycle effectively but somewhere in the chain of events something defective ended up in your possession.

The closest thing I have seen to this was when a guy rebuilt/refinished a Remington Sendero that had been in a house fire(we told him it was ruined). The barrel had long hairline ruptures from the chamber to about the middle of the barrel and blew flames out the side on the first shot scaring the crap out of him.

rcbif · 02-15-2011, 07:17

Yikes. Sounds like it could have been worst. Glad he's ok. Let us know if he tries to send the rifle back to have it inspected. You never know, he might get a replacement, or just get told it was his, or the ammos fault and they cant do anything. Be sure to send them some pictures of his hand if he sends it in.

Another Miller · 02-15-2011, 09:11

Wierd.Could be alot of things.

Too much oil in the barrel can cause a spike in pressure.It would take alot though.bad heat treating can cause it.
-undersized bore?
-loose barrel pin?(usually though results in trunnion damages and receiver,not barrel)
-over charged load?
-barrel obstruction just past the chamber?
-hairline cracks in the barrel at or near the chamber?

Im not any expert but seems that for some reason,whatever caused it,it started 3-4" past the chamber,where the pressure wave starts behind the bullet.

Id take it right over to where he got it along with pictures of his injuries.

toshbar · 02-15-2011, 11:59

tagged. I wanna see some photos of the barrel.

chubbs47 · 02-15-2011, 12:49

Here are some pics if I did it right

chubbs47 · 02-15-2011, 12:51

There are hairline cracks on both sides of the chamber. They are a little hard to see in the pictures.

frank_drebin · 02-15-2011, 13:26

Are there any bulges in the barrel?

chubbs47 · 02-15-2011, 14:18

I haven't noticed any bulges in the barrel. Before he shot it i did spray some Rem oil into the action, but I wouldn't call it excessive.

He finally got a hold of the dealer and he said that they could work something out.

PlasticGuy · 02-15-2011, 16:19

I've seen a few guns that "let go", but I've never seen anything quite like that. Please let us know what you find out.

sopmodm4 · 02-15-2011, 16:31

Wow, that is a Cugir with dimples! That was made in the military factory and not some cobbled together US gun with Romanian parts. Something really weird happened there. No bulge or stretching means the barrel just shattered!

toshbar · 02-15-2011, 17:15

Is it an illusion or does that crack continue into the receiver towards the rivet?

Mail Clerk · 02-17-2011, 08:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by chubbs47

Today my cousin took his ak74 out for the first time. On the first round he stopped, and said there was something wrong. The hand guard was cracked and missing pieces on both sides. The palm of his hand was bloody and powder burned.
I'm not really sure what happened. When he purchased it we cleaned it and oiled the gun.
He was shooting wolf military classic. When we had him bandaged up we inspected the gun and found hairline cracks in the barrel along the sides.
The bore was free from obstruction, and I don't think it was a double charge.
I don't know much about ak's, and I was just wondering if you guys had some ideas of what might have happened.
Thanks for any help.

chubbs47,

Your cousing is very lucky! It's obvious the handguard and suck helped protect his hand from severe burns. It's obvious the rifle is defective and most likely will be replaced. No one wants to get involved into anything legal with injuries.

Mail Clerk

chubbs47 · 02-17-2011, 11:28

He took the gun back to the shop where he bought it, and the guy gave a full refund on the gun and extra mags. The dealer said he has never seen anything like that before. So overall things didn't work out too badly, other than the hurt hand.

my762buzz · 02-17-2011, 14:32

strange

docwade · 02-23-2011, 22:23

Yeah, that's odd. It almost sounds like the barrel was hardened/brittle. Maybe left too long during chrome lining and hydrogen brittled?