.22 rimfire case blow out?

Took favorite wife to Bill’s Gun Range last weekend.

I brought along my ol’ .22 Winchester lever action for her to plink with.

As I was standing behind her watching…she squeezed one off..and something burning (powder?) came out of the lever action, bounced of the table and hit her in the cheek!

After checking to make sure she had her eyes (good reason to ALWAYS wear eye protection!) I took a good look at the gun. There was smoke coming from the lever action area, (bottom of the gun) and as I was unloading the tube feed magazine, some rolled out of it too.

After it was unloaded, I found the spent rimfire case cracked from the bottom 1/8 inch of the side wall and the split ran almost half way across the seat of the case.

We didn’t shoot it anymore, because I wanted to take it apart and check for damage.

In pulling it apart, I really couldn’t find anything wrong. The lever action worked perfectly to ensure that the hammer wouldn’t drop if one had the trigger pulled while closing the action…no Rifleman action.

Do you rifle guys think it was just a brittle case or should I be looking for something more?

Thanks!

I would have it checked by a gunsmith. It is possable the action was not completely closed when the round was fired. Happened to my brothers gun years ago (Don’t know the make). Gunsmith did some work on it and it works to this day. good luck.

I would have it checked by a gunsmith. It is possable the action was not completely closed when the round was fired. Happened to my brothers gun years ago (Don’t know the make). Gunsmith did some work on it and it works to this day. good luck.

Brian, I for one have confidence you can handle without a gunsmith.

Brian, I for one have confidence you can handle without a gunsmith.

Thanks for the help guys.

My first thought was along the same lines. Since my favorite wife is left handed..I thought that she may have not had the action completely closed. Although the burning material came out of the BOTTOM of the lever action.

I disassembled it yesterday and I tried to get the hammer to drop by having the lever down, pulling the trigger, then closing the action. I did this several dozen times using each hand and wiggling it every which way.

It wouldn’t fire.

Although I’ve never taken a screw driver to a stuck case..never had one jam. (Christmas present from Dad 30 some years ago)..I thought it would be wise to follow Mr Macks suggestions.

I used a “dental mirror” to check out the chamber area. The only thing I could find was some wax build up…

Which in all likely hood…could have been what was burning once the case split. The ammo is close to 25 years old…so I’m going to bank on brittle brass.

Did I mention that it’s a good idea to always wear eye protection!???

Thanks for the help guys!

Thanks for the help guys.

My first thought was along the same lines. Since my favorite wife is left handed..I thought that she may have not had the action completely closed. Although the burning material came out of the BOTTOM of the lever action.

I disassembled it yesterday and I tried to get the hammer to drop by having the lever down, pulling the trigger, then closing the action. I did this several dozen times using each hand and wiggling it every which way.

It wouldn’t fire.

Although I’ve never taken a screw driver to a stuck case..never had one jam. (Christmas present from Dad 30 some years ago)..I thought it would be wise to follow Mr Macks suggestions.

I used a “dental mirror” to check out the chamber area. The only thing I could find was some wax build up…

Which in all likely hood…could have been what was burning once the case split. The ammo is close to 25 years old…so I’m going to bank on brittle brass.

Did I mention that it’s a good idea to always wear eye protection!???

Thanks for the help guys!