[coldears]

This happened at the range today in my pretty new VQ Classic .22.

It was my last shot of the day after firing ~60 shots with no problems. All CCI SV ammunition. The bullet is still stuck in the barrel.

Any idea what might have happened? I looks like the bottom of the bolt face hit the rim of the round and set it off, but I can’t imagine how that could happen. Could this be dangerous? I sent a note to Scott Volquartsen to see what he thinks..


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[Barksdale123]

I would think anytime a bullet does what it isn't supposed to do, it could be dangerous.

 

[gmd1950]

It appears the bolt struck the back of the cartridge with the cartridge not being pushed forward as it should be in a normal firing and loading cycle, and did so with enough force to impinge on the rim and fire it while still still in the magazine. The ding in the rim would be evidence of that.

 

[Rocinante]

This happened at the range today in my pretty new VQ Classic .22.

It was my last shot of the day after firing ~60 shots with no problems. All CCI SV ammunition. The bullet is still stuck in the barrel.

Any idea what might have happened? I looks like the bottom of the bolt face hit the rim of the round and set it off, but I can’t imagine how that could happen. Could this be dangerous? I sent a note to Scott Volquartsen to see what he thinks..


. View attachment 320806

Looks like that's what happened.

But the bullet stuck in the barrel is sort of odd........I guess it could happen if the round was pushed forward enough that the bullet was chambered or the nose got to the chamber.

 

[Toomany22s]

Wow😖that is scary! Did you disassemble? Got a picture of the bottom of the bolt? Must have one heck of a recoil spring for the bolt to hit the rim so hard that it fires. Guess the magazine didnt push the last round up far enough to be pushed into the. Chamber?

 

[Tacoma]

I actually had that same thing happen to me some time back with 10/22 build. ( Boyds blaster stock, GM match barrel, Volquartsen trigger group.) It was on first use of the rifle. I had a few failure to feeds in the first 3-4 mags then a round exploded in the mag in what felt like a double tap. Fairly scary really! Hot gas and frag blew out the ejection port ( and onto y face). What was left was much like is pictured above. That bullet also lodged in the barrel.. I took everything apart , opened the mag well a bit, cleaned, inspected and reassembled it. I didn't see any more failures of any kind for the next few 100 round range sessions but I never did trust that gun afterwards. I sold it off at a loss but then again that's not uncommon with 10/22 projects.

 

[Riflecrank]

I won’t claim I know the root cause of this issue but I’ve seen enough in this thread to make me tear down and clean/inspect my 10/22 magazines more often.

 

[bugeye]

This is why my match chamber is on my bolt action rather than one of our 10/22s.

 

[coldears]

Looks like that's what happened.

But the bullet stuck in the barrel is sort of odd........I guess it could happen if the round was pushed forward enough that the bullet was chambered or the nose got to the chamber.

You can see--I think--where the bullet shaved lead in the upper left going into the chamber. I'm not going to take it apart or change anything until I hear from VQ. I'm tending to agree with Tacoma about trust in the rifle until this is diagnosed and fixed--but it is such a handsome rifle, and I couldn't sell it without disclosing this issue.

 

[Test_Engineer]

Guess the magazine didnt push the last round up far enough to be pushed into the. Chamber?

Agreed. Either the mag is dirty and/or the spring is under tensioned. It just failed to get that round lifted in time for the bolt to push it out correctly. Don't see an issue with the rifle.

 

[Thomasconnor]

The term for that is out-of-battery fire. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often with semi-autos.

That bolt slams into the area of primer charge every time. Eye protection is critical.

Personally I think match chambers are highly overrated and they make an out of battery firing more likely...Tom

 

[541MD]

Clearly magazine malfunction. The magazine dirty or faulty griped cartridge enough to allow bolt to strike rim. Cartridge should not have been in this position to allow it to be struck this way. I don’t believe it has anything to do with rifle unless it would be function of magazine release. I never had this happen with Ruger but have had other autos go off out of battery. Cartridge has to be contained enough to “ launch” bullet. In most cases unsupported 22 will blow case away from bullet with little case damage. Set 22 on hot plate and watch it through plexiglass shield, you will see what I mean.
Also if you put your thumb against bolt handle on a 22 and fire it you will be surprised at how little force it takes to hold it shut. Pressure is like water it will always take the path of least resistance.
Of all the wives tails you here about 22 gun and 22 ammo the most dangerous thing I’ve seen people do is fire 22 power shells for Ramset type tools. There are several power levels of these cartridges some designs off 22s will not handle the pressures. Especially the idiots on You Tube using them to fire any object they can get in 22 bore.

 

[samven]

I would check the bottom of the bolt were it would normally pick up the new round and make sure there is no sharp edge. It could be the mag did not push the shell up far enough but that should not cause this problem or it would be happening all over the place. It looks like a combo of things. Dirty or weak mag, sharp edge on bolt and a faster than normal bolt speed.

 

[coldears]

The gun's on the way back to VQ. I got a response from Scott first thing this morning asking for me to send it in. Amazing customer service! I'll post their diagnosis when I hear something.

 

[coldears]

I got this update from VQ: "Kolby - Removed the round from the barrel and inspected everything - installed a new hammer strut and test-fired 20 rds of CCI Mini Mags without issues."
Scott also recommended I stop using the magazine that was involved.
The gun will be back tomorrow. Again great customer service from the VQ team.
Does anyone know why they might have replaced the hammer strut?