PMC 5.56 Ammo blew my rifle up.

[Fieryotaku]

PMC XTAC 55gr blew my rifle up. Was out shooting under night vision in the Santiam forest let my buddy shoot my rifle and he noticed that the last round felt way more powerful then the others. Looked down and the gun had blown the mag out of the rifle and blew apart the upper. Was a Geissele bcg and bolt criterion 13.9 and a super 42 spring with an h1. Brass pulled from chamber was 5.56 and ripped at the base. barrel had no obstructions and the bore looked clear. Gun was properly head spaced and passed go no go when built. Lot number of ammo included in photos. Prior to this range trip I noticed a load that was hotter then the others from the same lot that required a mortaring to remove the case but seemed fine otherwise.

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[ilikegunspdx]

Pmc ammo official moved to the bubblegum list. Sucks man sorry to hear it.

 

[Hooyah DeepSea]

PMC used to be the 'standard' for decent, inexpensive, near milspec ammo. Apparently not anymore !!!

Have you contacted PMC about you rifle?

 

[PiratePast40]

Holy crap! I take it you weren't hurt in any way since you didn't say anything. Any shrapnel in your hends, glasses, or from below the gun?

 

[Fieryotaku]

PMC used to be the 'standard' for decent, inexpensive, near milspec ammo. Apparently not anymore !!!

Have you contacted PMC about you rifle?

They just got back to me.

 

[Fieryotaku]

Holy crap! I take it you weren't hurt in any way since you didn't say anything. Any shrapnel in your hends, glasses, or from below the gun?

Fortunately no the AR did what it was designed to do and failed safely blowing all debris away from the shooter.

 

[Member 34319]

Damn, sorry about the rifle.

I always thought that that ammo was supposed to be good.

Was the lower receiver damaged at all? That was a lot of bulging of the upper.

 

[Fieryotaku]

Damn, sorry about the rifle.

I always thought that that ammo was supposed to be good.

Was the lower receiver damaged at all? That was a lot of bulging of the upper.

Lower seems fine and functioned on another upper. PMC has always been good to me up until now. I have fired probably 15k of the XTAC 55gr and never had issues until now.

 

[Member 34319]

Lower seems fine and functioned on another upper. PMC has always been good to me up until now. I have fired probably 15k of the XTAC 55gr and never had issues until now.

Ya, I've never had issues with that ammo. Had a few cases of it over the years. It's always been good ammo for me.

This sort of thing always peeks my curiosity.

Being 556 orientated, and that I don't currently have any in front of my, does the ammo have a military style crimp?

I'd be curious if the bullet got pushed back into the case.

Of coarse the circumstances don't help, a friend using the rifle at night using NV.

No signs of any issues before the kaboom? You and or her were not fighting any other types of malfunctions?

Not trying to say you did anything wrong, just curious if this was something extreme or if there were other signs.

 

[TTSX]

Better buy another mag, those may be "irreplaceable" soon.

this is also exactly why you don't use budget parts because it could have been a lot worse if you did. Good on you for going with quality.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

thats wild. always thought PMC was good to go. they probably still are unless this just happens often? i dont know. glad youre ok, sorry to hear about your rifle.

 

[Fieryotaku]

Better buy another mag, those may be "irreplaceable" soon.

this is also exactly why you don't use budget parts because it could have been a lot worse if you did. Good on you for going with quality.

I've come to realize that with the amount of ammo I put through my guns it's worth it to buy good components.

 

[ORhutner]

I think I have seen a similar post for just about every reputable ammo manufacturer on various firearms based forums. The most important thing is that no one was hurt. The next most important item to me is how the manufacturer responds and works with you regarding the incident. So far it looks like PMC is doing a good job. Please keep us updated as you proceed with PMC on this incident.

 

[Hanhoon]

Should have bought an AK47, just kidding lol. Good thing you didn't have to go to the emergency department, I hear the wait times are crazy.

Obviously I was curious and I did some research. A hot load or an out of battery appears to be the issue. I am not an expert and I have never had this issue, so my input is subject to change and I am often almost sometimes right.

And for the record, I love ARs and AKs.… I hope you end up getting compensated for the loss of your upper.

 

[coop44]

PMC has always been questionable in my opinion, inconsistent at best. As in bang, bang, BANG! Last time I snot any was in the 90's.

 

[Xmark1]

They just got back to me.View attachment 1429595

Please return any and all evidence to us for disposal.

 

[Dozer99]

Please let us know the Lot number/numbers of the ammo that you used that night. That way any of us that have those same lot numbers can make our own choice to shoot or destroy (pull the bullets and weight the powder in my case).

Thanks and that sucks about your rifle.

 

[BattleReadyBunny]

Please let us know the Lot number/numbers of the ammo that you used that night. That way any of us that have those same lot numbers can make our own choice to shoot or destroy (pull the bullets and weight the powder in my case).

Thanks and that sucks about your rifle.

It's in the photo he posted
5.56X-0236

 

[Dozer99]

If that was the "only" box that he used that night, cool. If he loaded more rounds than 20 and used other boxes, they might have had different lot numbers. That was all I was getting out, but thanks for pointing that out.

 

[BattleReadyBunny]

He was very detailed in his posts, I would of imagined if he shot from another lot he would of posted it as well.