Eric, a reader of the blog, emailed me photos of what appears to be an out of battery explosion which occurred when he was shooting his S&W M&P 15-22. Luckily Eric was not injured. Eric said …

So I got my new S&W M&P 15-22 last week. I live in Canada (YES!! We can have those in Canada if you have Restricted weapons class on your PAL).

So I go to the shooting range last night. As I was sighting in the firearm at the 36 round I heard this kind of explosion and felt the hot gases on my hands and side of my face. I immediately looked at the breach and the round had exploded. Luckily I had my safety glasses and earmuffs. I did a quick check on myself…not a scratch!! but that hot gas felt like someone threw sand on my face and hans. I immediately took pictures with my cell phone then proceeded to extract to blown out round metal part and spring.

UPDATE: Fred at Guns & Coffee had a similar problem with his M&P 15022.

[ Many thanks to Eric for emailing me the photos and info. ]