Vall, It's too bad I didn't buy your Lyman handbook instead of the virgin copy I bought on fleabay.
In the interest of science, I'll add a couple of points from this episode that were positive, if you look at it in a twisted sort of way.
First of all, the catastrophic failure of the receiver and barrel did not affect any parts of the action located rearward of the face of the block. I have heard it postulated that the design of the high wall firing pin is such that high pressure from an overload could drive the firing pin back through the breech block, past the hammer, and into the forehead of the shooter. To my great relief, this did not happen (although I will freely admit I probably deserved a thump up alongside the head for ruining a nice rifle). And judging from the neat hole in the primer, there was quite a bit of pressure.
This may sound a little off subject, but I also found out how good my homeowner's insurance is. After the rifle blew, I reviewed my policy to see if there might be any chance of covering the cost of the rifle. The policy says explosions are covered, and when I mentioned this to the adjuster, he said it didn't sound like much of an explosion. I told him he should have been there. He called me back in a short while with the news that they would cover it, less my deductible, but I would have to give up the rifle. After a little bit of haggling, I was able to buy the rifle from them for the value of the remaining good parts. As I recall, I recovered 70% of the cost of the rifle.
