Blowing down the barrel

[Joe S.]

I don't need the chill pill,Frank on the other hand.......I was pointing out the extremes after reading his post,you have them in any group,human nature.I'm fine as frogs hair,re-read my post,thanks for the thoughts though.

[sqrldog]

Hey Frank
Did not intend to offend you the truth is I was serious that there are no beginners in this area. When we had the last state shoot I went to we had about ten people show up. Back in the heyday we would have 60/80 shooters. This would have include a number of youths shooting their matches. I shot my first muzzleloader (a flintlock) in 1977 and have shot pretty much continuouly ever since. I personally don't care whether you blow down a barrelor not. It is your choice. Let me go ahead and say that I have as much right to my opinion as you have to yours. I have investigated several hunting accidents involving firearms some were thought to be unloaded. It isn't a pleasant sight. And a number of them involved people with lots of experience using and handling firearms. This thread asked for opinions and contrary to your thoughts many of the people that commented against the practice once did it themselves and quit. Some them are not newbies. Tim

[Frank]

Frank
You have a problem we don't have newbies. There aren't any here.

I know. All the newbie shooters are at the ranges. I try to teach them. Some are receptive and I spend as much time with them as possible. Then there are the ones with a know it all attitude. Lost causes.

[Frank]

Frank
You have a problem we don't have newbies. There aren't any here.

I know. All the newbie shooters are at the ranges. I try to teach them. Some are receptive and I spend as much time with them as possible. Then there are the ones with a know it all attitude. Lost causes. Most of you don't know me personally, but I am the most easy going and laid back guy around, and will help anybody willing to learn. I almost never go on a rant, but something about this just spun me up.

[hanshi]

Help out when you can but avoid clueless tyros.  I've always shot and hunted alone but for the past few years have had to make use of a gun club range.  Being retired, I can choose days/times with the fewest shooters on line.  Fortunately, I still find myself alone a good bit of the time; or at most only one or two others.  They often show an interest in my ordnance and I take time to tell them about the guns.  I also invite them all to shoot it and a few are willing to do that.

[JCKelly]

All of us enjoy our deadly weapons. One should, in my not at all humble opinion, always be aware that they are indeed deadly.

Human beings make mistakes. That includes all of us - both the "challenged" and the intelligent, the experienced and the tyro.

That is why there are reasonably established rules for handling our weapons.
No human being is so perfect as to ignore these.
No one.

Here are a few examples:

I. The Fundamentals of Firearm Safety

 The three basic general rules of safe gun handling.

1. Always point the muzzle in a safe direction; never point a firearm at anyone or anything you don't want to shoot.
 
And some here think it acceptable to put the muzzle in their mouths?

2. Keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard until you are ready to shoot.

3. Keep the action open and the gun unloaded until you are ready to use it.

II. Additional specific rules of safe gun handling Safety Rules Related to the Shooter and His Behavior.

1. Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
A loaded rifle in your mouth?

2. Never pass a firearm to another person, or accept a firearm from another person, until the cylinder or action is open and you've personally checked that the weapon is completely unloaded.

I personally enjoy my weapons. I also remember each and every mistake (I think) I have ever made. Fortunately the safety rules are so redundant that one may often survive just one mistake. And again, in my personal view I am very uncomfortable around armed men who do not so respect their weapons. Nor do I have any respect for a range officer who gently pats the wrist of a man who "accidentally" fired his handgun into, fortunately, his own car trunk. Next to me. The "accident" was pulling the trigger with a live round in the gun. 

Is there not a limit to how Polite one must be when it is a question of mortality?

[Daryl]

"2. Never pass a firearm to another person, or accept a firearm from another person, until the cylinder or action is open and you've personally checked that the weapon is completely unloaded."

So many people do not know this rule - or overlook it's importance.

Of course, some people put their mouths over the muzzle.

[oldtravler61]

   J.c. Kelly one other rule I added when I taught Hunter Safety.
  Never Ever trust a safety when handling a firearm. It's man made an it can fail. The student's picked up on that real well..  Oldtravler

[JCKelly]

Absolutely, OT61.  Didn't mean to cover all the rules.

Daryl - some years ago I was invited to Mitsommar, in a rural area near Avesta, Sweden (from whence came our Deetroit Redwing's hockey player Nickolas Lidstrom). This delightful festival involved gathering branches for the May Pole, walking, drinking, swimming (for Mats), picking wild strawberries, singing mildly obscene ditties across the valley to the Lidstroms, playing "Brandtball" &c. The men growled when the ladies were kind enough to give me the only two drinks of actual water I had that entire day.
About 1:00 am, my friend having informed the host of my interest in firearms, Mr. Host brought out assorted rifles & one revolver for me (blood alcohol???) to look at. Very kind of him. So . . . I am in a room full of well-liquified Swedes, being handed strange European arms which I did not know how to work = was not clear on how to open the actions. I hope they were unloaded. No one got shot, for which I am pleased. Mats Segerbäck are you reading this?

[rollingb]

I'd be willing to bet "short started" balls have caused far more injuries than blowin' down barrels.
Where's the "reasonably established rules" regarding that?

[Elnathan]

Personally, I think "Always know the condition of your weapon" is a better rule than "always treat the gun as if it is loaded," particularly with muzzleloaders. It is simply impossible to always treat the gun as if it is loaded, such as when loading and cleaning it, and therefore the rule has to be selectively broken to actually use the gun. A rule that has to be broken to function is a bad rule, IMHO.

[Majorjoel]

I would like to just make one more point on this subject.
 
Those of us that shoot and enjoy our sport are EXAMPLES to the general public.  They see this activity going on and it just adds fuel to their flames and negative agenda.

I will admit that I also blow down my barrel while shooting at my private land range.  Never do it at the public range.

I also admit that I have picked up a few habits (bad or good) from many years of shooting with the old timers of those long gone days. Now, I'm one of the old timers and I would hate to be responsible for giving a new shooter bad practices.

Heck! After seeing Gary Cooper as Sgt. York doing the turkey shoot, I started licking my thumb and wiping it on my front sight!!

[Black Hand]

This all comes down to common sense and personal responsibility. An unloaded gun will not and can not fire regardless of whether you blow down the barrel. If you are incapable of determining whether your gun has fired, perhaps you shouldn't have a gun at all...

[Mike Brooks]

All of us enjoy our deadly weapons. One should, in my not at all humble opinion, always be aware that they are indeed deadly.

Human beings make mistakes. That includes all of us - both the "challenged" and the intelligent, the experienced and the tyro.

That is why there are reasonably established rules for handling our weapons.
No human being is so perfect as to ignore these.
No one.

Here are a few examples:

I. The Fundamentals of Firearm Safety

 The three basic general rules of safe gun handling.

1. Always point the muzzle in a safe direction; never point a firearm at anyone or anything you don't want to shoot.
 
And some here think it acceptable to put the muzzle in their mouths?

2. Keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard until you are ready to shoot.

3. Keep the action open and the gun unloaded until you are ready to use it.

II. Additional specific rules of safe gun handling Safety Rules Related to the Shooter and His Behavior.

1. Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
A loaded rifle in your mouth?

2. Never pass a firearm to another person, or accept a firearm from another person, until the cylinder or action is open and you've personally checked that the weapon is completely unloaded.

I personally enjoy my weapons. I also remember each and every mistake (I think) I have ever made. Fortunately the safety rules are so redundant that one may often survive just one mistake. And again, in my personal view I am very uncomfortable around armed men who do not so respect their weapons. Nor do I have any respect for a range officer who gently pats the wrist of a man who "accidentally" fired his handgun into, fortunately, his own car trunk. Next to me. The "accident" was pulling the trigger with a live round in the gun. 

Is there not a limit to how Polite one must be when it is a question of mortality?

When I clean my rifles/shotguns/pistols they point right at me. When I build guns they point right at me. In each case I check to see if they are loaded before I proceed.  When I check the condition of a bore on a gun whether cartridge or ML I check to see if it's loaded then stick a bore light in and peer down the barrel, is that also too dangerous to do? I know when my guns are loaded and when they are not, I check to make sure.  I'm bright enough to not get my body parts in the way of the business end of a loaded gun. I'm beginning to believe it's a miracle I'm still alive......

[Treebeard]

i started out a blower but drifted away from it. Now that I am getting old and having read thru this I think I will start up again.

[hanshi]

The comment on the fallibility of safeties is something of which I am familiar.  It doesn't involve a muzzleloader but is just to illustrate the principle that was brought up.  I've just never known first hand of an ML mechanical malfunction that resulted in injury.  I use to be a cop and worked with a truly great guy who was a very dear friend.  He had a Ruger Security Six in a holster as he was walking up to unlock his door.  Somehow the revolver dropped on the steps.  Now, few guns of any kind were made that had a better safety mechanism than that model.  When it hit the steps it discharged, striking him in the calf.  Thankfully, he got to the hospital and no arteries or bone was hit.  Still, a major through and through wound.

 Of course this wasn't caused by a muzzleloader; but it just goes to show what can happen if one completely trusts mechanical safeties.  The half cock?  DON'T trust them.   

[Juice 1952]

   While I have never witnessed it myself,,, I have read reports by other shooters suggesting that under certain unusual circumstances unburnt powder can build up on the breechplug and hold a spark. They cite instances of guns firing during the process of seating a ball on the powder charge resulting in ramrod being shot up into the air or through the palm of the loaders hand . Since the guns had hammer down and frizzen open they feel a spark held in unburnt powder is the only possible explanation for the premature firing . So the concern is that blowing down the barrel might cause such a deposit holding a spark to ignite the unburnt powder and cause damage to the lips,face, and or lungs of person blowing down barrel. I have never witnessed such an accident nor do I personally know anyone who has actually witnessed this type of accident. I am only relating what I have read on other forums as food for thought.

[Frank]

Anybody who is sticking the barrel in their mouth is doing it wrong.

[oldtravler61]

  Firearms will never hurt you.
Unless someone who thanks they know everything..! ORRRRRR
 Doesn't think when they pick them up..! To use them...Oldtravler

[Mike Brooks]

Anybody who is sticking the barrel in their mouth is doing it wrong.

Maybe YOU are wrong, mind your own business.

[rollingb]

Anybody who is sticking the barrel in their mouth is doing it wrong.

Ehhhh correction,.... anybody who is sticking the barrel of a loaded gun in their mouth is doing it wrong. 

[JCKelly]

Now and again, unloaded guns do fire. Worked with a lady who lost her grandson few years back, to an empty 20 gauge

I am very impressed by those of you who always Know for Certain whether or not their gun is loaded.

[Mike Brooks]

Now and again, unloaded guns do fire. Worked with a lady who lost her grandson few years back, to an empty 20 gauge

I am very impressed by those of you who always Know for Certain whether or not their gun is loaded.

What did she do, beat him to death with it?

[rollingb]

Now and again, unloaded guns do fire. Worked with a lady who lost her grandson few years back, to an empty 20 gauge

I am very impressed by those of you who always Know for Certain whether or not their gun is loaded.

I'm even more amazed at some of you who don't know when your gun is loaded.

If in doubt whether a muzzleloader is LOADED, or NOT,.... simply drop the gun's ramrod down the bore and see how much of it sticks out of the muzzle.
All my ramrods have a very small groove cut in them flush with the muzzle of their empty bores, so it only takes about 1/2 second to check to see if any particular gun of mine is loaded (or NOT).

This method isn't "rocket science",.... so I bet even some of the non-blowers here might find it handy at times.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Juice:  you may rest assured that when your rifle fires, ALL of the powder in the rifle is burned.  There is NO unburned powder left in the breech.  Impossible.  But what remains is the fouling from the combustion of the charge, and all the other charges you have fired since it was last cleaned.  It is possible for an ember to remain in that cake of fouling, and when new powder is poured on top of it, the powder can just lay there, as there is insufficient heat to ignite the new charge.  Now you seat a ball onto the new powder charge, and compress the air in the bore as you seat the ball, fanning the ember, and igniting the charge.  The ramrod and the ball is blown out of the bore, many times causing injury to the loader.  I have seen it only once.
This condition is one of the good reasons why folks blow down the bores of their rifles prior to loading an EMPTY rifle.  Your breath contains a significant amount of water, and it is the intention of the person loading to extinguish any ember that may be sitting in the fouling at the breech of the bore.  There are safer ways to accomplish this same thing:  use a wet patch on a rod after each shot, or use a blow tube in the muzzle with your face off to the side.