mishaps we have personally experienced or been there when it happened

[whetrock]

This thread is for mishaps or near mishaps you personally experienced or which happened when you were there. For this thread it would be good if we could avoid describing mishaps that are repeated hearsay and just focus on more personal accounts. I’m not questioning the truth of those other accounts, but my hope is that we can focus on stuff this community has experienced. I think that's some of the best education we can offer.


I’ll start by saying when I was first learning to shoot flintlocks, I once had an unexpected ignition. I was trying to lower the cock from full cock to half cock, but I had not flipped the frizzen out of the way. So, with my thumb on the cock, I let it down, thinking that I had control of it, but the cock went forward more than I anticipated and it touched the fizzen, and it was enough. All the sudden the gun went off. Shot a hole in the ground about 15 feet in front of me, but otherwise nothing injured other than my pride. I learned to first flip the frizzen open if lowering the cock, and to dump the powder from the pan and put a feather in the touch hole if I need change a flint.

[Hungry Horse]

 As I mentioned once before I was at a rendezvous where a shooter was loading and shooting a trail walk in California coastal drizzle. It was assumed by myself, and others, that water ran off his hat brim and a drop or two got mixed into his loading sequence. The result was somewhere between a total misfire, and squib load. In any event the ball never cleared the barrel initially. But the shooter mechanically dropped the butt of the gun to the ground, and started to blow down the barrel. Thank goodness he didn’t get his mouth over the barrel before the remaining powder that had been pushed up the barrel dried out enough to ignite. The ball ( a .54 caliber) did clear the barrel this time, and caught the shooter between his eyeball, and his eye brow. He did lose the sight in that eye, but it could have very easily have killed him if more of the charge had ignited, or he had gotten his mouth over the muzzle.

Hungry Horse

[Kurt]

On two occasions just this summer, I double-loaded my rifle.( I've done a lot of shooting this summer) Once, when distracted by another person at the range, I fully loaded it twice, and the second time, when I remembered I wanted to look for my shot patch and forgot, I had charged the barrel. I discovered the errors because I had marked the rod, and it didn't come near the mark when seating the load. I fear my age and health are contributing factors. On the positive side, I am pretty good at pulling the balls!

[Birddog6]

Bout 25 yrs ago I was deer hunting & saw a buck making a scrape & was almost ready to shoot. Had set my set trigger. Then he ducked down & into a low spot & disappeared.  I was so ticked off I forgot a had set the set trigger. I went to hold the hammer to let it down, just barely touched the trigger & hammer slipped it fired into the ground in front of me. Man I was upset...... I am always so careful, taught safety courses at the gun club, etc.  Never happened before or after, but it really shook me. 

One time Ken G & I were deer hunting at my hunting camp.  We were done I had shot mine to unload it,  & he says "I wonder if it will fire without powder in the pan ?"  I said you bet your butt it will fire, & I'll bet it will even do it Upside down !  He laughed & said we shall see.
So he turned took a brush & cleaned all the powder out of the pan, cocked the rifle & closed the frizzen over & tried it 3 times & on the 3rd time it fired.  Now he Knows for Fact.

And that is why you never never EVER knap the flint on a loaded gun.  Shoot it out or pull the ball.  But  DO NOT knap the flint if it is still loaded.

[snapper]

My brother in law and I were racing to see who could hit the pop can first.    We were hustling loading and shooting.   I looked over and his ram rod was sticking out of the end of his barrel.   Before I could say anything he fired and hit the pop can.   I looked at him and told him that he just shot his ramrod, he said I was poor loser.    Until he found his ram rod down range in pieces.

Fleener

[snapper]

I got a buddy that talks way too much and gets distracted too easily.   He was at my place and blew up his TC.  Luckly no one was hurt.  I was over the hill with the neighbor looking at a tree he wanted down.  My guess is he short started it.

Same guy has blown up 3 guns.   One a centerfire that he dropped two loads of powder in the case, he woke up laying on the ground.

Fleener

[Wingshot]

Just the other day I had taken my recently completed .54 Kibler Woodsrunner to the range for some off hand practice, had a buddy along who wanted to shoot. All went well, came back to the house and started to show him what’s involved in cleaning a muzzleloader. I took the lock out, cleaned it up, sprayed it down with WD-40. I had brought the cock back to full cock so I could wipe away some powder fouling and I closed the frizzen, gave it a squirt and went to set it on a rag on top of my hard tonneau cover, guess I contacted the sear just right and my right pointer finger was between the cock and frizzen. Gotta say that Kibler main spring for some power. Deep cut just below the nail and another on the palm side of same finger. Bled like a stuck hog. Cleaned and disinfected real good and all seems well. Take the flint OUT any time you’re working on or with your flintlock!

[B.Habermehl]

My daughter and I were hunting, she was just 12 and really tiny. We were just over a really steep bank watching a deer trail. Miserably cold day, she got too cold so we decided to hang it up. I said to her we better pull that cap off before we climb out. So I’m helping her to hold the gun and she pulled the hammer back and it slipped. The only damage done was to the earth worms. She was crying and understandably upset. I calmed her down, and explained we did everything right. The muzzle was controlled and the only thing shot was the ground. We learned a important lesson about cold tiny fingers too. BJH

[Habu]

Over the years I've run >1,000 shooters through an "Intro to flintlocks" class.  Worst injury--the only one, IIRC--was a guy who drew his thumb across a fresh flint to see how sharp it was.  That took a Band-Ade to fix. 

Years ago--I think I was 12 or 13 years old--I arrived at the gathering point for a parade for the centennial parade at a local village, passing an ambulance on the way in.  One of the marchers had been "injured in an accidental shooting".  I got some coffee and a doughnut, and sat down on the ground to wait to see if we would be marching.  When I set my cup down, it tipped over: turned out I set it on the guy's detached thumb. 

IIRC, I've been present twice when nipples blew out of caplocks (no injuries to the shooter).  At one match, the shooter on my left had the drum break off his caplock when he fired.  No injuries, but he and I were both done shooting for the day. 

Saw a guy manage to ignite his powder horn when he touched off his flintlock (spout plug attached to the horn, he forgot to replace it after loading).  Turned out both he and his buddy the range officer had a couple of beers for breakfast to settle their heads from the night before.  Shooter had 2nd degree burns and a really nasty "rope" burn on his neck.

A couple times I've seen powder ignite when dumped down the barrel.  Both shooters had burns to their hand. 

Drove to a shoot in a neighboring state, got registered, and had posted my first target when I realized the RO was more-than-slightly-drunk.  I immediately began packing up to leave.  While I was doing that, the range officer managed to grab someone's match pistol and shoot himself in the foot.  A couple of the shooters got angry when we closed the firing line, called an ambulance, etc, because they wanted to shoot "before it got hot".  Two people got ambulance rides: the RO and a guy who had a suspected heart attack. 

Once saw a guy split the barrel on his longrifle when he left his "ramrod" (1/2" steel rod) in the bore after loading.  Barrel was 15/16"x.54 caliber.  Guy lost at least one finger on his left hand. 

[Hungry Horse]

 I was at a rendezvous in Lake County California (my home) many years ago. It was crazy hot, and the firing line at this particular target was pretty long. It was a small cast iron anvil welded to a chain, and hanging from a tree. I was a spot or two from the firing line and had just loaded my gun. The shooter after me was a lady with a bonnet, and a big full prairie dress, being hot as it was she was leaning on her rifle with her legs far apart so that big old dress could catch the slight breeze that was blowing. At the crack of the gun I noticed her dress made a jerk, and dust boil up behind her. Upon examination of her dress she found a bullet hole through both sides, and the ground disturbed behind her. I don’t think I ever saw her at another Rendezvous.

Hungry Horse

[snapper]

I had a gunsmith years ago tap a hole and put in a new larger nipple.   First shooting session I blew the nipple out and it hit the bill on my cap, blew it off my head.

I have also had my thumb slip off the hammer while hunting.   Always point the muzzle in a safe position.

fleener

[Birddog6]

I was at a place shooting one time & they had a car rim with a post up from it 4' up & a target.  I told my friend, I don't like that dang steel car rim being there.  He says "Oh it's OK, we do it all the time"  (Famous words  )
First guy that shot he hit that rim & it bounced off & hit a dif guy in the side of his foot with boots on.  He pulled his boot off & I thought his foot was gonna explode. It turned black & swelled so bad the skin was starting to split at the cracks at his toes !  Packed him in ice & off to the horspital.  He could not wear a shoe for 3 weeks.  Then rim went in the back of my truck & into the scrap bin at work.   
Went back there 6 mo later, dang if they ain't back to rim shooting    I just turned around & left.  I can shoot out back at home for free,  & I don't get any surprise events.

[JEH]

In 1977 16 year old me went out on the back porch to dig my Seneca out of the gun box to head down the RR tracks to find things to shoot at. Ran a couple patches down the barrel. Stuck a cap on to clear the nipple before I loaded it. Kinda aimed toward the window to pop the cap and BOOM it went off! Dads one and only new chevy 4X4 was on the other side of that window. I'm standing there in disbelief in a room full of smoke knowing I shot dads new truck and he would kill me. Somehow the ball went thru the window trim and didn't break the window. More importantly I missed the truck! To this day I can't remember putting it away loaded.

[Hungry Horse]

 This is for those that believe that if someone you know has always been a stickler for safety, they alway will be. A very close friend and mentor was part of a team of gun club members that did demonstrations at our local middle schools to prepare them for an annual trip to Ft. Sutter in Sacramento. I was demonstrating how to check a muzzleloader to see if it was loaded. I asked my old friend if I could borrow his short barreled trade gun to do the demonstration because it only had a 28” barrel that made it easier to handle. I pull the ramrod, and dropped it down the barrel placing my thumb at the muzzle, then laid it on top of the barrel. To my astonishment there was about a two and a half inch discrepancy. Guns were  hurriedly switched and one of our other members to the loaded gun outside and pulled the charge. And that boys and girls is how we found out the guy that was usually a stickler for safety was now suffering from degenerative memory loss.

Hungry Horse

[rich pierce]

The guy who got me into black powder was about 40 years old when I was a teen but of course I thought he was old. He was all set for rondy with buckskins and powder horn and fur cap and rifle. I could see he was having the time of his life. His income was low and he had a family so his guns were low end, but he’d age them and put brass tacks on them or a rawhide wrist repair and they looked the part for “shining times”.  But he liked to load up those thin-walled drum and nipple percussion guns and holler “fire on one end; fool on t’other!”  We were shooting in my parent’s back yard when the drum blew out of his rifle. We never did find it. Thankfully he was on my right.  Good guy but a bit of a showman and sometimes it got the better of him. 

[taterbug]

been in the woods, and on my own property, many times and have someone 200 or 300 yards away put a round zinging through the woods, hitting tree branches and making me more than a little nervous.   

I have only confronted folks on a couple of occasions.  After all, they have a gun.  I usually do too, but no point in a confrontation. 

I swear some folks think that bullets never ricochet, or that bullets immediately drop to the ground after passing through a paper target. 

An extended family member that rented from wife and I next door, put four #6 shot holes in the front of his pull behind camper.  I noticed he was putting some sort of sealing tape on the camper, but he never said anything and I didn't ask.  Then later I found four shot traces on the top of his propane tank when I was over there with the propane guy.  many more small marks and nicks in the paint lower down on the tank too.

He had a habit of shooting squirrels off his bird feeder out the back door.  Terrible shot, and was afraid of recoil, so would hold the .410 at arms length and close his eyes when he shot. 

finally found more ricochet marks on the steel car rim on the ground he used to secure the bird feeder post.  Back door, car rim, propane tank and camper all lined up very nicely.  He was lucky there wasn't more damage.  dont think he did that again.  at least he learned, and got off easy.

[Steeltrap]

True story, and a very sad outcome. A retired fellow just loved to hunt the post Christmas Pa. flintlock season. One morning as he was loading his gear in his regular routine, the accident occurred.

He was in the habit of loading his rifle while on his front porch. Taking advantage of the porch light so he could see. Then he would put the loaded rifle (no pan powder) in the back of his 2 door vehicle. Well, apparently when he was placing the rifle in the back, he was putting it in buttplate first and the muzzle was pointed at him. The theory is that from him likely jockeying the rifle back and forth to get it settled in the back seat, the hammer either got to full cock and the trigger caught something, or the hammer got pulled back just enough to come down on the frizzen.

In any event, the rifle went off as the muzzle was pointed at his chest. He made it back to his front porch where he died.

We all know these rifles\pistols are as deadly as modern firearms. Be very, very careful in your handling of them. We all know that....but reminders never hurt.

[Birddog6]

Can't tell you how many times I have heard "There is no powder in the pan".    It don't need it.
If you have a good sparking lock, those dang sparks CAN & WILL go in the vent hole & ignite the
powder.  Proven Fact, no theory. FACT.

[Steeltrap]

True. I know the OP ask for personal experience's, but that story is one that can't be told enough.

As for no pan powder, I was hunting with a bunch of friends on a post Christmas flintlock day. It was off and on raining.....mostly on....and about a balmy 40 degrees. (You get the picture).

At the end of the day I wanted (as did all of us) to shoot off the load and the next time out have a fresh and (hopefully) dry load.

Well, the pan powder would stick together. Cleared that out but it was a steady rain and no matter what part of me tried to keep the pan dry, some other part would dribble water into the pan.

So me and a buddy were hunched down over the rifle trying to keep water away. I had a dry rag and cleaned out the pan. So, before I powdered it again I wanted to check the spark. With no power in the pan, I pulled the trigger and the gun went right off as if the pan was well powdered.

Those safety rules that get pounded into your head paid off. I (We) had the gun pointed into the woods at a dirt mound. Nothing behind it for half a mile.

No powder is needed for sure. A spark can easily bounce off the pan and into the flash hole.

[elk killer]

way back when i did a lot of all kinds of repair jobs
lots would bring me a gun and say oh its not loaded
always would fully check right off
way more were loaded than wasnt

[whetrock]

I received one in the mail once that was loaded. Guy shipping it didn't know. That was a reproduction.
A friend bought a loaded antique gun from a well-respected seller at a show once (seller is now deceased). My friend was new to muzzleloaders and didn't know how to check until I showed him and said, "Let's check ...."
Got home from visiting him that same evening and checked one I had recently bought, also at a show, and found it was loaded, too! (Was teaching him, but had neglected to check my own!)

[Daniel Coats]

I witnessed a percussion gun go off while decapping with the muzzle on the floor of a pickup truck. There was a blinding flash and thunderclap with the cab filling instantly with smoke followed by the sound of the right front tire deflating!

We bailed out laughing and choking! Next day I filed some dang checkering on the hammer.. 

[AZshot]

I was shooting one of my rifles with double set triggers decades ago.  I was shooting a target match.  Back then I would mount the rifle with it held high, about 45 degrees in the air, lowering it to get the sight picture. I would click the rear, set trigger as I was doing so, then move my finger to the front trigger.
Boom!  Guess what happened?  Right, I was on the wrong trigger.

[AOakley98]

Excellent thread, especially for those of us early in getting into the black powder experience. Likewise some great advise about range safety etiquette.

[Daryl]

Not only happens with BP guns. Hope it can relate this occurance here.
At a local "Gun Show" a few years back, I'd already set up my table the day before the show & was wondering around the floor looking for muzzleloaders and other antiques. I stopped at a table where a gun store owner had just put down one of those cute little Browning S/A's. I asked if I could have a look at it and he said yes, of course. I picked it up and immediately opened the action. Out popped a .22LR. I said " it was loaded, didn't you check? He reached for it and I pulled the loading plunger from the butt, tilted the rifle up and 7 more rounds dumped onto the table. I replaced the tube & pulled back the breech bolt several times, with no rounds coming out, looked and "proved" the gun empty. THEN I gave it back to him, saying, "I think you should check ALL those other guns".