mishaps we have personally experienced or been there when it happened

[OLUT]

Here's a humbling, learning experience from 1959. My buddy bought an original Warner pocket revolver quite cheaply at auction as the cylinder  was frozen and would not turn. After looking at the exposed chambers and finding them empty, he tried several different solvents, oils, and methods, but the cylinder was still frozen. In desperation, he then took a hand torch to heat up the cylinder pin. After the explosion, he found that the old lead ball had hit a cooking pot across the way in the kitchen and put a major dent in it!
      Later we concluded that many years ago, the ball in a loaded chamber had moved forward and partially seated into the forcing cone of the barrel, with the black powder still in the cylinder. Since then, we always put a ramrod down the barrel to make sure that ALL the chambers were empty.
 

[Bill in Md]

It was 50 years ago....I was 14, and it was October. I was just home from school and took my side by side up into our woods to hunt tree rats. When I returned with the only one I got; a large gray, my Mother, and 2 younger brothers were gone......I threw my shotgun on my bed and went out to the front porch table to clean the squirrel.

The old station wagon came up the road. My 2 brothers ran inside the house and my Mother came over to hear my story of the hunt. The loud pop that we heard from inside the house turned my Mother's face  white...she knew somehow what had happened.

My middle brother  picked up my shotgun in a playful and child-like manner that was on my bed, and spun around and pointed at my youngest brothers belly, and pulled the first trigger which clicked on the spent shell, then spun around  180 degrees and pointed it the head board of my bed and pulled the second trigger, blowing a 6" hole through it.

I had forgot to unload the gun and it nearly cost my brother his life. The next day my Uncle was called to the farm. He took all of my guns, and I was not allowed to shoot or hunt for a year. A well deserved punishment that I never forgot.

This is a great thread!

[Waksupi]

I recall an acquaintance in Idaho who had his rifle in the rack in his pickup. He saw an elk, jumped out to shoot it. He pulled the rifle towards him and since he had it capped, managed to have a discharge, blowing off his arm above the elbow. I'm sure Panhandle old timers will remember Monte.
I witnessed one case of a rifle fired at something in a lake, and the ball ricocheting off the water and hitting a kid in the ribs. He lived.
Another case, where the guy should have known better, was one of the local deputy sheriff's was shooting with us. He wanted to try one of the HK G3's we were shooting. We warned him to not shoot the steel targets on the range since we had full metal jacket ammunition. So of course he did. Bullet came back, and buried it's self about a quarter inch into his belly. Being old cowboys, we got out a pocket knife and removed the bullet, and told him to not do that again.
I've seen several barrels bulged from short starting over the years. I've seen at least a half dozen nipples blown out from those who think it's a good idea to remove them every time they clean the gun. I've witnessed four incidents of people breaking ramrods and running the splintered end into or through the hand in "speed shoots". I consider speed shoots a real liability to a club, as it is a known danger, and by holding a speed event, encouraging the behavior.
At the Fawn Creek shoot years, a pilgrim showed up with C&B revolver. He went to put it in his shoulder holster and shot himself. You need to drive 8 miles just to get a cell signal, so it's not a good place to get hurt. Now revolvers are only allowed to be used as single shots.
My X had bought a new .38 special. She shot a stump outside the cabin, and the bullet came back and hit her boob. Interesting bruise.
Another friend had come to shoot, and was shooting hard ball from his 1911. Bullets were coming back and hitting the cabin. I had him stop that.
Last fall, I was leaving the cabin, and heard something hit the car. I stopped and looked, and there was a small dent in the rear door. I looked behind on the driveway, and located a .22 bullet. Fortunately who ever fired it was a long distance away. I'm still kind of *#)*^~ at the dent in my Lexus, but there was no way to know who may have fired the shot, or from where.
I've seen several more careless discharges over the years, and have been responsible for a couple myself. Thank god I never hurt anyone with my carelessness.

[Daniel Coats]

A buddy of mine used the hood of his pickup for a rest and promptly shot the mirror off the other side. His son laughed and yelled "You got em dad!" 

[Longknife]

The first m-loader I purchased in 1977 was a rifle called the "Yorktown", imported and sold be Michigan Arms , it was a 45 caliber percussion rifle. I shot it several times, and it functioned perfectly. Accuracy was ok for a greenhorn!  I was at a club shoot one day and was shooting 50 grain charge and a 440 ball. When I fired off a load and it seemed excessively loud and the guy next to me commented "what you shoot in that thing?" I went ahead and reloaded and went to the line to cap it,,,, WHAT? My nipple was gone!!!! Only thing I can think is I double charged it. I wonder how close to my head it came? ,,,LK

[Levy]

I watched a man of round build kneel on the firing line in preparation for prone shooting and cock and set the triggers on his TC Hawken.  He simply fell forward to the prone position hitting the butt of the rifle on the ground discharging it straight up into the air, fortunately.
I witnessed a man shoot his steel ramrod through a target like a giant fence staple.  James Levy

[Justin Urbantas]

I was on a woodswalk once and saw a lady take a shot at a gong, but the gun didn't go off. She took the gun off her shoulder and lowered it to waist level to check why it didn't go off. It went off a good 2-3 seconds after she had pulled the trigger and she managed to hit the gong from the waist. Excellent muzzle control!

[Daniel Coats]

There was also enough time for her to blow down the barrel first

[Tumbledown]

It was 50 years ago....I was 14, and it was October. I was just home from school and took my side by side up into our woods to hunt tree rats. When I returned with the only one I got; a large gray, my Mother, and 2 younger brothers were gone......I threw my shotgun on my bed and went out to the front porch table to clean the squirrel.

The old station wagon came up the road. My 2 brothers ran inside the house and my Mother came over to hear my story of the hunt. The loud pop that we heard from inside the house turned my Mother's face  white...she knew somehow what had happened.

My middle brother  picked up my shotgun in a playful and child-like manner that was on my bed, and spun around and pointed at my youngest brothers belly, and pulled the first trigger which clicked on the spent shell, then spun around  180 degrees and pointed it the head board of my bed and pulled the second trigger, blowing a 6" hole through it.

I had forgot to unload the gun and it nearly cost my brother his life. The next day my Uncle was called to the farm. He took all of my guns, and I was not allowed to shoot or hunt for a year. A well deserved punishment that I never forgot.

This is a great thread!

Did your middle brother get punished? Seems he was equally responsible, if not more so

[Maven]

I witnessed this one as a range officer some years ago.  Spoiler alert:  No one was hurt or injured except their pride.  Background:  we open our range to the public one week before deer season begins so that folks can sight in their rifles, which are typically cartridge guns.  One day, however, two "dudes," by dress and demeanor strode in with a newly 'scoped cap lock rifle.  We assigned them a bench and a target and thought no more about them...until they loaded and fired the rifle.  The 'scope then somersaulted off the gun and onto the pavement behind them.  Chagrinned doesn't begin to describe them.  Needless to say, they packed up and left shortly thereafter.  Schadenfreude anyone?

[Kevin]

Witnessed all the following at matches back in the late 1970s/early 1980s:

Metal ramrod of a C.W. type rifle musket left on top of the load and launched when fired. End of ramrod embedded into a small cutoff tree stump about 50/60 yards downrange.

Muzzle end of a custom built rifle split lengthwise in multiple locations from the muzzle and going back about 6 inches.  Probable use of short starter only.

The explosion of a small sized metal flask while being used for priming.  Do not recall the extent of injury to right hand and forearm.

A shooter using a borrowed custom rifle on which the owner/builder had purposely used a large sized touchole thinking it would help with ignition.  To keep powder from blowing out the touchole a pick was inserted and held in place by closing the frizzen.  While loading the rifle with a N&W stainless steel range rod, for some reason, the hammer fell and the rifle fired.  Nobody physically hurt.  Range rod and load went through the metal roof of the newly covered firing line.

All for now,
Kevin

[flembo]

Like a fool I tried shooting an Original US surcharged French Charleville musket that had been cut down in length and converted to percussion with a drum and nipple. I started with a small powder charge with paper wad with no problem. I then increased the charge and tried again, thinking that was cool I went to reload and saw there was no nipple. Never did find that nipple and now that I am a little smarter {I think} I wonder what would have happened if it was the breach plug that blew out.  BTW that musket was found built into a wall in an old farm house in VT. and hangs on a wall in my home unloaded minus a drum and nipple.

[Bill in Md]

It was 50 years ago....I was 14, and it was October. I was just home from school and took my side by side up into our woods to hunt tree rats. When I returned with the only one I got; a large gray, my Mother, and 2 younger brothers were gone......I threw my shotgun on my bed and went out to the front porch table to clean the squirrel.

The old station wagon came up the road. My 2 brothers ran inside the house and my Mother came over to hear my story of the hunt. The loud pop that we heard from inside the house turned my Mother's face  white...she knew somehow what had happened.

My middle brother  picked up my shotgun in a playful and child-like manner that was on my bed, and spun around and pointed at my youngest brothers belly, and pulled the first trigger which clicked on the spent shell, then spun around  180 degrees and pointed it the head board of my bed and pulled the second trigger, blowing a 6" hole through it.

I had forgot to unload the gun and it nearly cost my brother his life. The next day my Uncle was called to the farm. He took all of my guns, and I was not allowed to shoot or hunt for a year. A well deserved punishment that I never forgot.

This is a great thread!

Did your middle brother get punished? Seems he was equally responsible, if not more so

Outside of being yelled at after my mother recovered from the shock, no he was not punished....My father was gone at that point in time, and my mother designated me as being the  protector of my 2 brothers and in her mind I had failed. I was only 13 months older than my middle brother, but it seemed like I was 23 and he was 13 back then....I was angry at him then, but looking back it harmed him more than me for not being corrected.I was just glad that my little brother didn't die that day.It was my fault for leaving a loaded gun on my bed and I got off easy.


That year passed pretty quickly... It wasn't the first time my middle brother got me in a pinch....I can't tell you how many fights he started that got me beaten up defending him well into adulthood.....It is just he and I now, as our little brother Joseph passed away back in 2018 at age 51.....To this day my brother lovingly calls me "Big Brother".....Our lives have taken different paths, but we still share a common bond ; the bond of brotherhood, that never goes away!!!!

[bob in the woods]

Having been at this for years, I have seen a lot of. Ramrods through hands, blown nipples, flintlock vent blasts scorching others, bulged barrels from short started loads etc
Two incidents stuck with me. One was on a woods walk where a fellow shot an oak stump [ not part of the official targets]. and the ball came back and hit him in the leg with enough force to draw blood.
The other was when I was range officer at a rendezvous. One fellow had a number of flashes in the pan with the resulting failure to fire. I kept my eye on him and told him to make certain he kept the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.  Before I finished the sentence, he reversed the gun and looked directly into the muzzle...trying to see if it was " loaded".  The whole line went silent as everyone froze . I banned him from the match and asked a friend to make sure the rifle was safe before leaving the line  Everyone present at that match still talks about this incident. Had things gone wrong, it  probably would have shut down that rendezvous for good

[Hungry Horse]

 One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is sharing a rifle. Years ago I built my young son a miniature tradegun in .410 gauge and this was our first rendezvous with it. A trio of shooters sharing one beautiful newly built rifle were a couple of target behind us. Everything was going well, we were taking our time, and the group of three were loading, shooting, talking and laughing. All of a sudden I heard their gun make a report nobody wants to hear. It was more of an explosion than a traditional rifle shot. I ran up to see if anybody was hurt. They were all staring at the gun kinda dumb founded. The  gun was built on a swamped barrel, and now about six inches of the barrel was gone along with the front sight, and the forward ramrod pipe. Nobody was hurt, but the gun was a mess. We never did find the chunk of barrel that they blew off.

Hungry Horse

[Bob Roller]

That says a lot for barrels made from leaded bolt steel and other uncertified for gun barrels.
Bob Roller

[Bill Raby]

Went duck hunting with a friend back in high school. He accidentally shot a hole in the bottom of the boat. It sank. Good part is that it was his boat. That same year another guy in high school was duck hunting with his dad. He stood up in the boat just as his dad took a shot. He survived and was out of school for about a year. When he came back half of his face was gone. Not pretty. That was about 40 years. Nothing to mention since then.

[smylee grouch]

I once shot at the base of a jacketed  bullet innbeded in the bark of a frozen Ash tree. The 148 gr. lead wad cutter came straight back and hit me in the Sternum and then fell into the snow at my feet. Put a reddish pink mark on my chest.

[Daniel Coats]

I walked up on what turned out to be a record book pronghorn antelope taken with one shot with a flintlock after a one hour stalk. I unloaded my rifle by pointing it straight up in the air and firing with my best war whoop. Then it dawned on me that the ball could come back down and hit me where I stood. I figured though that to move increased my odds of moving into the return path so I stood stone still and waited... Then I heard it coming whistling along and plop close by. Darwin award for sure!

Sam Fadala put my picture in one of his books though.

[Habu]

We had a cook-off at the innaugural fall invitational over in Iowegia. 

A squad of ACW reenactors showed up.  Interesting to watch: I've never seen a group loading and shooting the 6-bull target "by the numbers".  On the fourth relay, while they were seating their minies, one had a cook-off.  The line was closed for about an hour while we checked for injuries and tried to work out what happened.  (Shooters were given the option of continuing, or of completely re-shooting their target.)

Ramrod was most of the way down; shooter was holding the musket and ramrod properly so he only got minor burns to his hand.  The rod was recovered about 50 yards away, probably salvageable with a little work. 

The squad was cleaning (punch a brush down the barrel a couple times, scrape the breech face, dump the loosened fouling) between relays.  Unfortunately, the rifle that was involved in the cook-off has about one thread of the breech threads exposed ahead of the breech plug.  I suspect there was a hot-spot in the fouling buildup on the exposed threads. 

The squad had a spare musket, but the shooter was a little shook-up and decided to be a spectator the rest of the day.