How I almost put a .50 cal hole thru the door of my new pickup...

[bearfat]

For lack of a worm in my cleaning kit (above) a freak accident nearly did it. The last time I had cleaned my barrel I put a very small patch on the jag to get way down in the Lyman Great Plains barrel past the flash hole. The patch didn't come back out and I put other smaller patches on the jag trying to snag it. I couldn't find my worm above and jury rigged some wire onto the jag and after a half hour of fishing and using all kinds of flashlights I wrongly assumed I had gotten it out.

A week later I reloaded her and me and my buddy went deer hunting down by "Hay Creek". Unknown to me and actually thank God a small piece of the cleaning cloth blocked the flash hole. My partner and I had a "job briefing" who was going where and when we were meeting up. I realized I had forgotten something and walked back to the truck. I layed the Lyman down across the front of the seat and as my gloved hand came back it slightly snagged the hammer and pulled it back and horror to my horror the hammer came down with enough force to set the primer off but it did not ignite the powder (due to the cloth inside).

I was stunned and shocked..."WTH just happened here???!!!!" I looked back down the trail at my buddy who had heard the percussion cap go off and we stared at one another for a few seconds before he turned around and kept walking. He said later he thought it was a percussion cap that went off but since I just stared at him he figured nothing was wrong.

Well I have had misfires as all black powder shooters have and wrongfully assumed thank my lucky stars that's what I had. At the end of the day we fired our rifles and I did have a very slight hang fire but hit the soda can 30 yards out. That night I fished out the culprit and realized what had really happened.

I also reproduced the dropped hammer scenerio by pulling it back part way to see how it happened as some of you know I'm sure. Fool that I was I had forgotten almost all hammers on modern guns have a safety feature, that I had over ridden it due to problems in the field I was having with the percussion caps falling off. I left the hammer all the way down on top of the percussion cap to prevent the cap from falling off. If one pulls back the hammer in this position about one quarter of an inch it will not engage the safety device that clicks the hammer into place off the percussion cap and or firing pin. The proper position to carry a gun with a hammer is off the primer and or firing pin esp if it does have this safety feature in the hammer.

Feel free to insult me since the purpose of the story is to prevent others from making the same stupid mistake. I am a loser and confess to it.

[ms]

Glad your alright.

[quickdtoo]

Stuff happens, glad nothing serious happened, it could have been a real bad day.

Thanks for sharing, 

Tim

[SHOOTALL]

bet you won't let that happen again !
glad it worked out good !

[nw_hunter]

Your the only person in the entire world to make a stupid mistake

My son, while hunting in eastern Oregon this Elk season, forgot to put his orange hat on while making a stalk into a brushy area.
As he was making his way back out of a draw, He felt a blow to his nose and heard a gun go off at about the same time. The blow was bark from a nearby tree, and he turned to see the shooter running like hell away from him.

After he cleaned himself up , he tried to catch the shooter! I'm glad he didn't, as it could have just made matters worse. I know my son has learned a valuable lesson, and I hope the shooter has also.

I won't go into my goof's over my 65 years, because this thread would never end

[glshop20]

I used to laugh about people that were dumb enough to leave the ramrod in the barrel and fire it downrange.  NO MORE!!!!!!  I was sighting in several centerfire rifles and a Savage 10ML .50cal.  I load it with 45grs. of Acc. 5744 and shoot T/C 250gr. sabots.

I took several shots and all was good.  Got busy with other rifles and talking with friends.  I lost track of what I had done with the Savage 10ML and took a final shot.  The scope kissed my forehead. and the recoil darn near seperated my shoulder.  After the shock wore off I started to think about what just happened.  I new I did'nt double charge it.  I could not find the ramrod.  Bingo!!!!   It was 100 yds. downrange and bent like a question mark.  Amazingly the bullet still hit close to its mark.  Thank god the rifle is rated for smokeless powder (supposedly pressure tested to 120,000 psi)  I will never laugh at any honest mistake made by a shooter again.  IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE, EVEN WHEN YOU ARE CAREFUL. 

[coyotejoe]

Yep, it only takes one absent minded moment. My dad nearly shot me when I was in my teens. Well, when I was in my teens I probably gave him good reasons.
 But anyhow, we were pheasant hunting, had hunted out my uncle's farm and were moving about 1/2 mile down the road to another farm. Dad had a 12 gauge percussion double and the caps fit very tightly. For some reason he decided to lower the hammers onto the caps rather than trust the half cock position and we both laid our guns across the back seat. When we got out of the car we each opened a back door and reached in for our guns. He grasped his by the toe of the stock and started to pull it toward him but the front sight snagged in the upholstery and it slipped from his grasp. It only dropped a few inches but the right hammer came down across the barrel of my gun and BALOOOM! We both realized the barrel had been pointed more or less toward myself. I was splattered with all sorts of debris and it took a few moments to discover that I was not dead. He had a glass jar with 25 pounds of birdshot on the seat and that had caught the blast. I was only peppered with bird shot and bits of glass, none having any force behind it. After asking several times if I was sure I was OK we both laughed our asses off while stuffing snow into the seat to put out the smouldering upholstery.

[quickdtoo]

[Josh M.]

coyotejoe - I don't know if that was your Guardian Angle , or your Dad's, but I'm sure that both of you were very grateful.

I think that the pattern here is that the safety notches really make our guns safer.  - JM.

[coyotejoe]

Well yes, we both made several mistakes there, the kind of mistakes one can get away with thousands of times, but just once can be a disaster. Loaded guns in a vehicle are the number one cause of hunting accidents. When you've just survived a near death experience unscathed everything is suddenly very funny!

[petemi]

Quite a few years ago, my friend, Wayne, from Florida named our farm.  He was heading out to his stand during the regular rifle season and ducked into the barn to prime his flintlock.  He was wearing choppers, heavy leather fleece lined mittens.  He slipped on the hammer and put a .45 cal. round ball through the back wall of the barn.  Luckily, the tractor and pickup ducked.  Since then, the farm is named "Dead Barn Farm".

Pete

[mechanic]

We had a LOT of surplus ammo a while back, 45 acp, and had been shooting an  old 1911 until it had gotten too hot to hold.  We laid it aside and had a coke and sandwich, then came back.  When my brother dropped the slide on a new clip, it went full auto.  Mental note:  clean action occasionally, so stuff won't get stuck.

Ben

[montveil]

I  have a ML with a safety transfer bar.
A with with anything safety it can be short circuited
If one does not clean the firing pin and transfer bar area crud can build up and the firing pin will not retract fully or the transfer bar will no function properly.
While on the range I closed the primed and loaded break action 50 and BANG it went off.
I couldn't figure out what happened as the rifle performed OK during the rest of the range session.
The following week I was bush whacking to my stand with the loaded and primed rifle on the sling over my shoulder and while pushing through some brush-BANG.
Several lessons reinforced.
Guns are always loaded,
Point muzzle in a safe direction.
Don't prime while on the sling or transport position

CLEAN THE TRANSFER BAR AND FIRING PIN ASSEMBLY THOROUGHLY

AGAIN, THE RIFLE WAS NOT AT FAULT ONLY THE NUT HOLDING THE RIFLE