Did something stupid

Whether plinking or chasing big game, tell us about your day outdoors!
Post Reply
Longfield
Posts: 24
Joined: 16 Jun 2014 11:58
Location: Denmark
Been thanked: 8 times

Did something stupid

Post by Longfield »

GOT to tell you about this.
I made a stupid mistake, which ended up okay, but could have gone bad.
I had some old .38 S&W, that was made of cut of .38 special shells, loaded up with black powder and jacketed HP bullets.
Thought that the way to get rid of it was to fire it in the Rossi.
Was okay the first 5 shots. The number 6 and last .38 S&W shot did not make much noise.
But I could see smoke coming out of the muzzle, so I thought it was just a light load.
Then I loaded the gun up with standard .38 special and took a shot. Just a small fzzzzzzzzzz from the gun!!!
THEN I knew that I made a big mistake.
Empty the gun and look through the barrel… sure enough, no hole through the barrel.
Had to get a long drill. Centered with tape, then a lot of violence. Got the 2 bullets out without damage to the gun.
I am 46 years old. I have been shooting since I was 7. I grew careless. Got a wakeup.
Here a picture of what came out of the barrel after 2 hours work:
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
People think that the human brain is in the head. Nothing of the sort; it is carried by the wind from the Caspian Sea.
User avatar
akuser47
Founding Member
Founding Member
Posts: 5070
Joined: 12 Feb 2012 11:43
Location: ohio
Has thanked: 1266 times
Been thanked: 482 times

Re: Did something stupid

Post by akuser47 »

Wow glad your ok, I was told once that no matter the size of your army simple complacency can bring a military action down. Nations have been biult on the remaining ruble of those that were complacent. We all make mistakes. We must learn from them and march on.
Image
Live Free,Ride Free, Or Die Fighting, For The Right, To do So!
Longfield
Posts: 24
Joined: 16 Jun 2014 11:58
Location: Denmark
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Did something stupid

Post by Longfield »

Remember to look through the barrel, if something sounds not normal.
People think that the human brain is in the head. Nothing of the sort; it is carried by the wind from the Caspian Sea.
User avatar
rman
500 Shots
500 Shots
Posts: 673
Joined: 18 May 2014 11:47
Location: Kansas
Has thanked: 160 times
Been thanked: 125 times

Re: Did something stupid

Post by rman »

Longfield wrote:Remember to look through the barrel, if something sounds not normal.
Good advice! I've been reloading since 1970 and had my first squib load just this past year. All it takes is one moment of inattention to get you in hot water. I'm glad you and your rifle came out OK.
At my age, there IS nothing better than shooting.
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: Did something stupid

Post by Ranch Dog »

Yes, great wake up call as it could happen to anyone.
Michael
Image
yukondog
Posts: 16
Joined: 28 May 2013 14:43
Location: NW FL.
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Did something stupid

Post by yukondog »

Hate to admit it, but been there done it with my colt 357 mag trooper mark 3, glad nobody was hurt.
Mrlucky353
Posts: 249
Joined: 11 Feb 2014 22:04
Location: New Orleans
Has thanked: 184 times
Been thanked: 54 times

Re: Did something stupid

Post by Mrlucky353 »

Glad no one was hurt.
Hombre
Posts: 109
Joined: 25 Feb 2015 18:41
Location: OH
Has thanked: 12 times
Been thanked: 27 times

Re: Did something stupid

Post by Hombre »

Just curious, any damage, ring, swelling of the barrel, etc, or did you really get lucky?
Archer
2000 Shots
2000 Shots
Posts: 3942
Joined: 04 Feb 2014 05:30
Location: SoCal Loco
Has thanked: 137 times
Been thanked: 610 times

Re: Did something stupid

Post by Archer »

Hope the barrel's ok.

I've been told this exact story two or three times before.
One of my buds bulged the barrel on a .44-40 Winchester years ago in almost exactly the same way.
Saw smoke coming out and assumed it was clear.

Had a customer bring in a Rossi to the shop and my bud who owns it asked me what I advised since there were two jammed bullets in the barrel. We could have driven the bullets out but had to tell the guy that if it was bulged the barrel would have to be replaced. The gun owner wanted to just keep shooting it.
User avatar
Missionary
Founding Member
Founding Member
Posts: 588
Joined: 21 Mar 2012 15:47
Location: Peru
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 145 times

Re: Did something stupid

Post by Missionary »

Greetings
Thank you for posting this as we all need reminders. How easy it would be to not follow safe procedures.
It would be interesting to rig a barrel with a pressure gauge and deliberately fire a bullet into a lodged one to find out how much PSI gets developed. Have to be into 6 digits to get a barrel to bulge I would think.
But from me also good to read there was no catastrophic results. Loosing chunks of body hurts bad and sure wrecks the day.
Mike in Peru
Way down south in Arequipa, Peru till June 2020.
Post Reply