Bad luck stories of shooting/reloading/gunsmithing

[T-shooter]

I once, for whatever reason, removed and reinstalled the screw from the zoom adjuster on a Simmons scope. Went out in a few days and at 100 yards and wasn't hitting a whole piece of posterboard. The rifle always shot well under 1 MOA. WTF? Went to 50 yards and still couldn't hit it. Tried adjusting the elevation on the scope to no avail. Went to about 25 yards and still couldn't hit it. Then I noticed mud splattered on the board. The elevation dropped all the way and I was shooting into a mud puddle below the target. Went home, took it apart and found the problem. The scope still works ok. Gee I felt silly!

 

[T-shooter]

Almost forgot, a friend, an experienced shooter, was firing his 30-06 rifle in a prone position. He was ready to fire again and for some reason decided to readjust his position on the ground and moved the stock away from his shoulder. He still had his finger on the trigger and it went off. He used the scope and his forehead to limit the recoil. No major damage, no stitched needed, but the blood poured for a couple minutes.

 

[madmixerman]

cows are expensive!

But are some good eating.

 

[338 Mollett]

I was turning a match barrel down converting it into an AR barrel.After working for hours filing and polishing I had that thing looking great.When I flipped it around to chamber and thread the .22 bushing didn't touch a side wall.I had grabbed a 6mm barrel !

 

[Adam in WI]

Just last month I was making up some 308 for a coworker using his brass. Resizing the third round and it started to go hard. Figuring it was wide at the base I pressed on and SNAP!

Broke the deprime pin trying to size a Berdan primed case.

 

[GSS]

Luck = When Preparation Meets Opportunity!!

Most of my “bad luck” has been the result of poor planning on my part.

+100

 

[Drop Port]

there was a groundhog 100yds from my truck hood I shot at him 17 times and he just kept on eating..

My friend had the same problem at 450 yards, he had a good sense of humor when he finally figured out I put the stuffed animal out for him.

 

[JEFFPPC]

Get to match with no shells, wrong shells, no bolt , wrong bolt, wrong gun, wrong rest, no wind flags, no spotting scope, no wallet, wrong day.......need I go on. Go to a lot of matches within an hour of home and like to arrive early. Time for a phone call.....Honey, is there.....Yes, your box of shells is sitting in the driveway. Honey, could you run then up to me it's only 50 min away and match doesn t start for an hour. Where would I be without my lovely long suffering wife? Yea, .that's the creek

 

[Toolbreaker]

I recently posted about my run of bad luck with a 6mm Creedmoor. After that I realized I was not alone in my run of bad luck. I would like to hear some of your stories.

thanks

Does inadvertently creating 6 lbs of special, duplex powder count? If so, I'm in like Flynn.

 

[hillbillydruggist]

opening morning of dove season, and was putting the plug in a .410 pump for my wife, and the spring shot out of the open truck window into a brush pile! never to be seen again

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Bad Luck? Ha ha, I laugh at bad luck. Try bein old and hidin your own easter eggs. I Stripped a CZ 550 action down a few weeks ago to get it re-barreled. Found everything but the scope rings I had. Key word had..

 

[rardoin]

opening morning of dove season, and was putting the plug in a .410 pump for my wife, and the spring shot out of the open truck window into a brush pile! never to be seen again

Did that really happen that way....or is that the story you told the Wildlife and Fisheries Agent?

 

[KMart]

Just last month I was making up some 308 for a coworker using his brass. Resizing the third round and it started to go hard. Figuring it was wide at the base I pressed on and SNAP!

Broke the deprime pin trying to size a Berdan primed case.

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[KMart]

opening morning of dove season, and was putting the plug in a .410 pump for my wife, and the spring shot out of the open truck window into a brush pile! never to be seen again

This is your thread. You aren't required to tell any more things. This is our 15 minutes of fame!

 

[hillbillydruggist]

Did that really happen that way....or is that the story you told the Wildlife and Fisheries Agent?

LOL , nope really happened, she borrowed a single shot 20 gauge for the day

 

[JEFFPPC]

My last foul up was sizing some cases that had a questionable history. There was only about 10 of them to do. On the third one, the neck pulled off in the die. I finally found a way to get the necks out of the die without screwing up the die. A smart man would have thrown the rest of the cases in the trash at that point. But not me .
I was persistent and pulled off 3 more necks. On the bright side, I completed my task.

Kmart, you should quit buying those blue light special cases.

 

[Immike]

Cut my wooden target frame down with the splatter off the sighter plate during 2010 IBS Nationals heavy relay. Timber.....

 

[KMart]

Get to maotch with no shells, wrong shells, no bolt , wrong bolt, wrong gun, wrong rest, no wind flags, no spotting scope, no wallet, wrong day.......need I go on. Go to a lot of matches within an hour of home and like to arrive early. Time for a phone call.....Honey, is there.....Yes, your box of shells is sitting in the driveway. Honey, could you run then up to me it's only 50 min away and match doesn t start for an hour. Where would I be without my lovely long suffering wife? Yea, .that's the creek

At least you were only 50 minutes away. I drove 1200 miles to shoot the Grand American in Vandalia O. I turned off I 75 onto US 40 for the last mile of the trip. When I got to the ATA home grounds, only one gate was open, parking lot was empty and no campers in the camping area. I finally worked up the courage to go inside and asked what was going on. The worker looked at me with a crooked grin and said, " the shoot doesn't start until day after tomorrow".
Long story short, I put the dates in wrong on my calendar. This was all pre internet days. So, instead of shooting the last 5 days of the shoot, I shot the first 5 days of the shoot. Had to do some sight seeing for a couple of days first though.

 

[JEFFPPC]

At least you were only 50 minutes away. I drove 1200 miles to shoot the Grand American in Vandalia O. I turned off I 75 onto US 40 for the last mile of the trip. When I got to the ATA home grounds, only one gate was open, parking lot was empty and no campers in the camping area. I finally worked up the courage to go inside and asked what was going on. The worker looked at me with a crooked grin and said, " the shoot doesn't start until day after tomorrow".
Long story short, I put the dates in wrong on my calendar. This was all pre internet days. So, instead of shooting the last 5 days of the shoot, I shot the first 5 days of the shoot. Had to do some sight seeing for a couple of days first though.

Well Kmart, we are way ahead of those who never do or try anything. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Kmart you and I have priceless memories, lol. So to solve those problems my wife made me a check list. I forget where I put it.

 

[Rsadams]

I once, for whatever reason, removed and reinstalled the screw from the zoom adjuster on a Simmons scope. Went out in a few days and at 100 yards and wasn't hitting a whole piece of posterboard. The rifle always shot well under 1 MOA. WTF? Went to 50 yards and still couldn't hit it. Tried adjusting the elevation on the scope to no avail. Went to about 25 yards and still couldn't hit it. Then I noticed mud splattered on the board. The elevation dropped all the way and I was shooting into a mud puddle below the target. Went home, took it apart and found the problem. The scope still works ok. Gee I felt silly!

Lol , once many , many , many years ago my grandfather a huge farmer put a new scope on one of his deer rifles.... He came and got Grandma and said can you see down there by the levee were the bullets are hitting..? He fired and dirt flew up about 15 yards in front of him.... He laughed about that for 40 years and yes he took the scope back.... I am 51 years old and I am pretty sure that happened before I was born... I have had some really good laughs and times shooting for over 40 years.... Some of the excuses I have heard white wing hunting were the best...