Firearm accident

[tmwinds]

Nice article. NOW stop making and shooting BP guns. There is a reason they are not made now.

Not made now?

 

[Pawnee Bill]

I will keep the club name and location out of this report. This article was in our town's weekly newspaper. This is the first I have heard of this incident.



Quoted from newspaper article.

"Sheriff's deputies responded to calls of a person injured at >>>XXXX<<< club the morning of Sept. 9th. The victim, who was bleeding profusely, was originally taken from the scene by some acquaintances but was transferred to an ambulance which went to a hospital. The male victim received serious non-life threatening injuries.

According to the sheriffs office the victim was practicing shooting a black powder rifle when the wrong type of powder was used, causing the gun to explode. The guns barrel ruptured at the trigger area cutting the shooters arms and chin. The barrel was peeled back into several pieces.

"There is no reason to suspect any type of criminal activity" stated the sheriff's office. The victim's identity was not released as no crime was committed.



These types of accidents continue to happen. Be careful out there.

Smokeless powder in a black powder rifle.

 

[XTR]

He's probably confusing the original post with an MLII, (and it's a shame they quit making that one). I love mine.

What I tell people about shooting MLs is that there is no stupid limiter on them. With a cartridge you are limited by case capacity. On the other hand, with a ML, be it BP or a substitute (and smokeless is really just the ultimate substitute, you just need the right engineering) there is nothing stopping you from making a pipe bomb and blowing it up in your hands.

 

[bobm]

Good 'ol Google tells me this was a TC Omega. The screw, hammer and unique trigger guard spur looks like what I picked up.


https://www.biggamehunt.net/blogs/gear-review/thompson-center-arms-omega-muzzleloader-review

 

[rr2030]

I have three muzzle loaders. They are the Diesels of the firearm industry. Anything that goes BANG, has the potential to hurt you be it smokeless powder in a ML, or pistol powder in a modern rifle case. It can happen to anyone, and you can't have that moment just before the event back, ever.

 

[K22]

Not amazing it fired, but I don't understand how it damaged the barrel. Knuckleheads fire 9mm in .40Short'n'Weak chambers all the time, and the worst consequence I've ever observed was a failure to extract.

What was the damage?

The slide and the barrel were stuck together. The guy called me over for help. The first thing I noticed was the extreme belling of the 9mm case then realized he used 9mm ammo in a 10 mm pistol. When I told him that he used the wrong ammo you won't believe his relpy, "Didn't think 1 mm would make a big difference." You can't make this stuff up.

The slide and barrel were jammed together. Don't have a clue of why or how. Also, I'm a revolver guy so I'm not very knowledgeable on semi-auto pistols.

 

[farmerjohn]

The slide and the barrel were stuck together. The guy called me over for help. The first thing I noticed was the extreme belling of the 9mm case then realized he used 9mm ammo in a 10 mm pistol. When I told him that he used the wrong ammo you won't believe his relpy, "Didn't think 1 mm would make a big difference." You can't make this stuff up.

The slide and barrel were jammed together. Don't have a clue of why or how. Also, I'm a revolver guy so I'm not very knowledgeable on semi-auto pistols.

Could he have already had one down the barrel? I've never tried to put a 9 in a 10. Don't know if it's possible.... John

 

[K22]

Have you considered changing which ranges you frequent?

No - in my 50 years experience it doesn't make a difference - it's not the range - it's the shooters and perhaps the lack of enforcement or the ability to enforce rules. Both clubs have rules posted - require mandatory indoctrination before joining so I can't fault the club officers - at some point a shooter has to take responsibility for his own behavior.

I belong to two clubs - I won't shoot pistol on the defensive pistol range at one of the clubs where the guy shot himself. I envisioned something like this happening the first and only time I used the range to shoot my carry small frame short barrel revolvers. I concluded that I was in more danger at this range than by someone attacking me.

The other club has two ranges, a conventional bulls eye range (25 and 50 yard firing points) and a defensive pistol range which also allows draw and shoot at various distance from 7 to 25 yards. The bulls eye range is virtually deserted even on the weekends. It's were I do the majority of my pistol shooting. The defensive range at this club is relatively safer since they do not allow shooter's to advance past the firing line to shoot short distances, instead, moveable target stands are used to adjust firing distances. This club also has surveillance video which helps but I still see a a fair number of unsafe gun handling.

One club has an excellent safety system for the rifle range. It's equipped with warning lights that have to be turned on before heading down range. But you wouldn't believe the number of shooters who forget to turn them on. The other club has no such system and depends on shooter communication to clear the range - you can only imagine how that works.

 

[K22]

Is #3 now on Social Security disability and at the range many times a week ?

Don't know - I only saw him once after the accident in the parking lot - I don't use the pistol range at that club for obvious reasons.

 

[K22]

Could he have already had one down the barrel? I've never tried to put a 9 in a 10. Don't know if it's possible.... John

It's possible - I saw the spent 9mm casing so it fired.

Don't know if he had one down the barrel - maybe. The guy was so inexperienced it is possible that one got lodged in the barrel and he racked the slide and fired one after it. With he gun "jammed" he departed to my great relief - wasn't in the mood to encourage him to stay at the range so I didn't put much effort into trying to get his pistol to work.

 

[Shawnba67]

It's possible - I saw the spent 9mm casing so it fired.

Don't know if he had one down the barrel - maybe. The guy was so inexperienced it is possible that one got lodged in the barrel and he racked the slide and fired one after it. With he gun "jammed" he departed to my great relief - wasn't in the mood to encourage him to stay at the range so I didn't put much effort into trying to get his pistol to work.

9mm is 0.355, 10mm is 0.401. Cant imagine it obturating enough to not roll on out.

 

[rardoin]

"Didn't think 1 mm would make a big difference." You can't make this stuff up.

Too bad it didn’t blow off his testicles.....there are some genes that need culling from the pool.

 

[mike a]

Too bad it didn’t blow off his testicles.....there are some genes that need culling from the pool.

That’s funny. Hahaha. I like that!

 

[Oso]

This is more common then you think... periodically I find 9mm that are blown out/swelled to 40cal. The main culprit is Glock, which has a couple of models that allow you to swap out the barrels between 9mm and .40 with the rest of the pistol remaining the same. Participants in IDPA and USPSA elect different calibers to classify for a specific division and sometimes they forget to swap out the .40 barrel to their 9mm barrel. Glock's extractor aggressively hold the 9mm case against the right side of .40 barrel, and the case diameters are close enough that the firing pin still hits the 9mm primer... Bang. The tail-tail for this happening in a Glock is that the case bulge will appear off-center / lopsided. As result of 9mm case being held to one side of .40 barrel the case bulge occurs on the opposite side of case expanding to fill the void in chamber.

Most shooters don't realize their mistake until after a couple of stage when their hits are unpredictable (9mm flinging out of 10mm bore) and scores are off.

 

[338 dude]

I was at the range this morning doing some maintenance work. I had no trouble locating the bench where the accident happened. I found lots of bits and pieces of the gun. Can anyone identify which brand rifle it was?

View attachment 1201773

I can’t remember what brand gun it is but there’s a piece of the trigger guard with a round knob extended off of it that I recognize if I remember what type of rifle it was I will post it

 

[338 dude]

Good 'ol Google tells me this was a TC Omega. The screw, hammer and unique trigger guard attachment looks like what I picked up.


https://www.biggamehunt.net/blogs/gear-review/thompson-center-arms-omega-muzzleloader-review

View attachment 1201803



View attachment 1201797

There it is that’s exactly what I was talking about

 

[KMart]

This is more common then you think... periodically I find 9mm that are blown out/swelled to 40cal. The main culprit is Glock, which has a couple of models that allow you to swap out the barrels between 9mm and .40 with the rest of the pistol remaining the same. Participants in IDPA and USPSA elect different calibers to classify for a specific division and sometimes they forget to swap out the .40 barrel to their 9mm barrel. Glock's extractor aggressively hold the 9mm case against the right side of .40 barrel, and the case diameters are close enough that the firing pin still hits the 9mm primer... Bang. The tail-tail for this happening in a Glock is that the case bulge will appear off-center / lopsided. As result of 9mm case being held to one side of .40 barrel the case bulge occurs on the opposite side of case expanding to fill the void in chamber.

Most shooters don't realize their mistake until after a couple of stage when their hits are unpredictable (9mm flinging out of 10mm bore) and scores are off.

This problem has nothing to do with what pistol it is and its capabilities. It has everything to do with irresponsible and unsafe people using them. And our stupid society will reward them with a cash settlement from the manufacturer.

 

[Downeast]

Could it have been a double charge in the BP rifle? I've seen it happen many times when they put the rifle away at the end of the season but fail to shoot it. The next year they take it out and load it. Just about everyone I know has a notch in their ramrod signifying whether it is loaded or not and to be sure that the load is tamped down properly. It's a good way to go from having a rifle to having a pipe bomb.

 

[edwardware]

The slide and the barrel were stuck together. . .

Interesting. I'd guess a barrel obstruction, perhaps the previously mis-fed cartridge.

When I told him that he used the wrong ammo you won't believe his reply, "Didn't think 1 mm would make a big difference."

I literally can't even. . .

 

[jdh47]

Years ago my son brought me a M36 38 Special that was locked up to look at. His girlfriends father had given it to her and the ammo. She shot it once and it locked up. It had been loaded with 38 Super.