Ohioan
Member
At my family reunion we like to shoot trap. In fact, that's the reason most of us males attend the family reunion. It's the only time I ever shoot trap in fact.
My father and brother were using black powder muzzle loaders. My brother was using a .62cal/12g (or 20g, can't remember) smoothbore flintlock. My father was using a double barrel 12g caplock. Everyone else was using semi auto or pump 12g or 20g shotguns. We shot for about an hour or so and then it was time for dinner. So, we all stowed our firearms and headed back to the house to eat. Shortly after dinner it started to thunder. My father sent me to put his shotgun away, and a couple cousins went with me.
There were three of us. Cousin A, Cousin B and Me. Cousin A is an avid shooter, hunter, reloader. Familiar with BP arms as well as modern. Cousin B's grandmother owns a trap range back in Florida, so he is familiar with modern trap guns. I own several modern and BP firearms. I was raised around them. I'm the oldest of the three at 25.
It becomes apparent that the storm is going to miss us so Cousin A pulls out a couple of BP rifles he had just purchased. One a .32 and the other a .45. So we decide to see where they are shooting. He started to prepare to shoot them by firing caps on the lock while I cleaned up the mess my father had left out.
I look at my Dad's shotgun and think, "I wonder if it's still loaded". One of the tricks we BP shooters use is to cut a mark on our ramrods when we place them in an empty barrel. That way if you put the ramrod down the barrel an that line is above the crown, you know its loaded. So, I check and sure enough it is loaded. I announced that the firearm was loaded and needed to be fired. I asked Cousin A if he wanted to do the honors, he said no. So I asked Cousin B, who had been watching Cousin A run caps through both of his guns. Cousin B agrees. I handed him two caps and started to walk over to the trap thrower and *BANG*.
I turn around and Cousin B's eyes were like saucers. He had not heard me state the gun was loaded. He thought I wanted him to just run caps through the gun like Cousin A was doing.
Luckily, Cousin A was using safe gun handling skills. He had walked over to the firing line and shouldered his rifles and aimed in the ground to run the caps through. So Cousin B was imitating him and had the gun shouldered and pointed in a safe direction (down) when he fired the gun.
I then hear my father yell from the house "My gun is loaded!".
Lessons learned:
ALWAYS follow safe gun handling techniques, even when you KNOW they are unloaded, because you might be WRONG.
ALWAYS follow safe gun handling techniques, you never know who is watching and learning.
NEVER load a BP firearm and then leave it.
Always have a way to check if a BP firearm is loaded.
Luckily no one was hurt. It sure taught us all a lesson or two.
ETA: Yes, my father and brother were actually hitting some birds. That's a trick with a flintlock!
My father and brother were using black powder muzzle loaders. My brother was using a .62cal/12g (or 20g, can't remember) smoothbore flintlock. My father was using a double barrel 12g caplock. Everyone else was using semi auto or pump 12g or 20g shotguns. We shot for about an hour or so and then it was time for dinner. So, we all stowed our firearms and headed back to the house to eat. Shortly after dinner it started to thunder. My father sent me to put his shotgun away, and a couple cousins went with me.
There were three of us. Cousin A, Cousin B and Me. Cousin A is an avid shooter, hunter, reloader. Familiar with BP arms as well as modern. Cousin B's grandmother owns a trap range back in Florida, so he is familiar with modern trap guns. I own several modern and BP firearms. I was raised around them. I'm the oldest of the three at 25.
It becomes apparent that the storm is going to miss us so Cousin A pulls out a couple of BP rifles he had just purchased. One a .32 and the other a .45. So we decide to see where they are shooting. He started to prepare to shoot them by firing caps on the lock while I cleaned up the mess my father had left out.
I look at my Dad's shotgun and think, "I wonder if it's still loaded". One of the tricks we BP shooters use is to cut a mark on our ramrods when we place them in an empty barrel. That way if you put the ramrod down the barrel an that line is above the crown, you know its loaded. So, I check and sure enough it is loaded. I announced that the firearm was loaded and needed to be fired. I asked Cousin A if he wanted to do the honors, he said no. So I asked Cousin B, who had been watching Cousin A run caps through both of his guns. Cousin B agrees. I handed him two caps and started to walk over to the trap thrower and *BANG*.
I turn around and Cousin B's eyes were like saucers. He had not heard me state the gun was loaded. He thought I wanted him to just run caps through the gun like Cousin A was doing.
Luckily, Cousin A was using safe gun handling skills. He had walked over to the firing line and shouldered his rifles and aimed in the ground to run the caps through. So Cousin B was imitating him and had the gun shouldered and pointed in a safe direction (down) when he fired the gun.
I then hear my father yell from the house "My gun is loaded!".
Lessons learned:
ALWAYS follow safe gun handling techniques, even when you KNOW they are unloaded, because you might be WRONG.
ALWAYS follow safe gun handling techniques, you never know who is watching and learning.
NEVER load a BP firearm and then leave it.
Always have a way to check if a BP firearm is loaded.
Luckily no one was hurt. It sure taught us all a lesson or two.
ETA: Yes, my father and brother were actually hitting some birds. That's a trick with a flintlock!
Last edited:
