Catastrophic Failure......

[ilbob]

Looks like the receiver was made of sheet metal.

 

[Mike U.]

OMG!

It's truly amazing that no one was killed when it went kaboom!

 

[elkyote]

Wow! The chamber wall on my freakin' NEF Pardner 410 is like .25" thick at least!

 

[atrain08]

That is scary! Looks like quite an explosion. Glad the shooter is okay.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Like I keep saying, shotguns and grenades have similar working pressures.

The owner credits heavy winter gloves with saving his fingers.

Look and take heed, folks.

This is why I recommend an examination by a qualified smtih before firing.

This is why I recommend only using published data from recognized sources when reloading.

AND why eye and ear protection's necessary as heck.,

 

[Skoghund]

One lucky man.
Look at the rust under the ribs. I seem to remember that AYA had a problem with rust developing under the ribs of there doubles. They left a hole in the bottom rib where moisture could enter. This was 40 years ago as i recall.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Could be, it's a Spanish gun of that vintage.

Once again, paying a Smith to go over a new purchase of uncertain age and provenance is cheap insurance.

 

[kirbythegunsmith]

Details

The typical present hole in any rib of doubles is not to let water leak in, but to have a relief for pressure of the air etc. during the rib solder process. If there was no relief, solder would blow out when the air expanded as it got hot, and then suck solder out of the joint when the air contracted while cooling.
Many times the heating is done with a small torch tip and you could understand that some area would have melted solder while the mass of air might sometimes being expansive and other times in the process being contractive. Balanced pressure is best i.e. no pressure inequality on either side of the solder.

Plenty of times those vent holes are plugged with a piece of lead shot (or similar) after the rib is attached, so there will be no further exchange of air and consequently no more moisture may enter, either. Then there is basically no rust growth, since moisture (a prime accelerator) is absent and there is no flow of oxygen to continue the production of ferric oxide.

[email protected]

 

[Pun1sher]

Holy Crap!

thats one lucky guy

 

[Leadhead]

*shiver*

Dave,
Thanks for posting a serious reminder. As you have shared, the pressure of a shotgun chamber is akin to a grenade going off.

Sometimes we don't know the "why", still catastrophic occurs.
I have been right there, knew the fella, knew the loads, knew the gun and bad stuff happened.

I found the thumb of a friend of mine, and he was using factory loads, and he did not load the gun wrong, or have a stuck wad...

I located the little finger of another person I knew, a seasoned shooter, and again he did nothing wrong, others were watching and he did not.



As you and others know, I have a problem with folks trying to buy skill and targets.
I also have a problem with folks messing with guns that do not realize how serious the pressures are.

Good guns, with quality ammo have "serious surprises" as is.

These folks "modding here" and "whacking this off there" and "bolting this on", shooting "exotic ammo" and the like ,might just be playing Russian Roulette.

You know how tough a receiver is on a single shot shotgun?
I burst one all to hell one day.
I had it secured in a tractor tire and pulled the trigger by cord , behind cover.
Brand new gun, and it was donated to prove a serious safety lesson.

Exotic rounds had again gotten the attention of some young folks, and that round burst that gun all to pcs, including the receiver.

Yes, it cost a new gun. It was worth it if it prevented just one person from getting hurt.
We did this from time to time, with a new crop of shooters coming up, all full of TV, Movie, and wherever they got ideas.

We had been using good used single shots, and we hated to do this, still a human being is worth the investment.
Some smart aleck kids "well them old guns are not worth a flip..." so we let them pick out a new single shot, and someone picked up the tab for this object lesson.

We demonstrated some other things, and yes this cost some barrels and some stocks along the way...
Then again if it prevents just one person, it is worth the investment.

Sounds crazy, still I do recommend a range do something like this from time to time, with new folks coming into shotguns.

*shiver*

SM
What is exotic ammo?
I can imagine but if you were more specific I could learns something without you having to harm more single shots..

I'm going to take a guess that exotic ammo is stuff we can't buy in Canada like flechetes and flame thrower rounds but perhaps it would be better if you just explained what ammo you are talking about....

 

[Dave McCracken]

Exotic ammo=strange stuff like Dragon's Breath, Flechettes,Pigeon banger rounds,etc.

Toys mostly, though one lady of a Mod's acquaintance did well with the dragon stuff once.

Stick with standard loads for real world problem resolution.

 

[Leadhead]

Thanks for clearing that up Dave.
Your friend was indeed lucky to be wearing heavy gloves!

 

[Dave McCracken]

Lucky indeed.

Luck's good to have, but we can't depend on it.

 

[CZguy]

Luck's good to have, but we can't depend on it.

In fact, some of us can count on it being absent when you need it most.