Gander Mountain "Bubba" The Smith

[Flame Red]

Was at the range last week and wanted to shoot the old Granade. I had just a few days before taken it completely apart for a thorough cleaning. Only the second time I had done that. Anyway, I had a lot of trouble getting the clips in for some reason and that should have told me that I was in for problems. First round went off and the second round went 'click'. I tried to eject the round but the breach would NOT open. Got some help from some others and there was no way we could open it. I was pretty sure I had a live round in the chamber.

Decided I would deal with it later and put it back in the truck.

On the way home, I had to stop at Gander Mountain for some stuff and I saw the smith was there so I figured I would ask him his advice. I could not believe my ears. He recommended to me that I check to see if there was a live round in the barrel by shining a flash light down the barrel and looking down it!



Watch out for "Bubba" the smith!

I just about threw up and walked out. I almost felt like saying to him, You wanna do that for me? But decided I did not want "Bubba the Smith" to have his brains blown out by my rifle.

Had a friend help me later carefully disassemble the rifle. He held it towards the berm while I removed the trigger group, removed the stock. I just had to play around with the op-rod and then it opened to reveal a live round with a light hit.

I took it home and looked it over really carefully and could not see anything wrong. Seems to function ok with snap caps. Have to take it out and try it again I suppose.

 

[starkadder]

I don't know what your problem is, That is how you check for a live round in the chamber.
It is no different than checking the fuel level in your gas tank with a lighted match, that's just the way you do it. Bubba is as Bubba does, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.


This is this! It's not something else, it's this!

ALWAYS REMEMBER OUR MEN AND WOMEN OVER THERE.

 

[candr44]

You should have let the gunsmith check it since he obviously has no brains to blow out.

 

[Maelstrom]

Maybe because he's used that technique before.

 

[BMF500]

Wow, and this guy makes a living working on other people's firearms!! That's scary, which location was this?

 

[poppy]

Ever hear of a mirror?

 

[tomh1426]

or a cleaning rod!

 

[Geronimo45]

You can't open the breech... and it's a crime against humanity if you look down the barrel to see if there's a live round before working the gun over?
Do you think that flashlight beams can set off a primer? Do you think guns just fire themselves for no reason?

 

[N003k]

When there's been a clear malfunction CONCERNING a live round....I really don't think it's a good idea to look down the barrel...since, ya know, the round may get set off? There's already been ONE malfunction in the action, is it really safe to just assume at that point that there CANT be another?

I personally make it a point to never look down the barrel of a loaded gun, even one that HASN'T malfunctioned...

 

[highorder]

You can't open the breech... and it's a crime against humanity if you look down the barrel to see if there's a live round before working the gun over?

Why even chance it when you can simply slide a cleaning rod down the muzzle?

Work smart, not hard.

 

[Geronimo45]

I really don't think it's a good idea to look down the barrel...since, ya know, the round may get set off?

But how would it get set off? Again, will a flashlight beam set off primer or powder? Is the gunsmith's office heated to a few hundred degrees, where cook-offs could occur?

 

[Rockwell1]

Familiarity breeds contempt

 

[N003k]

Action won't open, what if the hammers been released but caught up on something and didn't strike yet? As we've covered, already been ONE malfunction, what if that moment you look down the barrel you happen to jostle it just right that the hammer is full released and it fires the round? Is it REALLY worth taking the chance of taking a bullet in the head because you want to visually confirm a chamber in the round rather then find another way?

 

[oneounceload]

But how would it get set off? Again, will a flashlight beam set off primer or powder? Is the gunsmith's office heated to a few hundred degrees, where cook-offs could occur?

hmmm, maybe he bumps just enough on the floor while looking at it? Had a friend DIE when that happened - his rifle was sliding off the hood - as he reached for the barrel, the stock hit the ground and off went his head.....and he had been shooting for over 50 years.........

dumb things happen, why chance it? Use a cleaning rod

 

[cuervo]

What's a "Granade?"

If you mean Garand, you may be able to remove the trigger group with a clip loaded (I've never tried it) and that will remove the hammer so the round in the chamber can't go off.

To empty the chamber, find a wooden fence post somewhere. Place the op-rod handle against the back of the post and push forward on the butt of the rifle.

My guess is you put the follower in backwards.

 

[Geronimo45]

So the problem isn't looking down the barrel - the problem is in playing Marine Silent Drill Platoon while looking down the barrel?

 

[maskedman504]

Geronimo45 I don't understand why you are advocating looking down the barrel of a loaded firearm when there are safe ways of doing it.

 

[candr44]

But how would it get set off? Again, will a flashlight beam set off primer or powder? Is the gunsmith's office heated to a few hundred degrees, where cook-offs could occur?

Next time get Geronimo45 to look down the barrel of your loaded gun. Let him discover how it can accidentily get set off. I'm sure everyone else is easily smart enough to find a safer method.

Are you trying to be a troll or do you really look down the barrels of loaded guns? When you are looking down the barrel, keep in mind never point a loaded gun at what you don't want to shoot. Are you the gunsmith Flamered is talking about?

 

[gondorian]

Exactly, what ever happened to ALWAYS keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction?

 

[Geronimo45]

Geronimo45 I don't understand why you are advocating looking down the barrel of a loaded firearm when there are safe ways of doing it.

Going back to the earlier question, how would the gun fire, thus causing safety to be in peril? How could I possibly cause the gun to fire by shining a flashlight down the barrel and looking down the barrel? There is no touching of the gun required when looking down a barrel.
Guns do not fire by themselves.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Going back to the earlier question, how would the gun fire, thus causing safety to be in peril? How could I possibly cause the gun to fire by shining a flashlight down the barrel and looking down the barrel? There is no touching of the gun required when looking down a barrel.
Guns do not fire by themselves.

This is so retarded on so many different levels. Aside from the obvious glaring safety concerns It's not like you can see down 24" of .30cal bbl from one end with a flashlight that by definition must block your view to shine down said bbl. Even with my high end bore light I can't view much more than 2" of the barrel illuminating from the muzzle

mark a cleaning rod and compare that simple that way when the worst happens you just loose a hand instead of your HEAD

and this from a 3k+ poster no less

 

[lbmii]

I think there is a NRA firearm safety rule that goes along the line of:

No looky looky down the barrel of a loaded, malfunctioned, sixty+ year old, mis-assembled, maybe war-time produced, maintained, stored, and tinkered with by the military, used in all probability in two or more wars, high-powered 30.06 rifle.

Yeah I'm pretty sure there is a safety rule on that and rather specifically I bet.

Mmtay?

 

[candr44]

Going back to the earlier question, how would the gun fire, thus causing safety to be in peril?

If you could possibly know every combination of events that could happen or see into the future then that question would be answerable but no one could know the answer to that. That is why I wouldn't look down the barrel of a loaded gun.

Engines aren't suppose to start by themselves either but I have seen it happen without anyone even being near the equipment. Who could have predicted the events that lead to that happening. No one but it happened anyway.

The question isn't how can it get set off by looking down the barrel but why even take a remote risk when there are safer methods. Keep looking down the barrel if you want but I don't think you will convince people there couldn't possibly be any risk involved especially on a gun with an unknown malfunction.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I try to live my life by thinking any potential action through to the point of wondering whether I will end up on the Darwin awards if this doesnt go right.

 

[DammitBoy]

Maybe geronimo or bubba gunsmith could suck on the barrel real hard and pull the live round out of the barrel?