Giving your barrel a blow?

[Dave Poss]

As a long time blow-hard...I have always blown down the barrel of my flinter. Here in the south with high humidity, the touchhole can "jam up" pretty quickly and blowing clears it for the next shot. As far as fanning the embers...I blow and give a few seconds before reloading to give time for any ember to extinguish itself.
Just my opinion, but if a person is stupid enough to think his gun went off when it didn't and he blows his head off by putting his mouth over a loaded gun with a hangfire...he kinda deserves it! This is the same type person who would drink anti-freeze thinking it was a Mountain Dew!!!

 

[CrackStock]

I wrote this years ago for another forum and have rewritten it a few times for others as this topic came up:


Why you should not put muzzles in your mouth:

Not doing this is one thing that the NRA, NMLRA, and I agree upon fully.

Most common Rule 1 of gun handling is keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Your head does not qualify.

Your Hunter Safety Instructor will be sorely disappointed and pull your safety card.

The NMLRA certified range officer will be required to escort you to the gate.

It serves no purpose that swabbing with a damp patch will not do better.

It won't melt in there and BP residue tastes pretty bad anyway.

Lead is not good for you.

Freud will have bad things to say about you and that long barrel.

Some of your shooting buddies will say awful things about your preferences. (cleaning of course)

You have enough holes in your head.

Our insurance is high enough without them having another excuse for raising our rates or denying us coverage.

We do not need the very bad publicity -- Try explaining this image to the press, some children or anti gunners after somebody publicizes a photo of you doing this.

If you must do this, please use protection. A rubber (tube) should suffice.

On the other hand, maybe we can find some ML manufacturer who will mate an ML gun with a mouth friendly muzzle. Might even do it with smokeless powder!


Please accept this as my humorous way of saying that you and our sport are both important to me.

YMHS,
CrackStock

 

[HardBall]

Freud will have bad things to say about you and that long barrel.

Some of your shooting buddies will say awful things about your preferences. (cleaning of course)

You have enough holes in your head.

We do not need the very bad publicity -- Try explaining this image to the press, some children or anti gunners after somebody publicizes a photo of you doing this.

If you must do this, please use protection. A rubber (tube) should suffice.

Good reasons Crackstock... I think the ones above are my favorites.

Funny that you and Zonie mentioned the child thing. I hadn't thought of the confusion that would cause a young shooter.

As a father-to-be, I'm not going to try and explain to my child why it's "sometimes" okay to stick a barrel in their mouth.

Thanks all,

 

[roundball]

[quote
Funny that you and Zonie mentioned the child thing. I hadn't thought of the confusion that would cause a young shooter.

As a father-to-be, I'm not going to try and explain to my child why it's "sometimes" okay to stick a barrel in their mouth.
Thanks all, [/quote]

I agree...IMO, it could send mixed messages...sort of like telling them they don't have to look both ways before crossing the road every time, just some of the time.

 

[2172]

30+ years of muzzleloading, have never done it, never seen it done...I thought it was something guys only did in movies..I don't think it'd be dangerous, but pointless..Hank

 

[Darkhorse]

Years ago it was standard practice to blow down the barrel. In fact it was taught as the "right way" at many shoots. So I learned it this way and did it for years.
Now its not standard practice and I have broken myself of the habit.
For what its worth, this is the story told to me as to the reasons.
"At some unidentified shoot a man and wife were shooting together. While the man was occupied in conversation with his back to the range, his wife had a misfire.
She turned to him and handed him the gun to clear it.
Thinking she had just fired a shot he took the gun and blew down the barrel as usual prior to reloading.
The gun went off and blew the top of his head off."

This could be a clever story to reinforce the reasons not to blow down the barrel. It could be a tragic true tale.
Who knows?

 

[roundball]

"At some unidentified shoot a man and wife were shooting together. While the man was occupied in conversation with his back to the range, his wife had a misfire.
She turned to him and handed him the gun to clear it.
Thinking she had just fired a shot he took the gun and blew down the barrel as usual prior to reloading.
The gun went off and blew the top of his head off."
This could be a clever story to reinforce the reasons not to blow down the barrel. It could be a tragic true tale.
Who knows?

FWIW, I could at least believe that something like this could happen...I've personally experienced delayed firings of enough time to begin lowering the rifle and then had the discharge...(Elephant 3F)

But to me, the story (or tale) is a perfect example of the whole intent of the commandment not to point a muzzle at anything you don't intend to shoot.

My personal belief is that for me, I have to be 100% disciplined and vigilant...not 98%, not 90%, etc...100%.
Because I know that sooner or later, $#@&% is going to happen sometime, someway, somehow.

So if I ever accidently kill myself, TWO high odds events will have to occur simultaneously to get this old bird:
1) An accidental / unplanned discharge;
2) The muzzle aligned with a vital body part;

:thumbsup:

 

i blow after every shot and right after the shot . if it has been a few min and i have not blow i drop the RR down to check the load . i had a friend that was missing his middle two fingers from dumping powder and loading and having the charge go off. I seen it. It happened .

now while your all thinking on the pointing issue and the children side ask yourself this . why is loading from the horn a bad idea ????
if the horn has a built in measure and as you say there is zero chance of a hot coal setting the load off, whats the harm ? Or is it that it just may set the load off ?



as to the NMLRA rules, they are made by those in charge now , not those who set up the Organization and i have to wonder if the even know what the !@LL they are talking about anymore .
last NMLRA shoot i went to a few years back i had a guy complain next to me because i was shooting a flintier and his horn was hanging on his left side . he felt it was un safe as the sparks from my flash hole could set it off . this guy made such a big BS about it i will never go back to one of their shoots or any sanctioned event held by or for them .
whats next banning flash horns , spit patches , non skirted hammers .

I went to a vooo down by the Wyoming border this last spring . During the smooth bore shoot , the range master and one other fella kept giving off hand remarks about me and a guy that were blowing down the barrel . Finally the guy next to me turned and said . You know this has been one of the worse piss poor voos I have ever been to . Maybe if you guys did a better job I wouldn

 

[TexiKan]

Thinking she had just fired a shot he took the gun and blew down the barrel as usual prior to reloading.
The gun went off and blew the top of his head off."

Interesting, Darkhorse. Now, if we can only identify said victims! And that story makes more sense than the version I heard, which didn't have the details you related.

For what it's worth, here is the actual NMLRA rule, #1090:

There will be no blowing down the barrel of any firearm during matches in any manner that requires placing the head in front of the muzzle.

For the same safety reason, loading only from a powder measure is preferred. The "charger" may measure the correct amount, but the potential of a powder measure of powder going off while loading, as opposed to a whole powder horn going off would result in a smaller explosion.

If there is anything I have learned from this thread, it is there are still plenty of folks who continue to blow down the barrel! :hmm:

TexiKan
_______________

If you continue to do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Just my opinion, but if a person is stupid enough to think his gun went off when it didn't and he blows his head off by putting his mouth over a loaded gun with a hangfire...he kinda deserves it!

You've never dry-balled thinking you've already added the powder?

Never tried to shoot having not re-primed?

Never pulled, and puller the trigger, not having cocked the lock?

You're a better man than I.

I watched a guy who was convinced his pump shotgun had jammed. He pulled the trigger, never having taken it off safe, and tried to eject the unfired shell, thinking he had fired at a deer! He then proceeded to try and remove the barrel from the loaded gun.

Whatcha doin?!?

"I shot and the gun jammed!"

"I didn't hear a shot."

Sure enough, when he pressed the slide release out popped the unfired shell. After he had been looking down on the top of the magazine tube while screwing down the magazine cap to release the barrel (a Model 37). Probably with his left hand near the trigger.

Surprising what you will do when excited or flustered.

Several Civil War rifles have been recovered with multiple charges still in them. The first was a dud and the soldier just kep reloading and clicking in the "fog of war".

I remember reading that lumbermills refused to harvest trees near certain C.W. battles because so many ramrods were stuck in the trees.

I know it would have been bad for my teeth as a youngin to blow in a barrel. That's 'a cause my Daddy would have smacked me in the back of the head if he ever saw me hold a rifle up to my mouth.

I don't recall seeing that step in the military drill mauuals: "Present arms, Fire, Mouth your Barrel, Handle your Cartridge", etc, etc.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

http://members.aye.net/~bspen/ptery.html

"Pteryplegia: Or, The Art Of Shooting-Flying".

Excerpted:

<i>"A BLOOMING Youth, who had just passed the Boy,
The Father's only Child and only Joy,
As he, intent, design'd the Larks his Prey,
Himself as sweet and innocent as They,
The fatal Powder in the Porch of Death,
Having in vain discharg'd its Flash of Breath,
The tender Reas'ner, curious to know,
Whether the Piece were really charg'd or no,
With Mouth to Mouth apply'd began to blow_
A dreadful Kiss! For now the silent Bane
Had bor'd a Passage thro' the whizzing Train_
The Shot all rent his Skull, and dashed around his Brain!"</i>

 

For the same safety reason, loading only from a powder measure is preferred. The "charger" may measure the correct amount, but the potential of a powder measure of powder going off while loading, as opposed to a whole powder horn going off would result in a smaller explosion.

===========================================================
granted Texikan and i understand 100% and agree
however the point of the mater still is . if there is 0 , none, noda hot coal in the bottom of you barrel 100% of the time then
than that measure going off has just as much chance as a full horn And that

 

[hobbles]

Captchee
That's my thinkin also,,, but it ain't everybodys, and I think you gonna hear bout it,,,,

 

[biliff]

O.k. we have the "blow" camp and the "don't blow" camp. The blow camp figures blowing down the barrel will kill sparks and is safe because the gun is (should be) empty. The don't blow camp follows the "don't point it anything you don't intend to shoot rule no matter the circumstances".
Question: Where does cleaning and barrel inspection come in? I drop one of those little LED lights down the barrel after I clean so I can inspect the bore. Have to get my eye over the barrel to do it. I also look down the muzzle end of my revolvers after cleaning 'cause I can't see clear down the barrel from the breach. Obviously, this is all done on firearms that have been cleared and are known to be unloaded. Of course if I pull a dumb s$&^$ I could end up blowing my head off. Awareness of the consequences tends to keep my motivation up in terms of checking the guns carefully before I do this. There are also examples in other shooting disciplines (skeet/trap) for example where muzzles are routinely pointed at various body parts as a matter of course, mostly because the firearms are open and empty.
So where do we draw the line? :m2c:

 

[Runner]

I swab between shots now, so I don't blow down the barrel. When I did not, I wrapped my hand around the end of the barrel and blew into my hnad to make sure the barrel was clear and to extinquish any remaining embers. Yes, it makes them flare up amd burn on out. Yes, I have heard a crackling noise while doing so more than once when I was shooting Pyrodex. When I used modern weapons, I also cracked the bolt open and looked down the barrel when I would get to my stand after slipping thru the woods to make sure the barrel was not obstructed. Ever seen a barrel that went off with a stick stuck in the end? We are not arguing safety versus not safe. We are arguing two different safety concerns. Over the years I have never seen a single barrel muzzleloader go off twice without being reloaded. I blew right after the shot and watched for SMOKE to come out the nipple. We are not talking about doing so to someone else's gun. We are not talking about picking a strange gun up and doing so. We are not talking about doing so with our own guns that have been sitting without checking to make sure they are cleared. This rule is just another reason to avoid the NMLRA to add to many others.

 

[roundball]

O.k. we have the "blow" camp and the "don't blow" camp. The blow camp figures blowing down the barrel will kill sparks and is safe because the gun is (should be) empty. The don't blow camp follows the "don't point it anything you don't intend to shoot rule no matter the circumstances".
Question: Where does cleaning and barrel inspection come in? I drop one of those little LED lights down the barrel after I clean so I can inspect the bore. Have to get my eye over the barrel to do it. I also look down the muzzle end of my revolvers after cleaning 'cause I can't see clear down the barrel from the breach. Obviously, this is all done on firearms that have been cleared and are known to be unloaded. Of course if I pull a dumb s$&^$ I could end up blowing my head off. Awareness of the consequences tends to keep my motivation up in terms of checking the guns carefully before I do this. There are also examples in other shooting disciplines (skeet/trap) for example where muzzles are routinely pointed at various body parts as a matter of course, mostly because the firearms are open and empty.
So where do we draw the line? :m2c:

Maybe no line has to be drawn for everyone to conform to at all...it's fine just like it is...I have no interest in convincing others to do as I do, or in doing as they do...I do as I do because for my particular reasons / cautions that I believe in.

When I'm in a live or hot loading/shooting/reloading scenario at the range or hunting, I do not allow the muzzle to cover my vitals.
However, I don't know how to load a muzzleloader without at least getting my hand in front of the muzzle, but that's a calculated risk I have take in this hobby, and I give due diligence to the conditions while I'm doing so.

By contrast, when I'm back in the garage hours later, and my barrel has soaked in a bucket of hot water for 15 minutes, and then I've pump flushed and scrub brushed it for another 4-5 minutes...I'll then drop a bore light down it, no problem at all.

They are two completely different environments and mental states of mind, totally different degrees of risk, etc...there's no powder even in the vicinity of my cleaning area, certainly nothing volatile inside that empty piece of pipe.

For me it's not an issue of blowing or not as it relates to embers & AD's...it's just the simple discipline in that live loading/shooting/reloading environment that I don't want to have to try and remember when I can and cannot allow a muzzle to wander across my vitals...once I give in to that lack of discipline, I'll forget sure as the Sun sets in the West, and eventually have an bad accident.

So I personally choose not to do it for that reason alone.

:m2c:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Where does cleaning and barrel inspection come in?

For cleaning,I poke the vent with either a pick or a quill and then I run a damp patch down. If air ain't blowin out the vent it's time to start worryin.

For bore inspection: I drop my rammer in and make sure it's empty first. ("Ping" and to the mark instead of "klunk" and not full down). If I am real curious, I drop my Gen-u-wine Squire Robin bore light in backwards and the light shines out the vent. THEN, I reverse it and inspect the bore. I usually wipe the bore first anyway, another check for clear depth.

My arms ain't long enough to hold a light to the vent and look in the muzzle at the same time, so it ain't an issue. After it's been shot it's probably too fouled up to see light down there, anyway.

There are times when you about have to point a muzzle at yourself. Scrubbing a revolver barrel, lapping a rifle. Hopefully, the lock is on the table beside you or the cylinder is swung out or removed.

Standing on the range between shots is not the time I consider lifting a gun to my lips. I have other ways to work it to my satisfaction. If other guys want to do it, fine. I put it in the same category as relying on just the jack to work on your back under a truck with the wheel off, or talking on a cell phone while driving, or using the pad of your thumb to test a knife's sharpness. They all work, but there are safer ways to do the same thing.

Takes me just a little longer to run a spit patch down the barrel every fifth shot or so.

 

[buckknife]

All it takes is one brain fart.The older i get the more likely it can happen.About a year ago or so i had my brain fart and i aint gonna push my luck anymore.Im going with the dont blow crowd.Aint worth it.

 

Ok here you go RB
I hope you read my post last fall about checking barrels to be loaded . In case you didn

 

[CrackStock]

<<<drop that RR down there if there is any doubt>>>

If you run the ramrod down the bore, why would you need to blow? Hopefully, you will have used a damp patch. You will hear the hissing noise through the vent or nipple which will tell you that there is not a charge in the bore. You will have extinguished the sparks and there is now no purpose to blowing.

CS