Is loading from the flask really that dangerous???

[sussexmuzllodr]

Remember the Guy with the Beach Chair and Helium Balloons? He was Lucky.

 

[tenngun]

Yeah but tell me you didn’t go ‘oh that looks fun”.

 

[Ames]

Hold my beer..............

 

[Two Feathers]

Howdy:
The idea of pouring directly from a flask or horn to me, is not a great habit to get into. A horn or flask is essentially a bomb held in your hand and the fuse is the powder going down the barrel. The whole concept of being dangerous (in my opinion) came from someone pouring powder down the barrel directly onto a glowing ember of charcoal left from the previous shot, (i.e.) powder constitutes: Potassium Nitrate ( salt peter), Charcoal, and Flowers of Sulfur.
When I was a kid, I made my own BP. I went to the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist for Potassium Nitrate, powdered Charcoal, and Sulfur. He looked at me and said" Young man, do you know what will happen if you mix those ingredients together?"
I said, "yes sir; I do, that's exactly why I want the stuff." Back then you do crazy manure like that. These days you try it, and DHS will be kicking your door down in a half hour!
Anyway, that's my take on why pouring directly from a flask or horn, to me is a bad idea. But as many here have stated, it's your fingers/life. Live it the way you want to. Myself...NO WAY!!!
Stay safe.
God bless:
Two Feathers

 

[Two Feathers]

You remind me of this guy:



I'd been looking at a pretty, brass-framed BP revolver in the case at Shattuck's Hardware for a couple of months, and boy! Was I ever proud the day I went in and plunked down the money for it! Eleven dollars in one dollar bills... and eighteen dollars in quarter and dimes. Old Man Shattuck was a great old guy, whose eyesight, thankfully, had gotten really bad over the years... he didn't recognize me as he sold me the .36 caliber pistol... he even threw in a box of pure lead balls with the pistol and percussion caps when I bought the pound of black powder.

I told Mr. Shattuck that I was anxious to shoot it and was heading straight for the dump, and asked him to show me how to load the gun. "It's pretty simple," I recall his telling me. "You measure your powder into the cylinder chamber, put a bullet over it, ram it down in with the hinged thing under the barrel, put your cap over a nipple, and you're set to shoot." I thanked him for his help and headed for the door.

"One last thing!" he called to me as I was running out the door, "Don't forget to put grease over your balls! Crisco works fine!" I didn't understand the need for the last part, but I stopped at Tony's Grocery and bought a little blue can of Crisco grease. And now... to the dump! Where bottles and cans, rats and crows were just waiting for this ol' cowboy to do 'em in!

I replayed Mr. Shattuck's instructions in my head as I laid out all my gear on the smothed-out, brown paper bag at my feet. The first thing I realized was that I didn't have anything to measure the powder with... UNTIL I remembered my knife! I carried one of those folding stag handled camper's knives- you know, the ones with a fork on one side and a spoon on the other? The spoon was perfect for what I needed! Very carefully (thank heaven there wasn't any wind blowing) I poured a spoonful of powder from the can into the spoon, then tipped the spoon up and tapped the powder into the cylinder. Sure, I spilled a bunch over because the spoon held so much more, but what the heck! Powder was cheap, back then... and I had plenty to spare...

Being a methodical kind of kid, I filled all six chambers with the powder, managing to spill as much around my feet, I suppose, as I was getting into the cylinder. I can laugh now, but when I bent over to get the bullets all the powder fell out of the cylinders onto my boots... so I had to fill them all over again! I managed to get all the chambers filled with powder and then stuck a bullet into the first cylinder... I had to really tap it in with my knife to get it started... then shoved it in as far as it would go with the rammer thing. I lost a little powder in the process, but eventually I had all six chambers loaded and ready to go. Then I put percussion caps over the things sticking out the ends of the cylinders... Oops! I forgot a couple of things!

Now, I'll admit my ignorance about a lot of things... but why I was supposed to smear Crisco on my balls is still a mystery to me. But I figured Old Man Shattuck knew what he was about, so I looked around to make sure I was alone, then dropped my pants to my knees, opened the can of Crisco and began to smear it over Lefty and Righty. Standing there in the hot summer sun, slowly massaging soft, silky grease into my scrotum... gee WHIZ! I guess the old man knew what he was talking about after all ! Welcome to the joys of shooting!

I had to force myself out of my reverie...

One last thing and then I'd be ready to shoot... I took my baseball cap off and stuffed it inside my shirt over my left nipple. Okay... I guessed I was ready (except, of course, that in my haste I'd forgotten to pull up my pants...)

Well sir, I crooked my left am out in front of my face, rested the trigger guard of the pistol in my right hand on it, drew a tight bead on an old Four Roses bottle, and squeezed the trigger. I remember a bright flash, a burning sensation on my arm and face, then something hit me square in the forehead and the lights went out.

It must have been quite sometime later when I awoke. I was laid out across the back seat of Sheriff Miller's car (I knew this from the plexi-glass partition and a previous ride when I'd been sixteen), the rider's side door was open and my feet and lower legs were hanging out. As I raised my head to look for the source of the voices I heard I felt like someone had hit me in the head with a sledgehammer. I could see two men in the dim, evening light, just outside the door and within my range of vision. At least, I thought they were two men... I could hear two speaking but they were sorta spinning around and they looked like six. From the voices I knew they were Sheriff Miller and my Dad... "... busy on another call so the volunteer fire department was the first out here," I heard the Sheriff explaining to my dad. "Mabel Krutchner called it in... said she saw smoke comin' from the dump and had heard an awful explosion over this way."

"Near as I can tell from what the firemen say, when they got here they found your boy lying over there...

Howdy Sun City:
I'm laughin' so hard the tears are streaming down my face and my wife thought I was having another stroke!??? MAN...you really need to send THAT story to someone in the printing business? Like a magazine publisher. That's the funniest thing I've read in 15 years! I can't tell you the OTHER one!
God bless: and thank you for sharing.
Two Feathers

 

[old ugly]

when i first started shooting all i had was a flask that had a 50 grain measure spout screwed to it. i was told never load from that flask directly down the barrel. i had no powder measure so i turned the flask up and put the 50 grains into a spent shotgun shell then dumped it down the barrel. i did that for the first rondezvous season.

one day on a trail walk at a shoot i am doing my loading procedure,, from flask to shot shell then down the barrel and some lady shooter comes unglued. YOU CAN/T LOAD FROM THAT #*&^%& FLASK. i said im not loading directly from the flask im loading from the spent shotgun shell. and she starts screaming at me again. she would not let it go, i really wanted to punch her but she was bigger than me...I told her where to go then i went back down the trail and shot with the next group.

so yes. loading from the flask is dangerous.

 

[Kansas Jake]

The thought that if you injure yourself it is only you has a fallacy in many cases. If you injure yourself badly enough and end up in a nursing home or care home without adequate resources or insurance we all get to pay for your care. It is called Medicaid. I saw it a number of times in my professional working life. Most were closed head injuries from motorcycle accidents.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Yeah but tell me you didn’t go ‘oh that looks fun”.

He had safety devices in place.....A walkie Talkie and a BB gun.......LMAO

 

[flashpoint]

Just to add a little. You buy something small that costs $2.99 and can be mailed in a 5"x7"envelope and they charge you $10 in postage. That's where the costs really add up along with the tax they charge.

 

[Omhra]

This thread might just be the single most important discussion in these forums.
You may have saved this newbie's life.
Thank you.

 

[Art Caputo]

Odds of explosion 1 in 10,000. If you shoot five hundred shots a year. Odds 1 in 20, for the year , ten years- odds 1 in 2.

The probability of “odd’s” are independent of previous events. After ten years of shooting, regardless of the amount of shooting that occurred previously, the odds will still be 1 in 10,000. Each “event” stands on its own. The state lottery’s and casinos would love to have you believe otherwise!

 

[springfield art]

We see blowing down the barrel in several loading instructions in the past.
It’s not related to loading a revolver directly from a flask. I don’t think that’s as dangerous as loading a rifle on line from a flask.

Interesting. And you're right about the revolver...

 

[Twisted_1in66]

How does loading straight from the flask into the cylinders of a revolver compare to using paper cartridges? If there is indeed a spark remaining in that cylinder when you insert the paper cartridge then the powder is going to go off and that ball has to go somewhere. Should we cease using paper cartridge? Has there been a recorder occurrence of one going off this way?

I've seen lots of videos of powder cans left open and igniting from sparks from a gun being fired, as well as videos of chain fires caused by loose caps, but can't find one of an actual cook off as powder is being poured into a barrel. Not saying it doesn't happen, just not seeing it happen nearly as regularly as folks seem to think it is. I'd love to be correct if wrong.

All that said, don't load from the flask! It's not worth it considering the potential consequences, even if the odds seem to be low that it will actually happen. It's the equivalent of buying a scratch ticket in the idiot's lottery when the first prize is a messy death. Second prize is losing a eye...third prize a finger...you get the picture.

Loading straight from the flask into the muzzle of any muzzleloader is a spin of the roulette wheel only with worse odds. And all it takes is for you to lose once.

A friend of mine in Vermont strongly cautioned me against doing that when I got my first longrifle. He then showed me the patch in the roof of his blacksmithing shop where a spring sealed cylindrical brass powder flask went through it. The powder went off while he was loading a rifle from the flask. The "ignition" turned it into a small rocket, which was fortunate. If it hadn't been turned into a rocket, it would have blown apart throwing brass shrapnel everywhere and likely caused serious physical damage to his person, and not just a hole in the roof. That little spring seal did nothing to stop the 80grs. of powder in the measuring tube from blowing right into the body of the flask and igniting it.

When you use powder from a powder measure, you have little chance of anything worse than embarrassment happening if you pour it in on a hot coal or a miscellaneous spark ignites it. 80-gr. burn vs 1/3 to 1/2-lb burn (explosion) of black powder...do the math. Pouring it directly into the muzzle is a little like Russian Roulette - eventually, your number comes up.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

It will probably be fine maybe even for your whole life.

But that time when it’s not and your fun day on the line turns to an ER trip with your arm blown off and blood spattered all over the place and you screaming in horrific pain are not worth it.

 

[TNGhost]

Dangerous? Compared to walking in Downton Minneapolis? Nope.

Necessary? Perhaps not, but I would not hesitate to do it if that was all I had and I kept my wits abut me

 

[Artificer]

The probability of “odd’s” are independent of previous events. After ten years of shooting, regardless of the amount of shooting that occurred previously, the odds will still be 1 in 10,000. Each “event” stands on its own. The state lottery’s and casinos would love to have you believe otherwise!

I understand that, but in the real world of human error (especially around firearms) that doesn't seem to stand up. It is not "if" an accident or negligent action will occur when you shoot enough, it is only when and how it occurs.

Gus

 

[tenngun]

The thought that if you injure yourself it is only you has a fallacy in many cases. If you injure yourself badly enough and end up in a nursing home or care home without adequate resources or insurance we all get to pay for your care. It is called Medicaid. I saw it a number of times in my professional working life. Most were closed head injuries from motorcycle accidents.

Yeah that’s oft an argument, but where does that end?
Dictating BMI? Fines for not taking your blood pressure meds, required exercise programs, you can’t go camping alone in the woods and must stay on approved trails with GPS monitor on, no back yard barbecues or private swimming pools.....

 

[tenngun]

Imagine you have just taken your gun out of its resting place and out to the range for some fun.
It’s a Zouave, Mississippi rife or Harpers ferry. You have one of those monster flask with a sixty or seventy five grain spout and you load directly from the flask.
Or it’s your favorite revolver with a thirty grain spout, and you load directly from the flask.
could it go off? No,Impossible.
we just practice some safty habits cause it’s good practice, because your not going to shoot one and done.
I would never do it with any ml unless it was an unimaginable emergency, but for a revolver, shot and given a few minutes before reloading I’m force to consider my chances of being hit by lightning or the danger of a drive to the range as a dangerous as the flask.
That said I still think it a good idea to use a measure.
cut three cuts in a top of a pie crust one to let the steam out and two more cause mama did it that way....sometimes our rules are arbitrary.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

What the aich ee double hockey sticks do you people have against these?

NYUK NYUK NYUK! I think the measures are fun!

 

[Whitworth]

Hold my beer..............

I'll just keep my cigar while I dump this here powder......