Stupid things I have seen people do with a Muzzleloader, or while shooting a muz

[akapennypincher]

List your best story, or stories. I will post my best (2) later today. :rotf: :rotf:

 

[wtilenw]

Pull the front trigger, instead of the rear, with the hammer cocked to "set the trigger" :shocked2: That one will bring a whole new meaning to muzzle control.
Idaho PRB

 

[trent/OH]

Confession time. I once took a shot at a Whitetail doe, from a kneeling position, which I had never practiced. My left hand was tucked in close, and my fingers were sticking up in the air,DIRECTLY IN LINE WITH THE VENT!
The gasses rushing out of the vent when you fire are REALLY hot, and the still-burning embers of powder can embed themselves deep in your hide! I invented a new dance that evening called the Muzzy.

 

[captaincaveman]

dryballed
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.3 times
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in a row :shocked2:

Josh

 

[walruskid1]

shredded a perfectly good leather glove (along with my fingertip!), by placing it over a vented drum. i still have powder embedded in my finger. :redface:

 

[shootemup]

Confession time...left hand was tucked in close, and my fingers were sticking up in the air,DIRECTLY IN LINE WITH THE VENT...still-burning embers of powder can embed themselves deep in your hide...

Yep,
Did that with my first flintlock, hence my handle...

Spot

 

One time many years ago, a friend and I were shooting at a rondevous at the 25 yard paper targets. He was shooting a big .58 cal. Hawken by GRRW and I was shooting a .40 cal. Tennessee rifle that I had made. We were teasing each other and trying to throw each other off in a good natured way like friends do at times. Having a great time. Well anyway, I pull up and fire and the ball strikes at 6:00 under the paper at 25 yards. Dean starts laughing his head off and says," Ya short started that one, ya coon". So we keep laughing and I'm swabbing 'er out for the next shot as Dean fires his Hawken. Dean fires and walks back to the cabin and leans against the wall and just watches me. I turn and ask him if he is finished already. He smiles and shakes his head in the affirmative without a word. I go ahead and finish my target and eventually the RM calls range closed. Dean and I walk down for our targets and I stop to get my target and Dean just keeps walking down range looking at the ground. I pull my target and catch up with him and asked him what he was looking for. Dean says to me," My ramrod!!!" We never did find that thing. :rotf:
I guess we both succeeded in throwing each other off our game.

 

[akapennypincher]

Well for the last 10 year I have been a Volunteer LSO/RO (aka Safety Officer) at a Large Public Shooting Range near where I live. I have seen some really crazy things, and people doing STUPID things with firearms.

But the (2) incidents that stick out most in my mind about or involving Muzzleloaders were the following.

1. We have this customer pouring REAL BLACK Powder from a Metal Goex Can into a Brass Reproduction Powder Flask while smoking a Cigar.

I point out the DANGER of a few fines of BP blowing into the Cigar, or a Amber from the Cigar blowing into the BP, as it is a Windy Day.
The guy after a long conversation decides what he was doing was not safe, and put the Cigar down away from the BP.

2. We have this customer pouring what appear to be SMOKELESS Powder into Brass BP Powder Flask, who has this .44 Cal. Army BP Revolver sitting by his shoot bench.

My question to him is what is in the can? his reply is Pistol powder. After a conversation apparently the customer got the .44 Cal. Army BP Revolver as a present with some patch material, caps and ball but had not powder.

Apparently he went to the local Gun Shop and request a can of powder for his pistol, and was sold smokeless.

Refund this guys use day range fee, and told him he could not shoot Smokeless in a BP Pistol. He need to go by some real BP if he want to shoot that pistol on the range. Also told him we might have saved his hand by stopping him from shooting Smokeless in his new pistol. :cursing:

 

[J.D.]

I once saw a young kid, at least to me, about 20 years old trying to clear an old TC rifle. He apparently had not cleared the breech before loading, and his gun would not fire. A so called friend removed the nipple and "trickled" some pyrodex into the flash channel. The nipple was screwed tightly down on the pyrodex creating a solid mass that would not ignite. The idiot, so called friend, then abandon the kid, 'cause he didn't know how to deal with his screw up.

I had to remove the nipple and so called clean out screw to pick an opening that would allow the pyro to ignite. The nipple was replaced and a cap fired. The burning pyro vented from the open clean out like a bottle rocket preparing to launch. After what seemed like several minutes, the gun fired.

The kid reloaded to test fire his gun. It still wouldn't fire. Priming was trickled into the flash channel and the gun fired. This was repeated again. This kid apparently had so much congealed oil in the breech that it would not fire without "help". That gun did fire the fourth time without having to prime the piece. IMHO, if ya gotta prime, ya might as well shoot a flint gun. :rotf:


I once saw someone else have a misfire. This idiot, after popping a coupla caps to no avail, stepped back to allow another shooter to have his shot. I looked back to see this idiot standing with the butt of the rifle on the ground with both hands resting on the muzzle of the gun. I, as gently as I possibly know how, reminded the idiot that his gun could still go off and his hands could suffer dire consequences for his stupidity. :hmm:

I had previously instructed this idiot to step to the side and clear his piece. He decided to shoot the breeze with friends rather than making his rifle safe. :nono:
J.D.

 

[George Holton]

I watched a friend have a hangfire and shoot a hole in his fiberglass boat, I have the gun and the boat now.

 

[rebel727]

I bought my first bp revolver at the ripe old age of 12. The place I bought it from only had rudimentary knowledge of how to load it. No mention was made of over powder wads or over ball lube. Nobody said anything about measuring powder. He just said pour powder in, seat the ball, cap it and shoot it. Well that's what I did. Had to carve a good bit off the balls to get the cylinder to turn. First pull of the trigger all six went off. Took a lot of trial and error to eyeball how much powder to put in and still seat balls. (I've never been one for under powered loads.)Finally got it down how much to use but still got too much on occasion. Took me longer to figure out how to stop the chain fires. Most times I didn't have any but sometimes I'd get anywhere from two to all six going off at once. This didn't scare me or anything but it was an aggravation. I FINALLY figured out if I put a drop of 3n1 oil on the balls before I shot it I didn't have chain fires. In my case it really wasn't from doing something dumb it was more of not knowing any better and not having anybody to ask that did know. Not going to tell ya how long it took me to invent a powder measure. :rotf:
BTW, I still have the gun and it's still a good shooter. It sat stored in my moms attic for years because I would guess a combination of chain fires and trying to force a ball down on too much powder broke the loading lever and it had gotten out of time. Anyway when I finally dug it back out and after many moons of intense southern heat and humidity had taken their toll (as well as a 12 -14 year old boy using and abusing it almost every day) it didn't look like much. It's now been repaired and defarbed and undergoing an aging process. With all the dings it has I can't see rebluing it.

This is it right after I dug it out of the attic and cleaned it up.

 

[Robert an saa fan]

1. Quite a few years ago I was the only person at an unsupervised public range. Man arrives and sets up nearby with what turns out to be his just acquired brand new Ruger Old Army revolver and a can of smokeless powder.

Luckily I wandered over after seeing the Old Army and saw what was about to happen. Took quite a bit of talking to convince the guy he was about to make a big mistake.

2. Once when I first started shooting cap & ball revolvers; was shooting off sandbags improperly resting a Colt '51 Navy .36 on the top sandbag... after some shooting I noticed that the top sandbag was on fire! :shake:

 

[pmc]

Many, many years ago, I was shooting at an informal BP range set up in an old sand pit. after a while, a fellow pulls up in a brand new pickup and sets up his loading station on the tailgate. For his first shot, he walks to the side of his truck, rests the rifle on the top of the left bedrail, takes aim at a target down range, and blows a .50 cal hole in the top of the right bed rail. :youcrazy:

thunder

 

[grey8833]

I am sorry, but this stuff is just too funny. This is better than the Sunday comics. I have tears in my eyes.

Mike

 

[F.G. Ford]

Years ago a friend ( and Newby to BP) cameout to the range with his CVA .50 ( percussion) and told me he was not impressed with it's accuracy.
So I asked him to load it and shoot it.
Pours the powder down the barrel, then drops the ball on the charge, then commences to get ready to shoot......I ask why there is no patch on the ball....What patch? He asks. So I explain and all is fine.
A short while later he's in thouble again and calls over for help.
Following my instructions " To The Letter "

Somehow while loading he had managed to get his tee shirt under the patch with the ball half down the barrel.
Couldn't get the ball out of the barrel, and would not let me cut the piece off the tee shirt, that his wife had given to him for father's day.
After a little coaching by all at the club assureing him that everyone did it at least once,
permitted us to cut the piece out of the shirt.
He still has the shirt today in his den.

Best Regards
Old Ford

 

[shortstring]

Got to tell this one on myself. A guy & 2 of his friends drop by the shop with his sick TC to see if I could fix it. Somehow I end up with this gun loaded laying on the shooting bench sticking out the back of the shop when I discover that the problem is that the set triggers are out of adjustment & won't hold. So I grab a screwdriver & make the proper adjustment. Now I turn & say "see they hold fine now" at which point I also show that the front trigger pulls easy & the guns shoots a 54 cal sky light in the roof of my shop. Now I turn & point out that that's why you keep a muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Can't remember if I salvaged my shorts or not.

Paul

 

[kenneth strickland]

As I was out practicing, a stranger shows up to demonstrate his flintlock pistol. Drops the hammer twice with no shot. Turns and points it at my midsection while he f#$%^& with it. I didn't even say goodbye. Guns are not foolproof so how do we prevent fools from buying them.

 

[F.G. Ford]

Paul!
You're supposed to put a pot over the muzzle to make it safe. Dontya Know.
Old Ford

 

[chuck-ia]

About a month ago, a friend shows up, sets all his stuff on the loading bench, lays his rifle across the loading bench between 2 cans of blackpowder and starts popping caps. How would you guys react to this? flinch

 

[FlintlockJonny]

I know someone that the first time they took their .45 kentucky flint pistol out to shoot was more accurate with his ramrod then the ball!!!! Wonder who that was?