Traditional Rifle Accident

[Loyalist Dave]

I have read a report that on Monday, Dec 22nd, an elderly man at the Penn Sportsman's Association Range, was shooting a TC Hawken and had a ball lodged in the barrel during the loading process.

Instead of getting help, or using a ball puller, the man simply fired the rifle to clear the ball, shattering the barrel. He lost his left thumb and they were worried about saving his left hand. He almost lost his life as he is on blood thinning medication, but is home now with his wife.

She donated the scraps of the rifle to the club as a visual aid to teach loading safety. It's estimated that an 18" gap was present between the charge and the ball when he fired. He has been shooting BP since the 1960's and is not considered a novice.

LD

 

[daniel collums]

thats terrible to hear. makes you think about standing to close don't it.

 

[Spikebuck]

He has been shooting BP since the 1960's and is not considered a novice.

Glad it wasn't worse for him or that anyone was nearby to also get injured.

Quite unbelievable that an experienced guy would intentionally try to shoot out an obstruction. :shake:

 

[nkbj]

Oh wow. Good testimony for having a stout pounding rod to knock down a stuck ball.

 

[tiger13]

There are just no words.... :idunno:

 

[ZUG]

No matter what age -- Complacency Kills --- :nono: :nono: . Don't ever think it can't happen to YOU - just one "mind fart" and you are dead :v .

 

[gwalker]

A very unfortunate but preventable accident. Though saddened to hear of the accident, I am relieved that his injuries were not more severe. Is there some way you can post a photo of the rifle that could be used to stress safety at the range?

 

[Pete44ru]

He has been shooting BP since the 1960's and is not considered a novice.

Quite unbelievable that an experienced guy would intentionally try to shoot out an obstruction. :shake:

More than likely he had a senior brain farct - there, but for the grace of God, go I. :hmm:


.

 

[jamesthomas]

I've had a ball get stuck before, and I've always pulled it, it isn't that hard.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I think the fellow was 84... no telling if he had the strength to properly ram it down past a dirty point, or if he'd a been able to pull it...so ask for help or get one of them new fangled CO2 dischargers...I also don't know if he might have been alone on the range....I read some additional information that his car was very bloody...he drove himself to get help is what that implies...unconfirmed.

I can't get the images to work, sorry.

LD

 

[mooman76]

Just a guess but I was thinking maybe he tried it before(only farther down with less gap) and it worked. Sometimes when you try bad things and they work out ok it can be worse later on. Either way, good lesson for the rest of us. Sorry for they guy though.

 

[Wes/Tex]

It's very unfortunate indeed, I'm truly sorry. I can't help but think that age might have played a factor, even a minor one. I find I'm slowly beginning to have minor losses in concentration compared to my misbegotten youth. I sometimes have those little "aww &@%$" moments when concentration sort of slips. I'm not saying that's what happened at all, but I have seen a time or two when taking the easy way out seemed a real good idea! Of course, I "poofed" the hair off my entire face twice when I was young enough and smart enough to know better and still carry scars from my
"Let's make a dandy big fire work from FFFg and...let's see, which side was the thick side so I can light it an run away?"
"Kah-poof!"
"Not that side!"

What was I talking about?

 

[Artificer]

Though of course I am sorry to hear of such a tragic act, I too am relieved it was not worse. Perhaps some little good can come from it being a reminder to all of us on what not to do.

I will never forget the time as a young lad that I slipped when hunting in heavy snow and the barrel of my modern shotgun went into the snow. The snow in the muzzle probably went only down two or three inches. Thank God I asked my Dad what I should do about it as I was thinking it might not be a problem. Fortunately my Dad knew enough about it to have me unload the gun, take the barrel off and then he broke a branch (we did not have a cleaning rod with us) and got most of the snow out of the barrel before I shot it!! In upcoming years, I saw examples of shotgun barrels that had opened up like a banana from just a little snow plugging the barrel like that.
Gus

 

[mooman76]

Myself also. When young and hunting with my brother-in-law I tripped and fell, my shotgun barrel went muzzle end into the mud. I cleaned some out and thought it was good. My brother-in-law asked what I was doing and I told him. He said it still wasn't good enough and he managed to get most the rest out and test fire my gun. It could have been real ugly.

 

[USMA65]

Last week I was sighting a T/C Hawken at a range run by the TN Wildlife Resources Agency. I poured in the powder and used the short starter to drive the PRB down about 8"s. Then someone came up behind me and distracted me. When I got through answering him, I turned around and capped the gun. Resting on the bag, I slowly cocked the gun.......and then remembered where I was before the distraction. I have never been as careful decocking a gun and removing the cap. The range rod confirmed my worst suspicions. Nothing but the grace of God prevented a very bad situation. Routine that is not routinely approached is necessary with BP. It also brought to mind that the range official, rather than just being friendly and inquisitive, should have recognized his error in judgment.

 

[azmntman]

I've had a ball get stuck before, and I've always pulled it, it isn't that hard.

Two summers ago (or one??) I had a ball stuck about 6 inches down so bad I had to create a make shift sliding hammer thingy to get it out! Worse one EVER. had just stated the dutch system and was using a thicker patch and a larger ball. NO GO after short starter and NO COME OUT either! A true nightmare. Mostly they just come right out :idunno:

 

[SacramentoJohnson]

Hi all,
Suspect cognitive impairment played a large part. (Not uncommon in that age bracket.) Appears he made many errors in judgement in the above incident, including after the accident.
Hope he gets a neurological evaluation to check for early dementing process.

 

[trent/OH]

Loyalist Dave, can you post a reference to this event? While I have a healthy contempt for most modern media reporting, there is usually a grain of truth that they accidentally found.
I did a quick search for Penn Sportsmen's Association without finding anything much.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Sorry Trent... I got it from the The High Road forum...for some reason I can't get a link to correctly post... and it's under Blackpowder Shooting, then "Accident at Pen. Sportsman's Club Monday",... (there's an image of the destroyed rifle there for you).

Mea culpa...


LD

 

[bpd303]

Good grief, lucky he wasn't killed. Looks like more than just a short started ball. According to the High Road the gun was a Thompson Center Hawken.