When I saw the burned hole thru his table

[GreyWhiskers]

I figured he popped a cap on a loaded barrel. But, his story was he pulled his T/C Hawken out of the safe where it had been for 10 years. He cleaned the barrel with hot water and noticed that nothing came out of the nipple. He dried the barrel and then sprayed WD-40 down it and let it soak until the next day.

He removed the nipple and used a can of compressed air to blow from the breach through the barrel. He felt the air come out of the muzzle so after shaking out the excess WD he put the barrel back into the stock and placed a cap on the nipple. He set up a handkerchief on the table to see if it would be moved by the force of the cap.

Well it moved! The blast blew a hole through a paperback book and then thru a dinner table. The table was made of pressed wood but still a pretty good obstacle. There was no sign of a ball hitting the floor. I'm still confused but maybe somebody has an idea. :hmm:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

"shook out all the excess WD" did he?

 

[bob1961]

"shook out all the excess WD" did he?

great ball of WD-40 :shocked2: sounds like what happened....i use that stuff to shoot potato guns off with :v ...........bob

 

[Slamfire]

I went up north to visit my Mother and when I returned found a hole in the ceiling and roof. I didn't ask, but they were about the right size to allow a 20 gauge shot charge to pass. :surrender: I learned then and there, never pop a cap on anything while in the house. :nono:

 

[roundball]

If there was no load in the barrel, the WD40 alone wouldn't have put a hole through a book and the table...

 

[soggy]

:hmm: ...........sounds more like a .40 cal. ball ........than WD40
Just my $.02 worth
Soggy

 

[john12865]

Sounds to me like there was some sort of projectile in the barrel.
I'm a not pc guy and have used WD40 in barrels for at least ten years to stop flash rust and to displace water from cleaning.
I have never had any thing like this happen. As a matter of fact if I don't fire off 3 or 4 caps before loading the WD will wet the load and the gun will not fire.
When I fire those caps off the WD only smolters as it burns off. I use real BP. It's my understanding that some substitutes don't absorb moisture as easy as BP. I have seen damp Pyrodex go off at the range. It goes off with a PFFFFFFTT kinda like a roman candle. I find it very amusing :grin:
I think the gun was put away loaded and went off with maybe a 5 or 10 gr charge of the original load which is enough to cause damage.
Keep looking for the RB it probably bounced around the room a little. :grin:

 

[boar]

I say there was a load in the gun. My buddy went to his friends house to go hunting,he had loaded his renagade at home 110%max-ball,he took gun in the house and leaned it besides his buddies. Later his buddy said he had to cap off to load,pick wrong one up and shot hole throught the wall. I never cap off in hose. Dilly

 

[Halftail]

There was no sign of a ball hitting the floor. I'm still confused but maybe somebody has an idea. :hmm:

I got an idea that I'm glad I live nowhere near anyone dumb enough to Blow a Hole through their Kitchen table. :youcrazy:
Snapping caps inside :shake:

 

[Toomuch_36]

There was no sign of a ball hitting the floor. I'm still confused but maybe somebody has an idea. :hmm:

I got an idea that I'm glad I live nowhere near anyone dumb enough to Blow a Hole through their Kitchen table. :youcrazy:
Snapping caps inside :shake:

You got that one right, in spades.

Toomuch
..............
Shoot Flint

 

[rice1817]

I fired off an "unloaded" flinter at my Dad's house years ago. Went over to pick him up for a hunt, picked up his rifle to put in the truck, saw that the pan was empty, and snapped the hammer to see if he needed a new flint.....He didn't! Blew a hole in the wall....and not a WD-40 hole, a 54 caliber hole. I just thank the Good Lord that the rifle was not pointing at anyone. Learned a lesson of a lifetime that day. :redface:

 

[trent/OH]

Rule number one: Every gun is always loaded. Always.

 

[paulvallandigham]

There is only one way to check a ML firearm to see if its loaded, and that is to run a ramrod or wiping stick down the barrel, mark it at the muzzle, pull it out, and lay it against the barrel to check to see if the other end of the rod goes to the breechplug, nipple, or vent. If it doesn't, ITS LOADED with something ! It may not be powder, but you should presume that it is until you prove it otherwise. I can HEAR the difference when by jag stricks the steel breechplug face as opposed to striking lead.

 

[Mad Professor]

For each of the ML I have I've marked each rod with a small notches to denote an empty barrel and when the bullet is seated properly on the powder. This way you can quickly check if it's loaded and/or if the ball is fully seated on the charge.

This will also let you know if you've just dryballed after loading just by checking the ramrod.

 

[GreyWhiskers]

the WD40 alone wouldn't have put a hole through a book and the table...

That's what I originally thought and it still makes sense. I can only relay what I saw and what he told me. He's convinced there was no charge in the barrel but I'm not sure that WD-40 or any other fuel would have that much pressure without being confined by a ball. I didn't ask him if he knew how to check the barrel with his ramrod.

And hey, I'm not condoning what he did just passing it on to the forum. Thankfully all that got perforated was the dinner table and a paperback book titled "California Diasters." :grin: GW

 

[RC]

Rule number one: Every gun is always loaded. Always.

Rule number two: if gun is not loaded..see rule number one! 7-8 years ago,my brother wanted me to load his t/c.. it was "unloaded" he said...i walked outside(thank god!) to cap it off....BANG! was loaded w/ 100 gr. and 54 prb... made a dandy hole in the dirt..never said a word to him..was my fault.should'a checked it! do now..everyone everytime... :thumbsup: RC

 

[RickD]

True Story..Years ago I decided to go to the local pawn shop in search of a black powder rifle..Entering the store I spied a hawken style rifle on the wall behind his counter,asked to see it..As he reached for it he expalined a woman had pawned it for her husband and never came back to get it..He explained he knew nothing about them and pull back the hammer as we spoke and pulled the trigger..Through the roar and smoke that followed we all but dumped in our jeans..He missed his partner by inches and shot a hole through the wall..To this day he wont take a black powder rifle in pawn..

 

[soggy]

:hmm: I remember reading this a long time ago; not too sure who said it, it may have been Mark Twaine:
" It's always the empty ones that wind up shooting grandma or one of the kids"

Treat every gun as though it was loaded all of the time, no matter how sure you are.
Soggy

 

[RedFeather]

:hmm: I remember reading this a long time ago; not too sure who said it, it may have been Mark Twaine:
" It's always the empty ones that wind up shooting grandma or one of the kids"

Treat every gun as though it was loaded all of the time, no matter how sure you are.
Soggy

Old Mr. Train had it right:

Don't meddle with old unloaded firearms. They are the most deadly and unerring things that have ever been created by man. You don't have to take any pains at all with them; you don't have to have a rest, you don't have to have any sights on the gun, you don't have to take aim, even. No, you just pick out a relative and bang away, and you are sure to get him. A youth who can't hit a cathedral at thirty yards with a Gatling gun in three-quarters of an hour, can take up an old empty musket and bag his mother every time at a hundred. Think what Waterloo would have been if one of the armies had been boys armed with old rusty muskets supposed not to be loaded, and the other army had been composed of their female relations. The very thought of it makes me shudder.
- Advice to Youth speech, 4/15/1882


To put a hole through a paperback book, much less the solid table top, there had to have been something solid in the barrel. Else it would have blown the book aside. I remember one writer (Fadala?) talking about a family that had brought an heirloom muzzle loading shotgun to him for checking out. He found it was still loaded and the charge was under what proved to be a French newpaper from the 1870's. I always check them at gun shows and shops, which usually draws funny looks.

 

[bramble]

Greywhiskers,

After the shot, did you smell burned black powder?

Also, the lack of a projectile could mean a plugged barrel with something other than lead. :hmm:

bramble