Exploding Shotgun

The man, whose name was not released, had just learn how to reload ammunition at the club,

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That sure makes it an expensive new hobby.

Reloading is a fun hobby, I enjoy it almost as much as shooting but you got to be careful and know what you are doing! Apparently he hadn't learned enough!

had just learn how to reload ammunition at the club,

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Wonder if he'll sue the club and the folks who taught him?

oh snap. this is a few miles from me and where i shoot. its a really nice facility. glad nobody was seriously hurt. maybe it was cheapy top break shotgun that gave up ?
i have seen people feed in a 12 after a 20 shell and detonate a shotgun before. but never a double charge on a reload

i have seen people feed in a 12 after a 20 shell and detonate a shotgun before.

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The 12/20 burst is one of the most catastrohic KB's that can happen with small arms, and all too common an occurance.

It was probably a fairly cheap shotgun. Shotguns are so low-pressure that it's quite difficult to make a solidly built one blow up. On the other hand, shotgun shells are so cheap that it rarely makes sense to reload them.

yes i agree, about the dreadful 12/20bore problem. thats why 20 bore cartridges are yellow here.

if he just got a little bit of muck in the barrel it would cause this and shooting a multi choke gun with no choke in it.

thats why 20 bore cartridges are yellow here.

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Ya can't fix stupid, though. Ever watched someone trying to put the green handle in their gas car? I've made some money off of the opposite scenario (gas in a diesel), as well as having to drain E-85 out of non-FFV cars.

Could also have been a squib load, leaving the wad in the bore,( or a loose base wad following the shot charge half way down the barrel) then another round after it.

When we have 12 and 20 on the range at the same time, everyone is "aware" of what's where....

had just learn how to reload ammunition at the club

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The first thing I tell folks when we talk reloading is to do the math beforehand and to do it afterward, too. As in "a 3 dram shell of Red Dot at 18.9 grains is 370 shells per pound of powder". If we end up with 372 shells, it's ok....we just shaved a bit off a few shells. If we end up with 350, though, that means those shells are overloaded and it's time to start over. That puts those hulls up into the 20 grain range which is still not going to be dangerous as in that article, but it means you need to be one hell of a lot more careful in your reloading. It's hard to double drop the powder on a shotgun shell like metallic cartridges can. If you double drop the powder, the hull doesn't crimp. If your wad won't seat below the hull mouth no matter how much you ram it and cuss it, you're in a bad situation and you need to take a step back. It's far more common, in a barrel rupture, that he simply used the wrong powder for the recipe he was using.

rich

Been reloading since my early teens, making my own recipes and in some cases, totally custom ammo, and have yet to have an accident. Knock on wood.

I load rifle and pistol but for some reason, never really ever got interested in shotshell reloading. Probably becuause I don't shoot trap or skeet.

I know it is something I would really enjoy, as the times I did shoot clay's was fun to watch them instantly turn to a small black cloud. I try not to do too many things that cost me a lot of money - no matter how fun it is.

My father an I shot trap for years all over the miwest.We share the buren of reloaing (amn d button don't work but about half the time) about 600 shells/wk. I can tell you that you on't ouble charge a hull without it showing some symptoms.
I posted a reply about a gun blowing up at a range we were shooting on years ago. I juged by the responses that followed that some idn't believe my story....but it happens. You gotta know your powder....and don't screw with the charge. There are rules that apply at registere shooting events as to legal loads.
There is really no avantage to a hot load at the trap range....you'll evelop a flinch over time that is really hard to deal with.

On the other hand, shotgun shells are so cheap that it rarely makes sense to reload them.

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you're joking right???

On the other hand, shotgun shells are so cheap that it rarely makes sense to reload them.

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you're joking right???

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Some people don't understand the difference between Wal-Mart fedremchester value packs and a well taylored skeet/trap/Clays load.

I would also say that for someone like me, who shoots only a few hundred shells a year, and spends more time just playing with 18" HD and coach guns than busting clays, there's not alot of sense in reloading shotshell, especially when an entire small room is already consumed by handgun and rifle reloading supplies, equipment and brass (yes, the entire closet is filled with labeled tubs for 48 different calibers).

Who knows...

But if the poor fellow's Right Arm was injured, I would guess he is a left handed Shooter, for his right Hand to be on the forestock.

I think they should have said 'Still learning to re-Load'.

People who are only partially educated can be more dangerous than the totally ignorant.

At the range I used to shoot at we had a guy start shooting and his shells where extremely loud, so loud we stopped the shooting and had a talk with him.

Asked what he was shooting? His response "Some of his trap loads from his new Mec Jr Reloader."

What powder are you using we asked. "Powder he'd bought at the club", he said. We sold Red Dot.

What powder bushing are you using we asked. "What's a bushing?" he asked.

We then escorted him off the range and gave a lesson in shotgun shell reloading to him.

Never blew up his gun but he said "he had to pour out some of the shot so the shell would crimp" and we figured that could have been what saved him.

"What's a bushing?" he asked

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oooooh boy

that could have been what saved him

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an maybe the guys on either side of him too.
(I hope some of the guys that oubte my story poste a while back are reading this)

"It was probably a fairly cheap shotgun"

Discussion and 2 pics on a thread at www.trapshooters.com

The thread is called 'Man injured after gun explodes at Livermore'

Blew it all to heck. What the hey, here's the good one.



"Thats suppose to be a 3200 but the barrel looks like an aftermarket single ? I may still blame it on the reload but you never know ??" - ljutic111

I'm guessing a 12/20 kaboom, or other large obstruction. The point of failure was well forward of the initial chamber, but not fully into the weaker barrel section either. If it was simply the shell, it would have cracked right at the chamber. Instead it ruptured well forward, and peeled back from there. That leaves a few potential causes. One is a 12/20 kaboom. Two is a squib from a previous shell. Three is a structural problem with the gun. I'm actually leaning towards the latter. I'm guessing the gun had a material flaw at that point. That would be a very unusual place for a squib because even the primer should propel the wadding or whatever it was farther forward than that. However, because it occurred right at a structural juncture, it would seem to indicate a material flaw.

The point of failure was well forward of the initial chamber

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Instead it ruptured well forward, and peeled back from there.

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How'd you arrive at that conclusion? Did I miss the pics somewhere?


r

Could also have been a squib load, leaving the wad in the bore,( or a loose base wad following the shot charge half way down the barrel) then another round after

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That's usually what causes this, especially with trap shooters using singles. Of course, with a break-action, it's pretty easy to check for obstructions, but not everyone knows that you need to.

Two more reasons to shoot skeet...

1. When waiting for your turn, you line up behind the shooter.
2. Skeet shooters will chat with each other, so it's more likely that someone will help someone out if a squib is suspected. Trap shooters either have voice-activated throwers, or in some cases they're just anti-social, and in either case there's not much interaction at the line.

The man, whose name was not released, had BEEN TRYING TO learn how to reload ammunition.

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That is my take on the situation, sorry it happened, need to be extra careful especially when first beginning to reload.

We had a guy who did not make the transition from card wads to plastic shot cups and their lower powder charges. And I think he was likely careless besides. He damaged a couple of good shotguns and completely wrecked one. A shotgun running at "only" 10,000 psi or so can't take a whole lot of punishment.

I'm thinking a defect in the barrel structure, too. The Mythbusters tried bunch of things to "banana peel" a shotgun barrel and couldn't do it even when they hammered a metal plug into the end of the barrel.

The worst they could get was a barrel bulge.