Gander Mountain "Bubba" The Smith

[springmom]

There seems to be a mini-convention of potential Darwin award winners here today....

Jan

 

[Geronimo45]

Maybe geronimo or bubba gunsmith could suck on the barrel real hard and pull the live round out of the barrel?

Only works in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.

I'll try to boil this down a bit. The light from a flashlight will not set a gun off. Looking at a gun will not set the gun off. Only random events (flying hammers, for example) can set the gun off.
Is that what you people are saying?

Now, onto cleaning rods. If the malfunction is a stuck firing pin, running a cleaning rod down the barrel could set the round off. Right? Let's say that there's a 1% chance that you'll set the round off with a cleaning rod.

Random events (flying hammers) are not stopped by you using a cleaning rod. We'll say that they represent 4% chance of setting off the round.

So looking down the barrel with a flashlight, you have a 4% chance the gun will go off due to random events. When running a cleaning rod down the barrel, you have a 5% chance the gun will go off due to random events and your cleaning rod. In one case, the gun is pointed at your head. In the other, probably not.

But random events (flying hammers) can move your gun, right? A flying hammer might hit your hand, causing you to drop the gun, setting it off and causing a bullet+ramrod to go into your head, or the head of a buddy. Can you say that these random events will, in 50% of the cases or more, not cause the gun to move just before firing? It's possible that you do set the round off with your cleaning rod (or random event), and it doesn't hit you. There's no guarantee that the round won't hit a 3-year-old who's standing just the right way... thus, to me, the best course of action is the course of action that reduces the chance of the gun firing at all.

 

[gondorian]

I really don't think there should be any three year olds around when a gun that has a live round stuck in it is being disassembled. I think everyone on this forum is just trying to say; why not do something that would be way less dangerous in the event of an accidental discharge when doing it that way is not any harder?

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Looking down the barrel to check for a live round?



"I give this procedure two thumbs up!"

Pull the bolt or slide back and look in the breech (and remember that a primer indentation does not mean the cartridge has fired or is incapable of firing), or poke a cleaning rod down the barrel and see if it emerges from the other end, all while pointing the muzzle at something you don't care if you blow a hole in. But don't look down the barrel!!

 

[bigalexe]

I dont get what all these people are thinking advocating the guys technique. I had my shotgun misfire or malfuction last night with a live round, the trigger pulled but no click. Ejected the round onto the grass, fired the next and then re-inserted the round and it did fire. Never did LOOKING DOWN THE BARREL seem like an intelligent idea.

 

[Geronimo45]

But don't look down the barrel!!

The bolt is stuck, thus requiring abnormal methods to figure out if it's loaded or no. If the guy could've got things to work the way you mentioned, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

why not do something that would be way less dangerous in the event of an accidental discharge when doing it that way is not any harder?

'Cuz it reduces the chances of the AD happening in the first place.

 

[jcwit]

Are you SURE you didn't detect a little scarcasm in his remark?

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

The bolt is stuck, thus requiring abnormal methods to figure out if it's loaded or no.

Well, then, find a way to get the bolt back.

 

[DammitBoy]

Beat your forehead repeatedly against the bolt until it releases.

 

[B yond]

Y'all are funny.

There are 4 rules to safe firearms handling. These rules overlap. You can usually get away with breaking one of them without someon getting hurt. How many rules do you have to dreak to look down the barrel of a loaded and malfunctioning rifle?

Let's find out:
-treat every gun as if it's loaded. BROKEN! You're not supposed to look down the barrel of a loaded gun.
-keep your weapon pointed in a safe direction. BROKEN! Your eyeball is not a safe direction.
-know your target and what is behind it. BROKEN! We know the target is your eyeball but if you're actually doing this we can't be sure there's anything behind it.
-keep your booger hook off the bangswitch. NOT BROKEN! Unless you're not just dumb but also suicidal.

This argument has gone on long enough that I'm beginning to wonder if Geronimo45 might just be egging you guys on. Surely someone with over 3,000 posts on THR is smarter about gun safety than this.

Come to think of it, Gecko45 = Geronimo45???

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I wondered what happened to him. Working in a Gander Mountain store is not what I expected.

 

[Mags]

LOL
Bubba Smith Actor/Football player I have one of his cards from the 70s

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Ever hear of a hangfire?

Many years ago, I was using a 25-06 I built on an antelope hunting trip, where I fired many more rounds than usual (over two boxes). The weather was hot, and I started having hangfires. I had them with reloads and two brands of factory loads. They would take anywhere from two to ten seconds to fire. Very scary.

What a gunsmith later determined caused those hangfires was that the hot weather swelled up the stock and the cocking piece was hanging up on the wood. Just one tiny little spot, but it was enough to cause a hangfire (the rifle is a 1903 Springfield).

Separate story: A few years ago I had my own little dump truck, a 1956 Chevy, to haul roadbase and gravel and such for our place. I brought one load of roadbase (five tons) home one day and spread it on the driveway. When I dropped the bed, it wouldn't come back down.

I walked around and started to try and figure out the problem when I remembered some advice I had been given some time before; NEVER put part of your body between a raised dump bed and the frame, unless you have personally blocked the bed up with something solid. Well, I checked from a distance, and discovered a tree branch had caught the bed and held it up. When I moved the truck, the bed slammed down with a vengeance.

The point of this rambling? When you have no idea what is causing a problem, don't stick your head in the way and try to figure it out.

I have a hard time believing that a long time THR member would advocate looking down the barrel of a loaded weapon, because the percentages favored him not getting his head blown off.

After that much proselytizing, I won't close the thread right now, but let's see if we can come off as a cut above knuckle dragging idiots, by not advocating doing stupid things with dangerous objects (and that comment is aimed at exactly one member).

 

[trex1310]

Anybody ever see a light primer hit cause a jam in a semi-auto pistol? Then 30
minutes later that same round go off and put a large hole in the passenger side
door of a new pickup. Imagine if someone had been looking down the bore!

 

[B yond]

let's see if we can come off as a cut above knuckle dragging idiots, by not advocating doing stupid things with dangerous objects (and that comment is aimed at exactly one member).

Well said Larry.

 

[The Deer Hunter]

Going back to the earlier question, how would the gun fire, thus causing safety to be in peril? How could I possibly cause the gun to fire by shining a flashlight down the barrel and looking down the barrel? There is no touching of the gun required when looking down a barrel.
Guns do not fire by themselves.

Looking down the barrel of a known, loaded gun is one of the dumbest things you can you can do.

I don't care how much you may rely on physics or probability, you're a complete idiot.

 

[Geronimo45]

Ever hear of a hangfire?

Do hangfires usually happen after the ten/fifteen/however many minutes it took the OP to drive from the place he was shooting to Gander Mtn? Is there any case of one happening like that? I've always been told that hangfires resolve themselves (or not) within 2 minutes or less. That may not be the case. Aside from the hangfire (I know of no cases where there have been 10 minute hangfires), how is it possible for the gun to fire with no external forces of any kind brought to bear? That's what I'm getting at. Guns aren't that complicated. You can set one off by applying excessive heat or smashing the primer. That's it. When you're not applying excessive heat and applying no forces whatsoever to it, a body at rest remains a body at rest.

I have a hard time believing that a long time THR member would advocate looking down the barrel of a loaded weapon, because the percentages favored him not getting his head blown off.

Again - I consider looking down the barrel to be less likely to cause the gun to fire than ramrodding it. The 'body at rest' notion. And in the event that it fired anyways, I'd much rather shoot myself by accident than someone else.

I am not arguing that the best way to see if your gun is loaded is to look down the barrel. The best way is to open the action - at the very least, it's much quicker. I'm not arguing you should look down the barrel the instant it clicks instead of banging. In the instance that it's been ten to thirty minutes since the trigger was pulled, and still no bang; that it's bounced around in the car and not gone off; that it was laid on the table and didn't go off; that chances are it won't go off without external forces of a significant kind. Far beyond the forces exerted by a flashlight beam.

I'm looking at this from a strictly mechanical point of view. I'm trying to see how the gun would be able to fire in the case that the OP mentioned. If you want to shut the thread/delete my posts on this thread, no problem. If you want to post cases of thirty-minute hangfires, I'll say point taken and move on. Or sulk off to a bear thread.

 

[Nugilum]

Why couldn't you use a mirror to look down the barrel?

 

[The Deer Hunter]

Ever hear of a hangfire?
Do hangfires usually happen after the ten/fifteen/however many minutes it took the OP to drive from the place he was shooting to Gander Mtn? Is there any case of one happening like that? I've always been told that hangfires resolve themselves (or not) within 2 minutes or less. That may not be the case. Aside from the hangfire (I know of no cases where there have been 10 minute hangfires), how is it possible for the gun to fire with no external forces of any kind brought to bear? That's what I'm getting at. Guns aren't that complicated. You can set one off by applying excessive heat or smashing the primer. That's it. When you're not applying excessive heat and applying no forces whatsoever to it, a body at rest remains a body at rest.
Quote:
I have a hard time believing that a long time THR member would advocate looking down the barrel of a loaded weapon, because the percentages favored him not getting his head blown off.
Again - I consider looking down the barrel to be less likely to cause the gun to fire than ramrodding it. The 'body at rest' notion. And in the event that it fired anyways, I'd much rather shoot myself by accident than someone else.

I am not arguing that the best way to see if your gun is loaded is to look down the barrel. The best way is to open the action - at the very least, it's much quicker. I'm not arguing you should look down the barrel the instant it clicks instead of banging. In the instance that it's been ten to thirty minutes since the trigger was pulled, and still no bang; that it's bounced around in the car and not gone off; that it was laid on the table and didn't go off; that chances are it won't go off without external forces of a significant kind. Far beyond the forces exerted by a flashlight beam.

I'm looking at this from a strictly mechanical point of view. I'm trying to see how the gun would be able to fire in the case that the OP mentioned. If you want to shut the thread/delete my posts on this thread, no problem. If you want to post cases of thirty-minute hangfires, I'll say point taken and move on. Or sulk off to a bear thread.
Geronimo45 is offline Report Post

I suddenly understand.

 

[WinchesterAA]

This reminds me of this story...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/894627/posts
Teen Blinded When Frog Shot From Potato Gun
Houston Chronicle ^ | 4/16/2003 | AP

Posted on Wednesday, April 16, 2003 1:58:12 PM by Ag88

Teen blinded when frog shot from potato gun Associated Press

DALLAS - A teenager was blinded after being struck in the face with a frog shot from a so-called "potato gun."

Daniel Benjamin Berry, 17, received the injury after he looked down the barrel of the gun's PVC pipe barrel and was hit in the face by the frog.

"He is going to be blind in both eyes," Daniel's mother, Lisa Berry, said.

Potato guns are made of pipe with one end sealed. A potato is wedged into the open end and a flammable liquid put into a sealed chamber is ignited, launching the object.

Denton County Sheriff's Department spokesman Kevin Patton said the accident occurred about 1 a.m. Sunday when Daniel Berry joined a crowed of teenagers watching the gun be fired.

When it misfired, Daniel Berry looked down the barrel to see what was wrong when the gun went off, Patton said.

"He said it just went off. It was a misfire. It hit him square in the face," Lisa Berry said, adding that her son had broken bones in his face that would require surgery.

Patton said no charges would be filed.

"This is the first incident involving a potato gun that we have had to deal with," he said. "What are you going to do? This was an accident."

Lisa Berry said the accident ruined her son's career dreams.

"All he ever wanted to do was be an Air Force pilot," she said. "That isn't going to happen now."

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Do hangfires usually happen after the ten/fifteen/however many minutes it took the OP to drive from the place he was shooting to Gander Mtn?

I don't know. My own personal experience with hangfires has shown them to be completely unpredictable. In my case though, the muzzle remained downrange, not pointed at my eye.

Again - I consider looking down the barrel to be less likely to cause the gun to fire than ramrodding it.

Again, you are saying that the percentages favor you not getting your head blown off, and you are apparently OK with that. Well, that's OK, for you.

But you seem to be advocating that everybody here should be comfortable taking the same chances you would, E.G. only a 5% chance of blowing my head off if I do this completely avoidable action.

That is irresponsible. How many times do you think you can tempt fate before the odds work against you?

 

[WinchesterAA]

But then again, Larry.. How long would you have to stare down a barrel to make the chambered round go off?

 

[grampster]

Kapow!!

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

How long would you have to stare down a barrel to make the chambered round go off?

Not sure how to answer that.

Staring down the barrel won't make the round go off, but if it does (go off), you are in exactly the wrong place, if you are stupid enough to be looking down the barrel of a loaded high-powered rifle, that has malfunctioned.

Geeze, have we entered the twilight zone? THR members arguing that the four rules are all of a sudden optional?

 

[bigfatdave]

Ever hear of a mirror?

Quoted for pure cleverness.
A mirror and a pocket laser would allow you to take a look down a VERY long bore.
I agree about a cleaning rod possibly jiggling something and releasing a hammer/pin/flying-Thor-sized-hammer/etc.