Post your weird gun stories

[BigFatKen]

Chris Matt invites me goose hunting because I knew how and where. I had no permit so I watched from car. He drove us around the Horicon Marsh farm dirt roads until we saw a flock of geese feeding in a farm field. No land was posted as the farmers wanted them to leave. We park 200 yards from flock. I told him the secret was to walk down street, not turn his head to look at the geese, but rather to look out of corner of eye facing forward like he is just walking down the street. So he is maybe 50 yards off they spook and fly away but three flew overhead, quite high. He downs one on third shot and brings it to car. I pulled my .22 pistol from my bag and told him the geese were tough, steel shot poor killer, and shoot it in head allowing the over penetration to just go into dirt road. He said several excuses for not doing that. I told him over and over to use the .22 He puts goose into a paper bag in trunk of his "pride and joy" month old 1986 Pontiac BMW lookalike. We drive to a favorite bar with view of marsh and great steak sandwiches. After a few beers someone opens the door and yells out "Who's got a black Pontiac? Something making a hell of a racket in the trunk."

Yeah! Goose was nowhere near dead. It torn up paper bag; then the wiring, sound insulation, crapping and bleeding all the time. After he checked, he asked to use my 22.

First of many dumb things he did.
http://www.horiconmarsh.org/

 

[BigFatKen]

In 1973 my CPA friend and I buy 20 acres in a Partnership. Make rules that us two, both girlfriends, and one each guest can hunt or fish in two acre pond. No trailer until later. CPA arrives first time in a hurry, removes shorts revealing bathing suit underneath. He then throws shorts into trunk of his car. I have a 1971 Remington BDL in .25/06 I paid $90 for plus cheap scope.

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As soon as he closes trunk lid, he says "Crap! My Keys are in my shorts." Swimming hole is forever called Key Lake.

Link to Key Lake. It had lake on right side of map below;

https://www.google.com/maps/place/N...0f3249fe883a54!8m2!3d43.9658121!4d-89.2176187​

I sell Remington to CPA's brother Larry. He likes it and I liked the Ruger trigger. So in 1976 my new Ruger M-77 in .25/06 was only an Okay shooter with factory Remington 120 gr. loads. Maybe 1.5 MOA @ 100 Yards. I read in Rifleman to try Sierra 117 gr. Pointed Softpoint Boat Tail over 49.5 gr. H4350. They shot 3/4" groups all day and 1/2" with no wind. We have 20 acres (220x440) crappy low land.

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South five acres nice woods, then moving north a trailer on edge of two acre pond, then these crappy thin low trees that love growing with wet roots in water.

In next deer season, CPA's brother Larry is walking slowly north-northwest from pond through very thin and short trees maybe waist high. A deer lets him walk past, then quietly gets up behind him and walks slowly east- northeast towards a treeline of big trees. Larry does not see deer because he never turns his head. I do not shoot because it's Larry's work that wakes up deer so he should shoot first and he is in my 'scope field-of-view. Larry never sees deer so when he is safe enough, 50 yards to west of deer, I get ready to fire but deer has moved into taller thin trees. Only her head is showing now, still walking slow. I get a firm rest on truck hood and can get one shot at deer's moving head about 250 yards away.

BANG! Larry finally turns but deer is down. We find spot deer was and move her to dirt road. Looking, looking more, everyone in hunting party examines dead deer but cannot find bullet hole; cannot find blood. We field dress it, still no bullet hole. After field dressing we are very sure it's dead, unlike goose story, but how it dies is still a mystery. Can only guess that since I could only see head, that I hit what I was aiming for; I must have put a bullet in right ear hole and out the left ear hole. Only deer hide I ever had tanned because it had no bullet hole.

I did not know that resting a rifle on hood was $67 violation fine.

 

[Kano383]

BANG! Larry finally turns but deer is down. We find spot deer was and move her to dirt road. Looking, looking more, everyone in hunting party examines dead deer but cannot find bullet hole; cannot find blood. We field dress it, still no bullet hole. After field dressing we are very sure it's dead, unlike goose story, but how it dies is still a mystery. Can only guess that since I could only see head, that I hit what I was aiming for; I must have put a bullet in right ear hole and out the left ear hole. Only deer hide I ever had tanned because it had no bullet hole.

Or the bullet passed just millimeters above the head, sonic crack from the bullet scared the deer so much that it got a heart attack...

Bullet in the ear hole makes a lot of blood, even just a .22 bullet...

 

[BigFatKen]

Or the bullet passed just millimeters above the head, sonic crack from the bullet scared the deer so much that it got a heart attack...
Bullet in the ear hole makes a lot of blood, even just a .22 bullet...

No blood found.
We all gave the "just missed" idea some thought but could not figure it out then. I know more about anatomy now.

Deer and other ruminants like cows have low tolerance of electricity. In 1971 farmer friend had several cows die in a few days. Someone had reinforced the gate hinges by pounding one more nail into barn side. Nail hit a 32 volt wire from a Jacobs Wind Electric Plant

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which gave a low voltage charge to steel gate. The cows licked the gate and fell over dead. Maybe they have a low tolerance to sonic shock?

One idea I just thought up; sonic wave gives concussion to deer and gutting it has it die of exsanguination (bleed to death). Now I wish I had been more careful and checked to see if the heart was still beating. If we had a flashlight and thought about it, we could have shined a light into the deer's eyes. In any dead mammal their pupils won't constrict if a light is shined into eyes.

Any member have a thought on subject?

If you come across a Jake and need power in your off-grid cabin, these are the best. A "tell" if a windmill is the more common water pumper, it has many blades. A electric maker has only 3 or 4 blades.

 

[Kano383]

No blood found.
We all gave the "just missed" idea some thought but could not figure it out then. I know more about anatomy now.

Deer and other ruminants like cows have low tolerance of electricity. In 1971 farmer friend had several cows die in a few days. Someone had reinforced the gate hinges by pounding one more nail into barn side. Nail hit a 32 volt wire from a Jacobs Wind Electric Plant

View attachment 760228​

which gave a low voltage charge to steel gate. The cows licked the gate and fell over dead. Maybe they have a low tolerance to sonic shock?

One idea I just thought up; sonic wave gives concussion to deer and gutting it has it die of exsanguination (bleed to death). Now I wish I had been more careful and checked to see if the heart was still beating. If we had a flashlight and thought about it, we could have shined a light into the deer's eyes. In any dead mammal their pupils won't constrict if a light is shined into eyes.

Any member have a thought on subject?

If you come across a Jake and need power in your off-grid cabin, these are the best. A "tell" if a windmill is the more common water pumper, it has many blades. A electric maker has only 3 or 4 blades.

Interesting other thread here on THR over a similar story, a few years ago...

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/gave-deer-a-heart-attack-odd-one.709697/

 

[BigFatKen]

In above thread, now closed,

plodder, wrote;

This same thing happened to me several years ago with a 75 yd shot on a trotting little 6 pointer with a 25.06. Not one sign of blood anywhere, no entry or exit hole. I suspected a heart attack (I know this does happen with rabbits) but I finally concluded that the bullet must have entered one ear hole and exited the other though because it folded into a ball mid stride. Very strange though.
Mar 23, 2013

 

[redneck2]

Back many years ago I guy I was with shot a doe. She went down in a small bowl in a cornfield, maybe an acre or less. Weeds and grass maybe ankle high. We go to retrieve the doe. Not there. No way she could walk out without her seeing us. We walked that patch for probably an hour. Never did find her

 

[Gun Master]

OK, not a hunting story, but I think it is a "weird gun story" about stumbling into a "GREAT " gun deal !!!

I, personally, enjoy WWII guns, especially German ones. No one can deny they made really good ones back then (and now), except toward the end of the war. It was a special study of mine, and I kept in touch with the local "collector's shops" and other gun stores, etc.

One day a neighbor of mine brought out this rifle, missing some parts, and "Lo and behold" I recognized a basic German Walther K-43 (G-43).
The owner was about my age, but he didn't seem to know much about the gun. This was back in the 1960's, and I told him I was interested in it. He said he and his friends used to play with it (like in the previous tale), and take it apart and re-assemble. He also told me he'd try to find the other parts and let me know.

He brought me an almost complete rifle. It didn't have the sniper scope or the dust cover, which I discovered later after trying to shoot.
At the time I didn't know what was missing, but it appeared to be almost complete. I told him I was interested in the gun, and he was going to give it to me "for free". I tried to tell him the gun had value, and I wanted to buy it from him. He would not take more then $ 5.00. I really tried to pay him more, but he wouldn't budge.

I got a dust cover from Numrich Arms (now Gun Parts) for $ 6.00.
So, for a total of $ 11.00, I had a sweet shooting vintage rifle.

This gun now sells for $ 5,000.00 and up.

Man, I wish I still had that gun ! We've all heard and/or said that before.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Masters story reminded me of another good one. My dad, prolly 35 years ago, brought home a double barrel from a pawn shop, said he paid $200 for it. Now, my dad likes milsurps, .22s, and old single barrels- got a hundred of em at least. Never knew him to spend more than $100 on any gun back then, so this was unusual to begin with. He'd never shown any interest in double guns either.
The gun was old and dusty, but in good shape with nice engraving. Belgian made by a manufacturer we'd never heard of at that time (pre internet, lol)- August Francotte of Liege.
Yep, Francotte. He's got that thing insured for 10g's now.

 

[stonecutter2]

In high school in a Chicago suburb, my friend and I were shooting his air rifle at a streetlight from inside his garage. I know, stupid. Well, of course we weren't necessarily good shots, but eventually after a couple of tries, someone hit it. A few minutes later, while talking, we notice a guy that is walking from down the street towards us. I then see him look right at us and I tell my friend to put the rifle in the house, so he does. The guy comes up my friend's driveway and says, "Hey, were guys shooting a gun?" My friend lies and says no. He says, "C'mon, I know you were, tell me the truth guys." So I said yes, we were. He then says, "Well, you're a terrible shot, you hit my window way over there." I was freaked out. I felt horrible. He said, "Don't worry about the window, insurance will cover it, but in the future tell the truth, and know what's behind whatever you're shooting at...you can hit it." Then he walked away.

I learned a couple really valuable gun safety lessons that way, fortunately not involving some sort of injury or financial harm. That guy was totally within his right to flip out on us, tell our parents, demand money, but chose instead to serve us up some wisdom. In the burbs of Chicago, no less, where so many are terrified of any kind of gun.

 

[dekibg]

this one is really weird .
I don't know what or how it happened , but one time I cleaned my 22LR rifle the same day after visiting the range ...

 

[Speedo66]

Another air gun story. I'm 12, living in NYC, and buy a Plainsman CO2 pistol from a friend without my parents knowledge, and definitely without their consent. He gave me CO2 cartridges, but no BB's. So before my parents come home from work, I'm practicing shooting at everything in the house, i.e., TV, mirrors, windows, etc., blapping away with the gas blasts.

I exhaust one CO2 cartridge and install another. The pistol had power settings on it, so I decide to see what the different power levels coming from the barrel feel like. So, low setting, hold it next to my finger tip and pull the trigger. A little blast, then I hand it to my brother to try. OK, go to medium setting, same deal, a little stronger blast comes out, brother tries it. Move the setting to most powerful, pull the trigger, and a higher blast of gas, accompanied by a lot of pain in my finger tip. Wow, I tell my brother, don't try that setting, it really hurts! Then I notice my finger tip is bleeding and there's a hole in it. I look close and I can see a shiny copper glint in the hole. Turn my finger over, and I can see a BB against the inside of my fingernail through the nail. I guess a BB had been stuck in the gun, which is probably why my friend sold it to me in the first place. lol

I couldn't tell my parents, so I had to get a knife and dig the BB out of my fingertip. Ow!!! Fingertips are really sensitive areas, hurt like crazy. It also took forever to heal, must have formed a clot in there because whenever I put my hand down on something solid, I got an amazing jolt of pain, enough to make me wince, almost tear. This lasted for weeks.

The only good thing to come of this, if there is a good thing, is no matter what, I will never point a gun at any part of my anatomy, unloaded or not, or anything else I don't want to shoot. I also thank my lucky stars the BB didn't decide to exit the gun while pointed at the TV. At the time I would rather BB pain than Dad pain.

 

[JellyJar]

My late father who died in 2006 at the age of 84 went to the grave with a BB in his right cheek. When he was young he and another kid were shooting at each other with BB guns and he felt a hit on his cheek. It healed just fine so he didn't think anything of it. Years later after being drafted into the US Army during WWII they took an X-ray of his head and then he realized he had a BB in his cheek. It didn't bother him any way so they just left it.

He was so lucky it wasn't an eye that was hit!

 

[Gun Master]

Now we know why, " Unloaded guns can kill " !

 

[hot chili powder]

Klint......that 19:11 might be for the famous 1911 Colt, ya think.....but your thought is good also.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Now we know why, " Unloaded guns can kill " !

Gun Master got my ol' memory banks humming again....thanks bro, hadn't thought about this one in years.
So my high school buddy went tin can shooting with me right after graduation at a local abandoned quarry. He wasnt really a gun guy, none in the family. He's shooting my pump action Rossi .22 pretty good, and seeing how he was turning 18 in a few days, would I sell it to him? I agreed, we made the deal that day and off we went......to college, kids, jobs and different states.
Fast forward to our 10 year reunion- I fly home, he's since moved back into his folks old house in the same town. We get together for drinks and I ask if he's still got the Rossi.
"Sure do, but funny thing, ain't shot it since that day at the quarry."
We go back to his house so I can meet his wife n kids and he disappears into the attic for a few minutes and returns with the gun. I unzipper the case and pull it out, noticing as I do that the hammer is back. I pump the action and TINK- a live round pops out onto the floor.
It had been sitting, cocked, with a round chambered for ten years.

 

[desidog]

An old friend of my father told a story about hunting in Africa; he was charged by a buffalo (or wildebeest?) head on, and shot it square in the forehead. It went right down and he and the PH took some pictures of him with his trophy, with his boot on the head. Then they walked back to get the truck. When they returned, the "kill" was nowhere in sight. Seems it had been knocked out, but came to, got up, and made tracks.

I thought that story was a bit far fetched; but years later, hunting hogs on a college buddy's ranch in TX, i was charged by a 250-300# boar and shot him square in the forehead with my HK 40S&W. He dropped like a sack. So i went back to where my buddy was to get the 4-wheeler machine, bragged about the monster i just pistoled, and we went to go pick him up. Trouble was, he wasn't there anymore. He was trotting off over a field. We caught up to him and the M1A did the trick. On closer inspection, he had a double bindi mark, but no slug in his forehead. It had bounced off.

 

[BigFatKen]

In 1975 I bought one of the entry level, fixed sights; Smith & Wesson Model 13 (Military & Police Magnum) is a .357 Magnum revolver designed for military and police use. I read somewhere if I wanted a house and range gun not to be used in cold or after chasing BG into mud, how to ease trigger pull. I smoothed some moving parts inside to reduced friction, cut a link off of coil spring and reduced curved flat main spring by filing both sides off a little at a time. It was a much better trigger for my uses.

I take it to Wisconsin's Eagle outdoor range. The handgun range had a series of boards overhead to slow down any too high shots. With mods, gun is far more accurate than my CPA friend (his real name is my password answer) girlfriend's Grace's .22 She asks me if she can try it. I say sure but it has a light trigger in double action but a very light trigger in single action. She gives me this "I grew up on a farm and can shoot anything." First double action bullet is off the paper target then she cocks it, raises hand up and intends to fire when gun lowers to target. Of course she blames me when she fires into overhead boards. She just did not believe I had shot it so well and the trigger could be so light. Later she tells of her dad's guns that he bought for $2 each in Great Depression. Entry level 22 bolt rifle in 1930 and 25 years later it had maybe a 12 pound trigger.

In 1970 CPA and I drive to low overhead store in middle of nowhere and get good prices. I wanted the BAR in 30-06 with 4 (might be 5) +1 mag and he did too. But he also and more wisely picked a higher priced SAKO in .308. I later try to buy it from him but he likes it; still has it. Sweet rifle with palm swell and extremely crisp trigger; little over-travel, great let-off. We go deer hunting and Grace does not want an auto so Ron has her use 308 SAKO. It is cold coming back for the day. Grace does not remove mittens while unloading and fires one bullet into field. Again it's not her fault. She could do that with dad's old gun.

 

[BSA1]

Many years ago as a LEO the town I worked in had a problem with opossums. Citizens would leave dog food outside for their dogs and the opossums would come up and eat the food. The opossums were quite bold and would attack and chew on the dog if the dog tried to scare or attack it.

Chewed up pet dog and vet bill made the owner upset so we would regularly get calls to peoples home to kill opossums.

One night I get a call to go kill a opussom. The residence is a mobile home with other crackerjack mobile homes nearby. My .357 Magnum is definitely too much gun for this task so I reloaded it with 148 gr. full wadcutter target loads. They probably pushed about 650 fps.

I go the residence and the home owner takes the lid off of a large plastic can that was outside the door and there was a opossum digging around enjoying a full course meal. I draw my revolver, take very careful aim at it's forehead and squeeze off the shot. I kid you not the bullet just bounced off to parts unknown.

Getting hit in the forehead must of gave it a heck of headache cause it reared back snarling and showing all of it's teeth. (For the record opossum's must have about a hundred sharp teeth). The homeowners are not impressed and say something like "Hey man, what kind of bullets are you using?" Embarrassed I explain I am using target loads and I am trying to avoid putting a hole in the trashcan and their home. I tell them I can kill it by shooting it in the spine but the bullet will put a hole in the trashcan. They are ok with me doing that and one shot through the back of its shoulder breaks the spine and the bullet passes on through leaving a hole in the trash can on it's way to the ground.

I have a lot of opossum killing stories but this one is the toughest one I ever encountered.

 

[Officers'Wife]

This isn't my story but one of the neighbors of the White County farmground told us of a guy that visited him at his workshop. Seems the guy had been bowhunting along the Monon creek and had to chase a wounded deer through the brush & had left his bow behind. When he found the dead animal he started to hang it when the local bobcat let out a very loud snarl. (I'm sure the cat was just saying hello and the guy was exaggerating.) He took it to mean that the bobcat wanted the deer and as the guy only had a utility knife decided if the cat wanted it that badly he would just give it to him.

The moral is never allow Chicago people to hunt your property as now the bobcats along the Monon Creek are all Democrats that believe if you ask in a way that suggests violence they can get anything they want.

 

[redneck2]

. I draw my revolver, take very careful aim at it's forehead and squeeze off the shot. I kid you not the bullet just bounced off to parts unknown.

An old friend of my father told a story about hunting in Africa; he was charged by a buffalo (or wildebeest?) head on, and shot it square in the forehead. It went right down and he and the PH took some pictures of him with his trophy, with his boot on the head. Then they walked back to get the truck. When they returned, the "kill" was nowhere in sight. Seems it had been knocked out, but came to, got up, and made tracks.

Couple weeks ago there was a thread about .22's and coon hunting. I was told in no uncertain terms that this is impossible. Just remember, bullets bounce off water and water is a lot softer than an animals skull

I used to have a work acquaintance that was shot at point blank range in the back of the head with a 9mm. Bullet didn't penetrate his skull. Went around one side and lodged under the skin at the temple area. Screwed him up for a long time.

 

[hdbiker]

I was shooting my Super BlackHawk .44 at the range one day, after a few reloads I went to eject empty's and everything was gone. ejector rod housing, rod, spring, screw. Looking around I found the housing with the screw still in it. The rod and spring not far away. A shooting buddy has his cleaning kit along, so after a few minits I cleaned everything up and put it all back together. Finished shooting the rest of my ammo with no more issues. Moral of the story, CK YOUR GUN SCREWS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jim NE]

I now refer to it among my friends as the "Ghost Grave"...

But the real question is...how do your friends now refer to you?

 

[Flechette]

But the real question is...how do your friends now refer to you?

All my friends will describe me as a bit eccentric and are fine with that .

 

[Kevinq6]

I was hunting in the blue mountains as a teenager, and came upon a section of the woods on top of a large hill/mountain where there were hundreds of thousands of ladybugs covering everything. Sure was a treat. Also had this happen with monarch butterflies but those were probably in the tens of thousands.

I'm guessing hundreds of thousands but may have been tens ... it was very interesting as they covered everything.