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Post by bakaboy on Aug 3, 2022 14:20:16 GMT -5
Now that I too old to care much what others think of me (wait, I still imagine going to a competition someday and I still want Richard, Hank and Hillbill not to consider me a jackass), let me disclose my worst mistakes in smokeless muzzleloading in the hope that anyone can learn from them too:
Mistake 1: Leaving powder funnel in your barrel. I did this and destroyed my muzzle brake. Had the funnel not been in the brake, I probably would have ruined the barrel. I think the best solution is to always have a bright orange tape or string attached to the funnel or perhaps other tools hanging off your powder funnel so that when you raise your barrel you realize the funnel is still in the barrel. Then you can just reach over and pull it out, pretending that it was all part of your process.
Mistake 2: Loading pre-measured powder into tubes that are too big. I guess you could call it pre-double loading. My brother brought over cheap-ass long powder tubes that were opaque (colored pink). One of us - my brother -- loaded two doses of powder into one tube making the load almost 190 grains of H4350. We went hunting and actually loaded the thing. Luckily I had a ramrod tape showing how far the bullet was supposed to go down so we aborted the shot. What would 190 grains H4350 have done to a barrel?
Mistake 3: Leaving your ramrod in the barrel. This is similar to the powder funnel. I did this with one of my first TC cheap muzzleloaders. The ramrod went scampering down a dirt road then disappeared. The barrel was a bit expanded. I gave the gun to some boy scouts. Its like when Hank came back from the brothel in Haiti and said "I didn't use condoms -- when will I ever be in Haiti again".
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Post by bluedog on Aug 3, 2022 14:59:30 GMT -5
I married a Woman who didn't like/appreciate hunting or guns. That turned out to be pretty dang dumb!
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Post by hillbill on Aug 3, 2022 16:34:40 GMT -5
Good to see you back Brother!
Too many dumb things to list but I have made more than my fair share including a blow up resulting from too much of a new to me powder.
VERY expensive but no harm to me.
LOTS of dumb things scattered throughout my personal life as well but somehow God saw fit to see me through it all.
I would just like to stress the fact that If you play this game long enough you WILL MAKE mistakes, be it big ones or small it will happen, NO ONE is immune.
While I have never shot my funnel or ramrod out YET I have witnessed it several times.
Mistakes are very easy to make, I just pray none of you guys make a serious one.
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Post by buckeye68 on Aug 3, 2022 20:43:22 GMT -5
I left my Knight rifle loaded for 7 years. It set in the safe 3 years and we moved to NV. It rode in the moving trailer 2250 miles before it went back in the safe still loaded. 3 1/2 later it was taken back out of the safe and into the moving trailer again for the trip back to Ohio still loaded. Hunting season comes and it’s time to get the muzzler out for gun season. I drop the ramrod down the barrel and my witness make told me it was still loaded. Oh boy. I opened the bolt and it still had a live primer in it. Think goodness both safety were on. After a long thought of what to do, pull the plug and see how much corrosion I had or shoot it. I decided to see it it would still go bang after 7 years, sure enough it did go bang. I cleaned the barrel and checked it with my bore scope. Barrel still looked brand new. Glad it was loaded on a clean barrel with BH.
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Post by joelmoney on Aug 3, 2022 21:31:02 GMT -5
I’ve shot 2 ramrods out of smoker’s. Shot my smokeless once with funnel in. Now my funnel hangs on my neck. If you try shooting an SML with funnel around your neck it will stop you prior to getting gun to your shoulder.
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Post by bakaboy on Aug 3, 2022 21:40:38 GMT -5
Good to hear from you too Hillbill but I'm surprised to hear you ever made a mistake. You make a good point -- mistakes happen to the best of us. I think everyone should pay close attention to near mistakes and close calls. Don't just count your lucky stars. Make a change to your procedure or equipment so that it doesn't happen again. To err is human, making the same error again makes you feel like a shaved- tail Louie (from guy in Avatar movie -- I don't know what a shaved-tail Louie is but it ain't good).
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Post by hillbill on Aug 4, 2022 4:24:15 GMT -5
This I know
Blow one up and it changes the way you approach things, it took a WHILE before I could make myself pull the trigger again.
Kind of like getting a cracked rib from a side kick back in my martial arts days, you never forget mistakes that hurt IF you live through it.
Some quit, some keep going, which one is smarter?
I'm getting old and find myself more mistake prone as time passes, will there come a day when age dictates I step away from this game? Likely?, how many more years will that be? I just hope I have sense enough to know when that time comes.
In the meantime I'm still shooting and experimenting, tinkering, just doing what a Hillbilly does.
There is an element of danger in this SML game, it's not the gun or the load or lack of data, it's what goes on between the ears of the person loading and pulling the trigger.
I wonder sometimes if shooting thru a funnel or sending a ramrod down range isn't a good thing? It opens our eyes to just how easy it is to make a simple mistake and maybe keeps us from ever doing it again.
Threads like this are needed fairly often to remind us that no one is immune to mistakes, I wish we were but That's just not reality.
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Post by SURESHOT on Aug 4, 2022 7:01:14 GMT -5
Safety or gun safety it all starts with me, post like these keep you thinking, check and double checking learn from others, lanyards on funnels, witness marks on ramrods, checking powder charges, insuring that the bullets are set on powder charge, red duct tape installed over muzzles marked LOADED for a indicator and reminder, looking thru barrels with a light for unloaded or loaded, with myself approaching the upper side of 60 or for those that are younger my personal SAFETY STARTS WITH ME.... thanks for all the shared stories so far!
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billc
New Member
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Post by billc on Aug 4, 2022 16:15:46 GMT -5
I too appreciate posts like this. I have made more than my share of mistakes and anything that reduces the number of mistakes I'm going to make is worth it's weight in gold.
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Post by fatfred on Aug 5, 2022 5:00:04 GMT -5
Great thread. I have yet to make any obstructive or mis-loading errors in the almost 20 yrs. I was only highly active the first 10 yrs. Now I'm a one-weekend warrior now that we can use centerfire since 2011. My biggest potential is when I bring it out in the fall for the first time. I usually leave it loaded. Even then, there is a flag on the end of the barrel. SML and all ML is the same as being a reloader of cartridges. You need to pay attention to detail, understand your load, know proper powders, bullet weight, etc. A standard rifle cartridge is very hard to double charge when your load density is over 80%. However, a .38 special can be easily triple loaded with certain powders. A muzzle loader can be loaded twice easily since the entire barrel is available for powder and bullets. Witness marks, witness marks! Be safe everyone.
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jc189
New Member
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Post by jc189 on Aug 5, 2022 7:29:38 GMT -5
Well I have made the same mistake as others. About 5 years ago I was at the range sighting in the ML just before deer season. After the first couple of shots, the guy shooting at the bench next to me asked if that was a smokeless powder ML I was shooting. We started talking while I was loading for the next shot. Then I fired the next shot for a 3 shot group. When it went off it kicked like a mule and made a hell of a bang. My first thought was that I dropped a double load of powder when talking to the fellow next to me. looked at my powder tubes to see if I had one to many empty tubes. Then I realized my ramrod was missing. I sent it down range. Now I make sure to never interrupt the loading process or get distracted until I'm ready to shoot the next shot.
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Post by Richard on Aug 5, 2022 8:21:37 GMT -5
Well, after 15 years of playing with SML's and realisticly,20,000 shots, I have only bulged three (3) barrels. When I used to patch in between shots, I built a muzzle guide so as not to destroy the crown. It was big enough for the bullet to pass thru............so, I think I have shot them things down range at least three or more times. But?.....No ramrods!
Just Tuesday, shooting my target .223 rifle, I had a shot go just "click!"....Rut Row! So I opened the bolt and ejected the casing......NO powder came out. The primer was spent so I said to myself, I better check the bore..............sure enough, there was a 55 gr. Berger stuck in the bore. Had I not checked, it could have been disasterous! Yes, somehow, I missed putting a load on one case. Fece'Occurs!
You have got to be on your toes all the time!
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Post by GMB54-120 on Aug 5, 2022 9:51:15 GMT -5
Only buying 1 Sightron SII Big Sky a few days ago when MidwayUSA blew out some new old stock they found. I should have bought 3.  |
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Post by dannoboone on Aug 5, 2022 10:40:33 GMT -5
Years ago I forgot to drop the powder in an Encore 209x50. Then
a few years later did the same with the 10MLII. Got distracted both
times. Even a saboted bullet makes an audible "clunk" when hitting
the breech plug.
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Post by yoderjac on Aug 5, 2022 17:30:24 GMT -5
This was with a traditional muzzleloader. I had just switched from powder to pellets for convivence during hunting. I planned to hunt the next morning so I removed the primer and left the muzzleloader on my ATV in the shed. The next day a nice fat doe came out and I decided to take her. Click...pop...no bang. Just like when I was using powder, I just put on another primer and attempted to take another shot. Same thing. This time the Doe left so I called it a day.
I wasn't until I got back and examined the gun that I realized what a huge mistake I had made. Pellets picked up some dampness over night and that is why the did not ignite. But they have a hole down the middle. The force of the primer went through the holes and pushed the bullet and sabot half way down the barrel. If the powder had ignited on the second primer I would have been in real trouble!
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Post by caseless on Aug 7, 2022 14:04:10 GMT -5
We are all human and that’s what we have to remember. I have a really great friend and mentor to me and my children . We shot smokers together for many years and he was a very positive and great influence in the training of myself and my kids . Probably one of the safest shooters I have ever known. After deer season one year he put away a loaded rifle, tired , something else to do or who knows . The following spring he went to a large well use shooting range to do some shooting with friends . He did something all of us did before loading our smokers after they sat for a while cleaned and oiled . He put a cap on the the rifle , stepped out to the front of the firing line , pointed the muzzle at the ground and blew a chunk out of the concrete. Everyone there was lucky , no injuries. But it opened all of our eyes, if a man this safety conscious could make a mistake, We all can and as mentioned before , the older we get the more prone most of us are to forgetfulness . These conversations are just what we need to keep us in check . And hopefully by sharing our experience we can help others to always be diligent
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Post by ballistic on Aug 7, 2022 16:30:01 GMT -5
Oh boy can I relate -LOL maybe………
Guess what happens to metal funnels on gill brakes ?
The pieces of the funnel are directed rearward at an angle just like the gases. Another great reason to wear safety glasses. I haven’t done it yet but suffered some injuries to my face and arm from the guy sitting next to me that forgot.
We went to delron to make funnels for a reason. You can still get injured but it won’t blow the gills out of the brake and plastic shouldn’t be as hard on your body - at least that’s my backwoods analogy…
I’ve made plenty of other mistakes (powder no bullet) (bullet no powder) (poured the powder right through with no breechplug) ( beat the ramrod into the bullet and couldn’t get the 2 separated ) ( brought .45 cal bullets to shoot in my .40) - ok the list could get really long.
So now I’m kind of a snob at the range and it’s for good reason. Most of my mistakes have happened when someone interrupts my routine for whatever reason but mostly to ask about the muzzy. It still happens but I’m a stickler with taking notes throughout the loading - and won’t shoot without the notes now. The notes are another tool to have in the box with safety being a priority.
I’m glad I’m not the only one to make mistakes - lol.
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Post by Deputy819 on Aug 12, 2022 7:19:34 GMT -5
Not trying Pittman bullets sooner….🤷♂️
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Post by SURESHOT on Aug 12, 2022 10:57:44 GMT -5
Not trying Pittman bullets sooner….🤷♂️  |
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Post by BigMoney on Aug 17, 2022 13:30:23 GMT -5
This I know Blow one up and it changes the way you approach things, it took a WHILE before I could make myself pull the trigger again. Kind of like getting a cracked rib from a side kick back in my martial arts days, you never forget mistakes that hurt IF you live through it. Some quit, some keep going, which one is smarter? I'm getting old and find myself more mistake prone as time passes, will there come a day when age dictates I step away from this game? Likely?, how many more years will that be? I just hope I have sense enough to know when that time comes. In the meantime I'm still shooting and experimenting, tinkering, just doing what a Hillbilly does. There is an element of danger in this SML game, it's not the gun or the load or lack of data, it's what goes on between the ears of the person loading and pulling the trigger. I wonder sometimes if shooting thru a funnel or sending a ramrod down range isn't a good thing? It opens our eyes to just how easy it is to make a simple mistake and maybe keeps us from ever doing it again. Threads like this are needed fairly often to remind us that no one is immune to mistakes, I wish we were but That's just not reality. I will agree with Bill that making a mistake can be a good thing. I shot the loading funnel out of my SML the first time I took it out shooting. Best thing that ever happened to me; luckily the rifle nor myself were permanently damaged. Now I wear my funnel on a lanyard (bright orange) around my neck. It also made me aware of how distracted you can get when shooting and how in the SML game you better be paying attention every shot, every time out. |
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