I posted this a couple of weeks ago, on TFL but its pretty serious, so if you havn't seen it, here goes.

Was over at a shooting buddies place trying out his new Norinco M14, and my Norinco SKS. We blasted through a couple dozen mags and shot up the last of the mil-spec ammo he had. So buddy breaks out his handloads. Didn't even think about it, just assumed his would be put together as safely as the average serious handloader.

So picture this, he loads up the mag, hands it over, I pull down on the 100 m gong and boom, the world explodes. Here's me on my butt, a smoking left glove, picture Willie E. Coyote after the Acme rocket exploded. So the first thing "buddy" says, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY RIFLE??? Then as an after thought, gee are you alright? Huh says I.

The barrel was blasted out 20 feet, the action pretty well vaporized, we found bits and pieces scattered about on the snow. I got a bruised left arm and a few nicks on my cheek. Two good sized gouges in my shooting glasses though.

So after we get me cleaned up we pull some of his handloads, get this 25 grs of BULLSEYE!!! Seems buddy was knocking back the Rye and Kokanee while he was loading for his .357. Switched over to .308 and didn't bother to dump out the bullseye from the his powder dump. He's not sure how he only got 25 grs, seems he was after 45grs of RL15, thank goodness for small miracles.

Get this, he put a claim in to his insurance company for the loss and it seems he's going to get enough for a settlement to buy a new one.

Learned a few things, don't trust somebody eles loads, wear safety glasses and double muff, ear plugs and muffs. Still haven't gotten over this twitch yet.

Cain,

Glad to here you are alright. Cool story!

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www.rifleshooter.com

Save a plant, shoot a deer!

Glad you weren't hurt badly, don't shoot any of your buddies handloads.

Cain R __

I share your anxiety. Not a good thing to remember. Also a Norinco M14. Soft bolt lugs. The operating rod jammed. Kept the whole thing from smacking me dead center. Still carrying pieces in my forehead. Many speckles on the polycarbs. No matter how safe we think we are, there are some things over which we have no control.

Good shooting. Glad you're okay.

Robert

Cain,

Glad you were not hurt.

From the examples I have seen of those Chinese rifles and pistols, I refuse to shoot any.

They are absolute rubbish!

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saeed@ emirates.net.ae

www.accuratereloading.com

Cain,
I would have fed him the pieces of his rifle! He put YOUR physical well-being on the line by giving you handloads produced while he was alcohol-impaired.

The fact that his first thought was about his rifle should tell you something about your choice in friends (and shooting buddies)!

The way I see it, he owes you a BIG apology and at least a good steak dinner.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

I had a M60 S&W 2" go BOOM on me a year or so ago. with a +P .38 Federal load. You don't know the number of times I walk out back with a gun, then remember I didn't take glasses so trudge back and get them. I was not injured by the blow up but still happy I had the glasses on. Now that I have a digital camera I must post a shot of that gun, real interesting.

GLAD that you were not hurt worse, your lucky, go buy a LOTTO ticket and quickly.

FN

NOBODY has said this yet:

DON'T DRINK AND WORK AT THE BENCH !!!

Seems like a simple rule, but I see too many drinkers and reloaders. For one thing -- besides blowing yourself to kingdom come -- you don't want to mix food/drink and any of that reload material you're handling.

I see jerks out at the "gravel pit" all the time with a case of beer and a case of ammo. Typically they have their kids with them so they can pass on their "safe firearm handling" habits.

I'll pass on someone else's reloads until I've worked at the bench with them a bit and have a good idea that they're as fussy as I am. (OK, I got the poise on the wrong notch once and loaded 14.5 gr. instead of 9.5 gr. Now I TRIPLE check everything!)

Glad you didn't lose an eye, finger, the top off your head . . . Damn!!!

If I were the insurance company I'd deny the claim on grounds of reckless negligence.

NO DRINKING AND RELOADING / SHOOTING !!!

OK?

[This message has been edited by Genghis (edited 01-28-2002).]

Guns and alcohol don't mix, that is the rule where I shoot.

Who said shooting was not dangerous? It has been said many times before - only shoot your own reloads. If you are not physically inspecting the reloading process, don�t be tempted to shoot them.

You can make mistakes while playing golf and survive; guns are another matter.

Maybe you dipped the muzzle in the snow?

Bullseye,308 cases, alcohol, and stamped out chinese junk don't mix!

Thank God you had your glasses on!

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..Mac >>>===(x)===>
also DUGABOY1
DUGABOY DESIGNS
Collector/trader of fine double rifles, and African wildlife art

Oh come on. For a good ole boy from Rimby, you didn't come off too bad at all. LOL. Glad to hear you're Ok. And yes, I have lived there. - Dan

So picture this, he loads up the mag, hands it over, I pull down on the 100 m gong and boom, the world explodes. Here's me on my butt, a smoking left glove, picture Willie E. Coyote after the Acme rocket exploded. So the first thing "buddy" says, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY RIFLE???

FIND A NEW BUDDY.

A gentleman I met at a range had some .308 handloads. He knew what bullet, case and primer he used, but had no idea what powder he used. I asked how that could be, he said that he bought the powder at a gunshow in a unmarked milk jug.

jUST FOR INTEREST--I ran it past quickload--said that it was pushing 91,000 psi--(That's a .308 with 150 grainer)

This story is so familiar! About 25 yrs ago a good friend and SERIOUS handloader was loading shotgun and changed to 44mag with WW296. Well he put the 296 in the powder measure and loaded 24gr with a 240gr SWC. Took his Smith 29 to the range and it went BOOM. He ooked down and there was a missing top strap and 3chambers. He did hear a "cling" in the parking lot 40yda away. He looked and siscovered he had loaded WW540 instead of 296. Looks the same. NEW RULE:ONE POWDER ON The BENCH. The powder on the bench is the powder in the hopper.
He sent the pistol back to Smith and told them what he had done. They replaced the pistol for $89 with the same serial#-2.
All this lead to a real awareness in my reloading friends about paying attention!
No booze. No TV. No friends talking while you are changing etc.
In other words Pay Attention. This is serious stuff!

Frankley I don't know why anyone would bother loading "banger" ammo these days. I bought two cases of .308 ball that was made in Portugal. It shoots about 2" at 100 yards out of my match rifle. That is pleanty good for practice and general banging. Cheaper than I can load my own too. Kind of ironic since I have an embarrasingly large stockpile of reloading compontents. Time gets short as we grow older and you must put some value your time.

See the Springfield Armory site for good stuff on the Chinese rifles. They are not shootable as they come. The angle on the bolt's locking surfaces do not match the receiver. Headspace developes as the locking lugs get mashed. The receivers are OK though. So you need to get a GI bolt installed and fitted to your receiver. When you are done you have spent more than a good rifle would have cost you in the first place. A lesson for life in general.

This hand loader and shooting buddy is a dangerious, irresponsible and possibly intelectually challenged guy. Is he is the type of person who who has lots of misfortune befall him? He never seems to get the concept that he is the problem?? He screws up and then defrauds his insurance company??? Who needs friends like that?? Guys like that die young from stupidity. I would stay far away for fear of getting killed myself. This guy sounds like the village idiot to me.

quote:

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Originally posted by Cain R:
I posted this a couple of weeks ago, on TFL but its pretty serious, so if you havn't seen it, here goes.

Was over at a shooting buddies place trying out his new Norinco M14, and my Norinco SKS. We blasted through a couple dozen mags and shot up the last of the mil-spec ammo he had. So buddy breaks out his handloads. Didn't even think about it, just assumed his would be put together as safely as the average serious handloader.

So picture this, he loads up the mag, hands it over, I pull down on the 100 m gong and boom, the world explodes. Here's me on my butt, a smoking left glove, picture Willie E. Coyote after the Acme rocket exploded. So the first thing "buddy" says, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY RIFLE??? Then as an after thought, gee are you alright? Huh says I.

The barrel was blasted out 20 feet, the action pretty well vaporized, we found bits and pieces scattered about on the snow. I got a bruised left arm and a few nicks on my cheek. Two good sized gouges in my shooting glasses though.

So after we get me cleaned up we pull some of his handloads, get this 25 grs of BULLSEYE!!! Seems buddy was knocking back the Rye and Kokanee while he was loading for his .357. Switched over to .308 and didn't bother to dump out the bullseye from the his powder dump. He's not sure how he only got 25 grs, seems he was after 45grs of RL15, thank goodness for small miracles.

Get this, he put a claim in to his insurance company for the loss and it seems he's going to get enough for a settlement to buy a new one.

Learned a few things, don't trust somebody eles loads, wear safety glasses and double muff, ear plugs and muffs. Still haven't gotten over this twitch yet.

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[This message has been edited by scot (edited 01-28-2002).]

Sorry, it was Fulton,

Here is the link for Chinese m1-a rifles.

http://www.fulton-armory.com/M14S_Eval.htm

Don't buy them!!

[This message has been edited by scot (edited 01-29-2002).]

Here is a simple rule of thumb:
If someone gives you their handload, let them take the first shot.

No video footage? Glad to hear you were wearing glasses.

That's a good story. Almost made the "Darwin Awards". Good to know you weren't seriously injured. Wyllie Coyote and the Roadrunner, huh. That really made me laugh. It's not a laughing matter though. Every time we shoot a gun, we are holding a small bomb up close to our head and heart and hoping something like that doesn't happen to us. I think I would leave your friend "Bubba" to shoot his own stuff. No offence meant.

I think your buddy is a potential recipient of a future Darwin award. Bad Genes and Karma. I'd give him the heave ho! Glad you were not hurt badly!-Rob

CAIN, I'm also happy you came out of that mess ok. I only have one comment,
LUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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BigBob

Good friend of mine and retire cop. Been loading for 30 years. Eye sight getting a little bad without glasses. Loading for 7 mag and ran out of powder, grabbed another can and thought it said same kind of Imr powder. It was not. It was the powder for his .223. His 23 shot that day went boom. Metal and plastic particles in both eyes, No shooting glasses. Also got a 3/8"long 1/16" diameter pin shot up and embedded into his nose. Luckily he can still see and is alive. He broke both of his own rules. 1 can on bench at a time and wear glasses.

Cain, Thank God you were not seriously hurt!!! Your "Buddy" reminds me of one of my "Ex" Buddies...