This should be in the "Has this ever happened to you section," but here goes. I was going to clean my little Browning takedown .22 (Grade 1) and was removing the loaded rounds from the tubular magizine by shaking them out onto my work bench (formica topped,) dropping them about six inches. With most of the rounds out one apparently exploded and gave me a nasty cut on my left palm and took a bit of wood off the pistol grip area of the stock. I have only been able to find a small part of the casing and hope there is nothing embedded... I think it was a grazing bit of casing which slashed the palm. The rounds were Fereral Classic birdshot, something for the bride to keep her garden free from rodents and slithery things. To say this was a shocking experience would be an understatement. Comments appreciated, and no I am not the lawsuit oriented type.
Though I've never thought about it, I can definitely see how it could be a problem with rimfires. I imagine centerfires are pretty impervious to dropping, though.
RSY
Posts: 785 | Location: Central Texas | Registered: 01 October 2001
308Sako: Thankfully you were not hurt more seriously! And thanks for the word of warning about dropping the rimfire ammo! Yikes another thing to be more careful about - safety first is always the best way to go though! Thanks again. Hold into the wind VarmintGuy
Posts: 3067 | Location: South West Montana | Registered: 20 August 2002
quote:Originally posted by RSY: Though I've never thought about it, I can definitely see how it could be a problem with rimfires. I imagine centerfires are pretty impervious to dropping, though.
RSY
Almost. I was once firing at a covered range, and had an open box (Flambeau plastic, fortunately) of .45 ammo on the bench in front of me. I was firing a .45 auto when a case apparently bounced off the overhead and landed on a primer. The case took off and, as I recall, was not found, but maybe it was. It was a long time ago. The bullet sat still, and at least part of the plastic partition was damaged.
Needless to say, I now close ammo boxes before firing bottomfeeders.
Posts: 2272 | Location: PDR of Massachusetts | Registered: 23 January 2001
.22 rimfire ammunition can fire (rarely) sometimes when most people would not expect. In 1972 I (a Navy Lt at the time) was range officer at the rifle range at Fort Ord, California. There Army captains who were range officers at the shotgun range and the pistol range. These ranges were open on the weekend to the public. One day at the pistol range a father was letting his two sons shoot a .22 semi-auto pistol. The 12 year old boy chambered a round from the magazine with the muzzle pointing at his 9 year old brother and the round fired, killing the boy. The case was recovered and there was no firing pin mark on it. I can't think of a worse time for such an incident, but it reinforces the necessity for keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction at all times.
Why did you have a loaded gun in the house or is your work bench outside,not being a smart ass but when we were raised the rules were no loaded guns in the house and the rules still stand in my house you read about to many accidents because of a loaded gun in a house.as far as the rimfire going off thats a scarey thought,I drop them on the ground all the time and often thought about one going off,what made this happin could it have been static eletricity or some other crazy science deal,I guess we will probably never know.glad that you werent hurt to bad
Posts: 262 | Location: pa | Registered: 09 June 2002
Every weapon (firearm) is considered loaded at all times when in my possession, no exceptions. Please note the rifle did not discharge, the ammunition apparently malfunctioned. Saftey is the first 10 commandments here, also no exceptions.
Be interesting to know the cause. Just the impact? from 6"??? While I don't doubt it happened, I'd really like to know why! Comes under the heading "not funny" in my book. Is there something we don't know, like a really thin case rim or something? How would we ever find out?
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