Oh boy, bad days. I made it out to pawnee grasslands today to do some shooting. Big fun until... I walked out to change my targets and a microburst came out of nowhere and picked up the encore of the hood depositing it firmly on the terra firma.

The stock cracked at the grip and everything got thoroughly sanded, but... everything else looks OK. The muzzle landed on some softer ground.

My question is, do I need to take it in and have a gunsmith look at it? It must have hit pretty hard to crack like that. Is it possible to bend a barrel or am I just freaking out?

What did I do to deserve this?
Oh, yeah that. Nevermind.

D

D - where on the grasslands you go ? I was up there a couple weeks ago and got snowed on....basically a whiteout. Got friends in Briggsdale...........Too bad about your stock, doubtful you bent the barrel.
Next time I bet you take a shooting table...at least if it falls off it will start out closer to the ground. lol

Now your encore is officially broken in.

I wouldn't worry about the barrel. Even if it is bent slightly, there isn't much you can do about it.

That reminds me of the time I took a like-new TC Hawken hunting. It rained the entire time, so while slipping and sliding in the mud, I managed to fall down and land squarely on the gun not once but several times.

Then there was the time I took a TC contender carbine on its first hunt. While crossing an avalanche chute, I fell and landed on top of the gun, pinning the brand new Leopold scope against a rock. The Leopold was dinged and scarred but still works fine.

On my Marlin 1894's first field debut, I took a tumble down the mountain, doing a somersault or two, and was real proud of myself for protectively cradling the Marlin while this was happening, until my elbow slammed against a boulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the rifle sail up in the air and land on rocks about 20 feet away, crunching the front sight and the lever.

Now I prefer to buy used guns that have been dinged by the previous owner, so I don't feel so guilty when I fall off the mountain.

Usually the only casualties are either the front sight or the scope, so inspect those carefully.

My hunch is everything is OK, the stock took the energy of the fall.

Mark

Amen popenmann. Nothing worse than putting the first dent, ding, scratch in something. Let someone else take the depriciation.

Dman: I hope Mark (the moderator) is exactly right!
I am sorry this oddity happend to you!
Sheesh it always something.
I can add this though.
I have personally seen two different Sako heavy barrel Varmint Rifles fall from shoulder height onto lava rocks! Both landed muzzle first due to the front sling swivel stud installations failing!
About the same distance of falling but these Rifles landed on lava rock! No bent barrels but surface damage needed to be smoothed and cold blued!
Also some stock damage on one of the unfortunate Rifles.
So I join those that feel the barrel would not have been bent on that drop onto that surface!
Best of luck in your repair and inspection jobs.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

quote:

Originally posted by Dman:
...My question is, do I need to take it in and have a gunsmith look at it?

Hey Dman, No.

quote:

It must have hit pretty hard to crack like that. Is it possible to bend a barrel or am I just freaking out?

Yes it is "possible", but unlikely it fell with enough force from the height of a truck hood to do so.

Remove the barrel and lay it across something where it is suspended behind the front sight and ahead of the rear sight - like on the edges of an open cardboad box. Now get down at Bore level and look through it from one side and then the other. Also up and down. If you notice a difference, it would surprise me.

You could also cut a couple of "V-shaped Slots" in the box and roll the barrel a bit and see if you have any "Run Out" as the Neck Sizer guys enjoy worrying about on their Cases.

But, I doubt there is anything wrong with it.

quote:

What did I do to deserve this?

Hard to say, perhaps the Curse of the Termite Food stock.

Anyway, it gives you the opportunity to get a nice Synthetic Stock that you can place on the "roof" of the truck(instead of the hood) and let it blow off without hurting it.

I dropped a pristine Colt Woodsman Target Grade pistol onto concrete and darn near cried back in the `70s. Put a nice Gurr in the Blue.

Since then I've pretty much relegated my klutz antics to what we colloquially call "Barrel Whamming". It is properly done by doing a completely silent Stealth Approach in total darkness to a metal Tower Stand. Then bending over to lay the small flashlight on the ground so you don't drop it down the ladder, BUT forgetting the barrel moving around can now WHAM on the steel ladder - KA-BONG!!!

No bent barrels due to Barrel Whamming and the Stainless helps mask the marks!

If you happen to hear a loud KA-BONG from East of Denver, now you will know what it is.