# Pic of exploded shotgun barrel



## triple f (Aug 23, 2005)

There was an incident this past Saturday morning at the Blast & Cast Houston Chapter duck hunt down in Rockport. One of our hunters (very experienced duck hunter, by the way) evidently had a dud shell that, unknown to him, left the wad lodged about 2/3 of the way down the barrel. The next shot resulted in this:










The prayer for God to keep his hand over all of our hunters that morning was DEFINITELY answered, as there was a hunter on either side of this fella, sitting very close and visiting, when the barrell unravelled, and nobody was injured.

This, along with the tragic accident at the Murphree Area this past weekend, goes to show that you can never be too careful while in the field.


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## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

That's pretty amazing. Little obstruction can sure cause a lot of damage!


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## Capt. Dustin Lee (Jan 16, 2006)

Thanks for sharing this Lance. Becareful out there folks. Safety is #1 at all times in and out of the blind. You just never know what can happen so be on your toes.

Capt. Dustin Lee
Fish'N Addiction Guide Service
www.TexasBigFish.com
www.MatagordaBayFishingGuide.com 
979-236-6203

Team Brown Lures, Fish -N- Hunt, Kubala Kustom Rods, Midcoastproducts., Wiley X and Stinky Pants Stringers.


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## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

Thank God everyone is Ok! I have seen that happen once when I used to work on the skeet fields as a boy growing up. Also saw a blackpowder rifle explode once working on the 100 yard range. Safety-Safety-Safety!


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## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

That was pretty scary. 

Makes a pretty clear case for sitting in a straight line and only shooting out in front of you. Had he been shooting to the side/back over someone's head, the result could have been catastrophic.

God is Good!

Be safe out there.


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## SaltFix (Apr 16, 2007)

I had a very close call this weekend as well. The guy sitting in the middle of the duck blind almost shot me in the back of the head. The barrel of the gun went off 4" from my head. He swung the gun over me and I stood up at the same time the gun went off. I'm still not right. I'm having trouble sleeping. I went home and hugged my wife and told here what happend. She could tell I was upset. I feel very lucky to be alive.


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## PortATrout (Aug 15, 2005)

Shotgun barrels are designed to do exactly what that one did. Exact same thing happened to my son 3 years ago and the result was very similar. No one was hurt in that incident either but they were lucky as well. Thank god no one was hurt. Hopefully we will all learn from things like this. Thank the lord, buy a new barrel, and get back out there.


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## troutslayer (Feb 7, 2006)

yall remember the story out of Anuehac(sp) about 5 or 6 years ago maybe longer...about a 14 yr old boy who's dad stood up on some birds and the kid swung around and shot his dad in the chest........OMG.....

When you are in the blin d or in the feild.....HAVE A SAFTY MEETING....explain to people what shooting zones are and whether or not we stand or sit

The one thing about guns.....most of the time there are no second chances

BE SAFE......and happy hunting


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## willydavenport (Jun 4, 2004)

How could triple f's situation have been avoided? Other than running something down your barrell after every shot..


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

First of all, thank goodness no one was hurt. I used to reload a lot for skeet. Every so often one would dud and leave the wad in the barrel. We all got to recognize the sound and would yell at the shooter to stop. Never had a barrel blow up. My advise, always be aware of the sounds and sensation that guns make and when different check it out completely. Kind of like a vibration in your boat or bump of your car tires, be aware.


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## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

willydavenport said:


> How could triple f's situation have been avoided? Other than running something down your barrell after every shot..


 If it does not feel right or sound right when you shoot do not follow up the shot. It is hard to resist when you are swinging on a bird but just point the barrell down, give it a few seconds, open the action, and then check and see if the barrell is clear. Sometimes on reloads I have seen where the powder ran low or out in a Mec 600 and you did not notice it as you slid the bar over, or the bar did not go over all the way, and just the primer will go off and the shot will clear the barrell but the wad will not. Sometimes the wad will clear also. It can happen on a factory load, bad or low powder. If it does not feel right, let that duck fly on and pull it down and check it out. Resist the temptation to jack another round in and get him with the next shot, even if you are locked in.


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## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

These are the keys:



Sea-Slug said:


> If it does not feel right or sound right when you shoot do not follow up the shot.
> -------
> Resist the temptation to jack another round in and get him with the next shot, even if you are locked in.


BTW, my understanding is this happened with a factory load.


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## yellowmouth2 (Aug 16, 2005)

Had a friend's son (in his 30's) this past dove season hunting with a 12 Ga. O/U. To make a long story short the barrel blew up at the breach, almost completely blowing off his thumb. Luckily he will have some mobility to his hand, but will definitely never be quite the same. They couldn't figure out what happened, but about a 2 weeks later they were trying to figure out how this could have happened. They came to the conclusion that he had a stray 20 ga. shell in his shell bag and the dove were flying fast and furious and he didn't realize that he inserted a 20 ga. shell. The 20 ga. shell slides down about 3 or 4 inches and stops, he fires at a dove, thinks he forgets to load, loads another shell and then we have a problem. This is his theory and it makes sense that this is probably what happened. Why else would the barrell blow at the breach. So, very good lesson learned here. Be careful.


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## rab ag (May 19, 2005)

I fired a dud once - knew that something was weird - jacked open the chamber to check it out & the shell was burning, flames shooting out of the breech. I threw the gun in the lake as I was afraid it was going to blow up in my face. My bud just started laughing because he thought I was so pizzed that I missed I threw my gun away. Fished it out of the water & the barrel was all plugged with mud. We finished up our limits taking turns with his gun. Now I pack a breakdown rod & brush in my blind bag.


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## Levelwind (Apr 15, 2005)

In the early days of steel shot, which coincided with a time when I had very little money, this occurred a lot. The powder, I think, was the main problem. To compound it, at the price of steel shotshells, I never through one away before trying to shoot it. Shells are a lot better now but obviously this can still happen. 

Things that have happened to me or that I've witnessed over 55 years hunting;

The well known mixup of shells. This is a main reason Federal began color coding many years ago. A 20 shell will drop into a 12 or a ten ga. It will lodge in the 12 far enough down the barrel that another shell can be chambered and fired. I BELIEVE that this can also occur with a 28 ga. in a 12 or a 16. I SEEM to remember (could be wrong) that a 20 or 28 will fall out the muzzle of a ten, but don't take my word for that. A 16 in a 10 ga. could be bad news and there may be other combinations. 

Virtually any obstruction in the barrel can cause a rupture. A good freind of mine, and an experienced gunner, called to me to hold up one day when we were hunting pheasants in the snow. He thought he might have stuck his muzzle in a snowdrift. I watched him check it (not too carefully) and wipe some snow off the muzzle. A few minutes later he shot at a bird and lost the last three inches of barrel (split). He hadn't looked DOWN the barrel, he just assumed he was ok from what he saw in a casual glance. You don't need a total plug to blow a barrel. 

Back in the early days of steel, along with "bloopers" where only the primer went off or maybe a little of the powder, "sizzlers" weren't uncommon. These were extremely dangerous, they would tend to go off up to a minute after the primer was struck. You could sometimes hear them "sizzling" inside the action, sometimes not. 

I suppose I've had a dozen or so "bloopers" over the years. A lot of these were corroded shells I probably shouldn't have been shooting to begin with, and a couple were my handloads which I probably screwed up. I've also had three or four sizzlers. 

I've never blown a barrel, knock wood. Once I reloaded my double and took aim at a lively cripple and just before I pulled the trigger I decided to check the barrel, as one of the barrels didn't feel right on the shot. It was plugged. Very close call. 

What I do

I'm aware of an underpowered round going off. I can see how if you haven't shot a ton, and the adreneline is up (flock of birds) you would miss it. Watch out for your buddies as well as yourself. If you hear a blooper stop them from shooting again. 

If you pull the trigger and there is no explosion, KEEP THE MUZZLE IN A SAFE DIRECTION for at least a minute. Let anyone in the vicinity know why you're waiting. I haven't had a "sizzler" "delayed reaction" in quite a while but they are very scary. 

If you think there is ANY possibility you may have fouled the muzzle, check it before you shoot. One freind back home in kansas, hunting on a horribly nasty muddy day, plugged his muzzle by putting it on the muddy floorboard of his truck and blew the barrel. 

Keep your shells separated - esp. 20s from 12's. 

Discard any heavily corroded shells, or ones where the crimp isn't tight. Any corrossion around the primer is especially problematic. Some of my freinds in the past have sealed the primers of their shells with nail polish.


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