I learnt about shooting from that.

bitemybanger

lamping rabbits one night, me driving, good friend with my gun(he has his own too), arrived into the field and saw a coulpe of rabbits so stopped the jeep, he got out and rested the gun on the door to take the shot but the rabbit heard somthing and bolted so G gets back into the jeep with a locked and loaded rifle unknown to me and pop, wasnt sure what it was at first coz it had the mod on, i just knew by the look on the face of the man sitting beside me:eek::eek::eek::o, Cheers Godfrey:D

G17

I had a Ruger Swift .220, VERY expensive round (to a chap), maybe £1.50 (old money) each at the time. A friend gave me a box of CCI stingers for my BRNO .22lr and said they packed a fair punch.

Went out lamping, armed with Stingers. Saw a rabbit, 65 odd yards, aimed, fired, phffthump, got him. Drove up the field in my Pajero and a rabbit bolted from roughly where I saw the one I shot at.

Couldn't find the rabbit. Got out walked around with the lamp, couldn't find it. Drove up and down several times, couldn't find it. I was about to call off the search thinking the one that bolted was the one I fired at when I spotted a white furry thing in the grass.

I stopped got out and went to retrieve. The Rabbit was absolutely in bits, entrails a foot past where his dinner last was, I looked at the rifle in amazement. My God, these Stingers are ferocious, I thought, here I am spending a fortune on Swift rounds and these little bullets make mince of stuff, WOW!! I lit up a smoke to celebrate my new found mini artillery round and as I was puffing away I scanned around the field looking for another possible shot, nothing doing. I shone the light on the rabbit again, then on the jeep, then down the field, then on the jeep, then on the rabbit, then down the field.

The tyre marks showed that I had driven over the rabbit 3, maybe 4 times....... CCI Stingers, good, but not that good.......:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::D

stevoman

well lads. can anyone help me with this. i have a gas owered air rifle and my cousin was plinking with it out the back a few weeks ago and came in and said to me he had got a pellet stuck in the barrell. I tried to get it out as it was stuck near the top but to no avail.

well saturday i started to work at it again and used a ull through for my .22 and pushed from the top down as hard as i could. after about 20 of hard pushing down i eventually freed 7 (yes 7) lodged pellets.

what i want to know is will this have damaged the barrell much or would the led have been soft enough for it to be ok?

rrpc

Two lessons learned there I think.

1. Always supervise someone shooting.
2. No-one ever gets one pellet jammed in the barrel, it takes a second to find the first is in there and sometimes it takes seven before the truth dawns .

You'll have to inspect the barrel carefully. Clean it thoroughly and shine a strong light down to see if there are any marks.

What caused the first pellet to jam? This may indicate a problem.

Vegeta

Luckily the lead in those pellets is generally very soft and chances of the pellets damaging the rifling are small enough.

The problem I think may have been the effort to get the pellets out, will you have damaged the rifling doing this. Also where did the air pressure go when the rifle was fired, the barrel was jammed after all.

1. Why did pellets get stuck is the first question I'd be asking. Until I could answer this I wouldn't put another pellet through it. Is it a springer or PCP air rifle

2.Inspect the rifling and see can you spot any thing that might have caused the initial jam

3.Once sure you cant see any reason why the pellets would have jammed and their is no visible damage, group the rifle and see if it is still shooting ok. If possible borrow a chronograph to make sure the pellet speed is not varying wildly.

Also this new smiley is cool :rolleyes:

bigred

Vegeta wrote: »

Also where did the air pressure go when the rifle was fired, the barrel was jammed after all.

It would have just sat there. on PCPs it's essentially moving air from one storage chamber to another (the barrell). This chamber happens to have a hole in it allowing the air escape. When it got plugged, the air would have just equalised between the two. All the shooter would have seen was a quick (and potentially dangerous) shot of air out of the breech the next time he cycled the action

stevoman

Thanks lads. the air rifle is gas powered and the the gas ran out and he kept firing is where the problom came from. we loosened the pellets first with a thin screw driver careful not to damage the barrel. then once moved a little we pushed the pull through down uhtul the came out the loading end. i fired it last night and it seems to be ok but that was only at a distance of 20 yards or so i just hope its ok because its a lovely rifle.

how far down a barrell does the swivals go on a air rifle?

stevoman

bigred wrote: »

It would have just sat there. on PCPs it's essentially moving air from one storage chamber to another (the barrell). This chamber happens to have a hole in it allowing the air escape. When it got plugged, the air would have just equalised between the two. All the shooter would have seen was a quick (and potentially dangerous) shot of air out of the breech the next time he cycled the action

okay its gets better. i loaded new gas into the gun and fired not knowing there was that many pellets in it stuck. once loaded i fired and nothing happended. once i opened the chamber again a burst of air just came out.

Vegeta

bigred wrote: »

It would have just sat there. on PCPs it's essentially moving air from one storage chamber to another (the barrell). This chamber happens to have a hole in it allowing the air escape. When it got plugged, the air would have just equalised between the two. All the shooter would have seen was a quick (and potentially dangerous) shot of air out of the breech the next time he cycled the action

My fear was that the air may have damaged the seals and mechanism of the rifle trying to go somewhere, but looks like stevo has cleared it up.

Sparks

Messy problem, but it happens. Just be careful poking out the pellets, check the seals (not a good idea to fire till the barrel is clear) and it should be okay. A borescope would be the fastest way to be sure (but looking down the barrel with a torch in the breech ought to show up anything major - just please unload and discharge first, PCP air rifles are not a recommended way to test for glycoma ).

stevoman

Vegeta wrote: »

My fear was that the air may have damaged the seals and mechanism of the rifle trying to go somewhere, but looks like stevo has cleared it up.

I hope so. prob the best thing maybe to do is buy a small scope for it and set it up looking through that and try and see if its off at all.

Sparks

Incidentally, this is a bloody good lesson for anyone who shoots airguns competitively, especially air pistol shooters - do you carry a knitting needle or similar with you for the day you mistakenly load a pellet backwards?

stevoman

Sparks wrote: »

Incidentally, this is a bloody good lesson for anyone who shoots airguns competitively, especially air pistol shooters - do you carry a knitting needle or similar with you for the day you mistakenly load a pellet backwards?

not something i have ever thought of sparks although a pull through for a .22 can suffice so it can.

also another lesson learnt - never trust anyone not trained with a gun (even if its your adult cousin for 20 minutes) EVER! I learnt that lesson the hard way, thankfully things could always be worse!

Sparks

Indeed! In fact, I'm going to merge this thread with the "I learnt about shooting from that" thread...

Traumadoc

I have had three firearms injuries in the last few months, 2 were failure to clear the guns another was a person shot by a fellow hunter (shotgun). While all were non fatal one will possible be career ending

rrpc

Traumadoc wrote: »

I have had three firearms injuries in the last few months, 2 were failure to clear the guns another was a person shot by a fellow hunter (shotgun). While all were non fatal one will possible be career ending

That's awful :eek:, were they all close range?

Traumadoc

The hunting one was a fair distance, so pellets pierced the skin, potential for serious eye damage, but missed the eye by an inch.

Sparks

For those who've thought we were a wee bit conservative every time the dangers of exploding air tanks was mentioned in the past....


That's the recent Quantas airlines scare. The hole above appeared while in flight.
From breakingnews.ie:

Exploding cylinder blamed for air scare
Part of an oxygen cylinder exploded through the floor of the passenger cabin of a Qantas jumbo jet last week, an air safety investigator said today.

The oxygen tank appeared to have exploded beneath the cabin of the London to Melbourne flight over the South China Sea, Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) director of aviation safety Julian Walsh said.

“The ATSB can confirm that it appears that part of an oxygen cylinder and valve entered the passenger cabin and impacted” a door handle, Mr Walsh said.

The jet carrying 365 people was diverted to Manila with a hole the size of a car in its fuselage. No one was hurt.

Victor

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2008/0922/1221998220390.html

BULLET WOUNDS SIX MEN

Six men were wounded by a single bullet on the target range of the 'Sixth Fifty' Infantry in San Juan, Porto Rico, when a rifle which was being cleaned by a soldier was accidentally discharged. The bullet wounded one private in the abdomen, struck another on the right knee, was deflected from a rifle, and hit a third in the neck, then struck a captain and a lieutenant in turn, and finally lodged in the hip of a fourth private.

6 April 1926

Victor

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2008/0929/1222420015243.html

LIFE PRESERVED BY A WATCH

AT A meeting of the East Riding Militia, a day or two ago, at Westwood, Beverley, one of the spectators of their evolutions had a marvellous escape from death. A private named Harrington neglected, after loading his rifle, to remove his ramrod, and on the firearm being discharged, the rod was shot away and struck a man named Bartle.

Fortunately the end of the rod came in contact with a double-cased silver watch Bartle had in his waistcoat pocket. The watch was shattered to atoms, but to the resistance it offered its owner was indebted for the safety of his life, as, from the force with which the rod struck him, there is no doubt it would have penetrated his body had not the watch warded it off.

The rod, when picked up, was found to have been bent into a zigzag by the force of the collision. Bartle did not suffer beyond feeling an acute pain in the side for a short period.

May 30th, 1862

Double Barrel

"12-20 burst"
A 20 bore cartridge mistakenly loaded first causing an OBSTRUCTION followed by a 12 bore cartridge that seats properly. At which time the gun is closed or cycled normally.
Obstruction = Blown Barrel

Check your barrels.

http://www.basc.org.uk/media/shotgun_barrel_failures.pdf

EastTyrone

one time me and my friend where taking potshots at swing targets with his air arms s200 i was about to take a shot but his ma called us in 4 dinner, so i shot the rifle into a bank of clay to make it safe, stupid me cocks the rifle straight away and i somehow forgot to take the bolt back to make it safe, I set the rifle down on the sofa and went ate my dinner, after dinner I went and pick up the rifle and acidently pulled the trigger, what a fright i got lol, if i hadn't of discharfed that shot i could have been dead

darrenon

i was out at night a while back with a friend and his hornet.I took a shot and put the next round in to the chamber,making sure to replace the safety(or so i thought) we walked on for a bit and checked the safety just to be sure and it felt right. i always carry a gun pointing to the ground away from everyone so as we walked i checked the trigger(in full confidence) and the gun fired frightening the life out me:eek::eek:.
can never take anything for granted. check,check and check again.

Vegeta

darrenon wrote: »

i was out at night a while back with a friend and his hornet.I took a shot and put the next round in to the chamber,making sure to replace the safety(or so i thought) we walked on for a bit and checked the safety just to be sure and it felt right. i always carry a gun pointing to the ground away from everyone so as we walked i checked the trigger(in full confidence) and the gun fired frightening the life out me:eek::eek:.
can never take anything for granted. check,check and check again.

I never walk around with a rifle round in the barrel. Never, I just don't feel safe doing it. Sure the magazine will be in the gun but I leave the bolt open. If I see a fox I then close the bolt to chamber a round, if he hears me so be it.

Sparks

Several posts deleted.
Lads. A quick word of explanation here, if you'd read it.

The point of this thread is not to have a go at anyone who reports having made a mistake here - the point is to learn the same lesson that they have, so you don't make it.

It is vital that a thread like this does three things:

• Not judge the actions of those who post their mishaps here
• Not berate those who post for having made an error
• Not punish those who post their errors here

If we do any of those things, then noone will post here, and then noone will learn what they might have learnt.

And that might lead to an accident.

So post what you personally do if you wish; but "Oh, you're so stupid, you never do that" is not an acceptable topic for a post in here, and from now on, anyone doing it will pick up an infraction and have their post deleted.

Seriously lads, either it's safety first or it's gossip and bitching first. I'm pushing for the former.

Jacobo

I once witnessed a dangerous situation. Thankfully, nothing happened.

Several years ago, before coming to Ireland, I was visiting a range. In one of the lanes, a man was showing a friend his interesting pistol; his friend shot several rounds at a target, removed the empty magazine and they went back to handling and admiring the pistol.

I thought something was amiss, so I went up to them and asked "may I?". "Certainly", the man said, and he put the pistol on the counter. I picked it up and pulled on the slide. Surely enough, an unspent 9mm round fell from the chamber through the magazine well.

Both fell silent, as they realized what might have happened. I just said "I have this habit of counting shots as they go off..."

Tip of the day: as you shoot, count the shots, and after you are done remember to always remove the magazine, pull the slide, and lock it open.

Victor

As the man said "Six bullets, six empty chambers, but still shot the fridge"

Rovi

The simple act of removing/emptying the magazine and locking the action open before 'surrendering' control of the firearm (by putting it down or handing it to someone else), and likewise, the person taking control of it checking the same, removes all ambiguity over rounds fired or anything else.

I have absolutely no problem with someone else immediately checking a firearm I have just checked myself, and would see it as proof of their serious adherence to 'good practice', and not a slight on me or my competence to check such things.

tonysopprano

Any firearm is always loaded until YOU YOURSELF prove it clear.

bunny shooter

Treat every firearm as if it's loaded even if you know it isn't and you will never have any problems