A reminder to be careful when reloading.

[Steve in PA]

On Sunday, I was at my local PGC Range shooting some guns for the upcoming bear/deer seasons. There is a group of about 5-6 guys that shoot there often and I'm acquainted with them. Good guys, never any problems.

Well, as I was shooting my Enfield .303 from a few benches away I hear a LOUD bang! I heard one of the guys asking another shooter is he was okay. I looked at his rifle and it pretty much blew apart. I checked his face, hoping not to see the worst; eye or facial damage. Luckily all he had was a cut on his nose, but his rifle was another story.

The guy was shooting a Remington 783 bolt rifle in .243.....a really beautiful rifle. He pulled the trigger and said he heard a "click". I had head the click, but just assumed he was doing a little dry firing. He thought perhaps that he had not cleared the previous shot and just pulled the trigger on an already fire case. So he ejected the empty case, chambered a fresh round.....and pulled the trigger!! Ka-boom!!!!

The click......was him pulling the trigger in a case without any powder. Yes, he reloads. Well, the primer lodged the bullet in the barrel. I'm guessing he didn't hear the primer go off. So, when he chambered and fired the new round, that bullet struck the one already in the barrel, causing the stock to explode, the bottom of the rifle to blow out and the rear of the bolt to fly off.

[gghbi]

Glad to see no serious injury, except to the rifle. It is amazing how close to getting out of the barrel the two bullets were. A good reminder for us all.

[frankski]

Ejecting an empty case after no bang should have been a clue to remove the bolt and peek down the barrel for obstruction.

[bogey1]

I did that with my M3HB, but thank god the next shell wouldnt chamber even after trying a half dozen times.

[Walleye Hunter]

Ejecting an empty case after no bang should have been a clue to remove the bolt and peek down the barrel for obstruction.

Agreed! Hasn't happened to me (yet) but I find some strange kind of solace in hearing that I'm not the only one who makes stupid mistakes.

[cephas]

Don't be this guy:
omamfciqg1uiper3pdrj.jpg

[crffl]

Don't be this guy:
omamfciqg1uiper3pdrj.jpg

Or this guy:

[MD66948]

Don't be this guy:
omamfciqg1uiper3pdrj.jpg

I know a guy from Upper Darby who did that with a S&W 357 back in the 70s. Smith re-barreled it and sent him back the original barrel with all 6 bullets in it. The owner said every time he fired it the recoil got worst and worst and he didn't see any holes in the paper target. He was very lucky.

[bigandy1966]

Don't be this guy:

Years ago I heard about a gun shop in Thorndale that had a Ruger Super Black Hawk Hunter with 6 rounds of .44 mag in the pipe. Ruger told them to keep the gun for display and to further the rep of the SBHH strength.

[MARINE DIVISION TWO]

Ejecting an empty case after no bang should have been a clue to remove the bolt and peek down the barrel for obstruction.

What my wife did when she experienced a squib load years ago in her Taurus snub ! Factory load too !