Witnessed a gun explode today 10 feet away...

[john doe]

Just an unsolicited reminder to be careful, wear eye and ear protection, check for barrel obstructions, be mindful squibs/light loads, and be aware when reloading....


Gun was was high-end O/U.. not a cheap gun!

The entire chamber and part of the barrel blew off and slightly to right and was gone, not to be found. Shooter was wearing eye-pro and luckily the shooter had only a small piece of shrapnel in his cheek.

If he was a lefty he may have been missing half his face and probably would be blind.

[Hawk]

Bet it was his reload.

[MartinBrody]

Bet it was his reload.

I'll second that.

If it was a shotgun it couldn't be a squib.

[twency]

Just an unsolicited reminder to be careful, wear eye and ear protection, check for barrel obstructions, be mindful squibs/light loads, and be aware when reloading....


Gun was was high-end O/U.. not a cheap gun!

The entire chamber and part of the barrel blew off and slightly to right and was gone, not to be found. Shooter was wearing eye-pro and luckily the shooter had only a small piece of shrapnel in his cheek.

If he was a lefty he may have been missing half his face and probably would be blind.

Just out of curiosity, do you know what the problem was in this case?

[mpan72]

I'll second that.

If it was a shotgun it couldn't be a squib.

Curious as to why not?

[john doe]

Cause undetermined, but it was a reload......

If there was a barrel obstruction, it was not there after the kaboom.
..

If the previous shot from that barrel was light and the wadding remained in the barrel the possiblity exists that it would create an overpressure in a similar manner a rifle or pistol squib would. The certainty is less likely with wadding than with a solid projectile stuck in the barrel, but the risk does exist.

[MartinBrody]

Curious as to why not?

I guess it's possible, but since he mentioned it was an over/under I assumed he was firing shot, not a slug.

[Statkowski]

Perhaps the ammuntion was laced. See Project Eldest Son

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Eldest_Son

[mpan72]

I guess it's possible, but since he mentioned it was an over/under I assumed he was firing shot, not a slug.

I got it now.

[Qtrborecrazy]

I've seen shot shells with shot and prime but no powder, sounds like a medium fart when they go off. Shot exit barrel but wad stays. I'm wondering if he had one of these loads and didn't look carefull enough for the wad. Possible.