OOH!! My Turn!!
This incident was actually what precipitated me joining this forum, so...
After more than two decades in storage, I decided to break out my .54 caliber T/C Hawken with the Oregon Barrel Co...blah, blah blah
- you guys have read about this rifle already...
I had re-cleaned this rifle when I got it out, and coated the bore with a maybe too generous helping of oil. I then placed it back in the safe - wait for it - ..., ..., Muzzle up! (Okay, old guys, roll your eyes. What do you want from me? It's why I joined.).
A few weeks later, I went to my buddy, Joe's cabin, and we were doing some shooting. There were several of us there, and I have the job of camp chef, so I was kinda taking my turn on the bench while tending to 7 racks of ribs. Any of you who know me will know that I should not try to walk and chew gum, let alone try to get a smoker lit, and up to temp while trying to diagnose a FTF issue.
Ran a few patches down the bore to soak up the oil. I then loaded up 65 grains of Pyrodex behind a 325 grain bullet a friend had cast. I then put on a musket cap, took careful aim, and, POP! Cap went off, but no Boom. I repeated this action 6 or 7 times with the same result. I then realized that there may be some oil under the nipple and in the fire channel. I took a pipe cleaner and ran it down the opening, and it came out oily - really oily. Ran another pipe cleaner and another until they were coming out dry.
By this time, I had become pretty frustrated, and it was time to add the hickory, get the smoker back up to temp, throw on the ribs, Oh, and this damn Gun!!! Put on a musket cap, took aim, and, Boof!! Cap popped but no shot. Tried one more time, same result. I put on another cap, but by this time, I figured that my charge must've gotten soaked with oil and wasn't going to ignite, so I was sorta planning to get out the bullet puller and... "Hey Jim! You gonna put these fk'n ribs on or should I?" Pete wanted to make sure the meat would be done in time for dinner some 6 hours from that point.
So, I said to myself, "To Hell with it. I deal with this later." I COMPLETELY forgot that I had placed a fresh cap on the nipple. You all can guess what happened next. I pulled the trigger while holding the rifle at hip level, pointing the opposite direction of the range. The rifle, after 9 or 10 caps failing to fire, went off. I discharged that 325 grain projectile pointed sort of toward where our vehicles were parked, angling away from the vehicles, but straight into Joe's 5' scraper blade and toward the roadway that passes the cabin. On a straight trajectory, the bullet would have passed over the roadway by some 30 or 40 feet. However, the bullet went through the grader blade, so could've been slowed, deflected up or down, toward the road, away from the road... who knows? Only saving grace there is that the road is sparsely travelled, and there was no one there.
The other good thing is that one of the guys in our group was a welder in his previous life, and we were able to patch Joe's scraper. Some buffing and repainting.