A friend was shooting a flush recently .
He wears ear plugs and electronic ear muffs.
He didn't hear an odd report from his gun , (friends standing by did)
He's right handed and shoots with his left thumb up the side of his barrels .
Apparently it seems that a fibre wad stuck in his barrel and upon reloading and firing, the barrel burst , blowing off the forend (which saved his hand ) but fifteen pellets went into his thumb . He is now recovering after having pellets removed . Always check your barrels are clear by getting into the habit of looking down the tubes before reloading , if there is smoke ,blow it out .

Hey, I shot a flush recently- Friday nite poker-- 7 cardstud, I had a heart flush "wired" to the Queen in 6 cards- we were playing the "Chicago" version- lowest spade in the hole gets half the pot, so usually that keeps some "hopefuls" in the game, hoping to hit the deuce on the last card- I had the deuce of spades and the seven of spades in my 2 "hole cards"-- But when the "Lady" came, I had 5 solid spades- My buddy had 2 pair, Kings over fives in six cards..RWTF

Hunting with friends with no chance to hear anything around him? A lot of "what if's" come to mind.

He must be talking about a "flush and flurry" type clays game, to have been wearing all that hearing protection........... one of those games where you cannot take the time to look down bore before reloading the barrel. When hunting it is no problem to quickly "see daylight" out the muzzle before dropping a fresh load in the chamber.

Hearing protection is counter-productive when hunting.

SRH

Salopian, I've had this habit for years with break open guns. Only takes a few seconds to check for daylight through the tubes. Shooting with fiber base wads or my black powder card and fiber reloads, I am particular with my reloads and factory shells but still perform this quick safety check. I wear custom molded ear plugs and can hear the sound of my gun and still protect my hearing. Report can sound off just buy a change in the wind direction, but I still check. When using my semi-auto I trust to "luck" as when shooting a "flurry". I use a heavy proof Spanish side lock, steel barrels for a flurry when I do shoot one. I also wear a heavy deer skin glove on my lead hand for some added protection and due to the heat build up with the barrels. I am the only person I see shooting that performs this quick and simple check.

Thanks for the tip. I usually don’t fire a lot when hunting, and after the shot all my focus goes to recovering the bird, automatically, but, it would be a great idea to check the bores sometime between finding bird and reloading.


Best,
Ted

I admit that I do not often check the bores while shooting. I have heard enough "squibs" over the years though to stop everything and check/clear when I hear one, either mine or a companion...Geo

I always check my barrels but then, like you Peter, years spent coaching people in safe gun handling rubs off on one! In the rare occasions I have been in a 'hot spot' on a driven game shoot, I have lost some chances but still have all my fingers!
Hope you are having a good season, ABT Toby

Interesting you should say this. Today, I discovered my left barrel plugged with 1/4" of frozen mud. I had fallen once, but had no idea that I had let the muzzles touch the planet.

For those who don't shoot loads with fiber wads, another concern--especially with reloads--is hull separation. I've only had it happen a few times, but you'll know immediately with a double if one of your empties is only the brass head of the shell, or maybe the head and only a portion of the hull. Every time it's happened with me, the rest of the hull has cleared the barrel. But that's not always the case . . . and I often worry about people shooting autos or pumps, who may not realize what has happened when their gun ejects the empties. (Also possible you won't know with a double when you're shooting a flurry, because you're not trapping your empties.) There's usually a distinctive sound that accompanies hull separation, but you may miss it in the heat of the moment when shooting a flurry.

For those of us who learn best with pictures on this beautiful Lord's day in the desert

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=495264&page=1



http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=495264&page=1



Fried base wad found in barrel



What Bro. Larry said



Found a few feet in front of shooter



Be safe out there!

I never really liked that game and now you have convinced me not to ever do it again.

Agreed.

Best,
Ted