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mykeal · April 19, 2010, 11:08 PM

Many years ago, in the early 70's I think, when I was just getting into this addiction, I was at the local gravel pit/shooting range (we were living in KS at the time) with a friend, trying out a bp revolver he'd just bought. There was at least one other group of shooters (may have been a couple of groups, about 5 or 6 people altogether) near us that had bp long rifles. We chatted a little during the cease fires but we didn't know them, nor did they know us.

I recall hearing a loud bang, much louder than any of our guns had made, followed by a loud whooshing sound. I saw a plume of smoke and a red hot glow at the peak. I looked a the source of the plume and saw one of the long rifle shooters fall to the ground and his rifle bouncing on it's side in the gravel.

We rushed over and found the shooter dazed and incoherent. His face was reddened with soot marks and his eyebrows looked burned. His hair had also been burned. One arm and hand had second and perhaps third degree burns and his shirt was burned away in pieces. His friends loaded him in a car saying they'd take him to the hospital and sped away. While they were doing that one friend told us that he'd been pouring powder down the bore of his rifle directly from a copper flask when the flask suddenly ignited.

He had no shrapnel wounds, and we recovered what was left of the flask and found it split in two (still in one piece) but no missing chunks of metal. The cap and spout were nowhere to be found.

I have no idea what happened to the shooter; I never saw him again that I know of. I don't know how serious his wounds were or if any other action was taken as a result of the incident. It did not make the local paper, which wasn't unusual as gun accidents were considered a personal problem in those days in KS.

April 19, 2010, 11:08 PM	#16
mykeal Senior Member Join Date: October 8, 2006 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 2,772	Reply to Doc Many years ago, in the early 70's I think, when I was just getting into this addiction, I was at the local gravel pit/shooting range (we were living in KS at the time) with a friend, trying out a bp revolver he'd just bought. There was at least one other group of shooters (may have been a couple of groups, about 5 or 6 people altogether) near us that had bp long rifles. We chatted a little during the cease fires but we didn't know them, nor did they know us. I recall hearing a loud bang, much louder than any of our guns had made, followed by a loud whooshing sound. I saw a plume of smoke and a red hot glow at the peak. I looked a the source of the plume and saw one of the long rifle shooters fall to the ground and his rifle bouncing on it's side in the gravel. We rushed over and found the shooter dazed and incoherent. His face was reddened with soot marks and his eyebrows looked burned. His hair had also been burned. One arm and hand had second and perhaps third degree burns and his shirt was burned away in pieces. His friends loaded him in a car saying they'd take him to the hospital and sped away. While they were doing that one friend told us that he'd been pouring powder down the bore of his rifle directly from a copper flask when the flask suddenly ignited. He had no shrapnel wounds, and we recovered what was left of the flask and found it split in two (still in one piece) but no missing chunks of metal. The cap and spout were nowhere to be found. I have no idea what happened to the shooter; I never saw him again that I know of. I don't know how serious his wounds were or if any other action was taken as a result of the incident. It did not make the local paper, which wasn't unusual as gun accidents were considered a personal problem in those days in KS.