dropping your gun

[okanagan hiker]

Hi all...

I was just thinking... have any of you dropped your gun while hunting? Had it fall into water or down an embankment? Any major damage done?

So far, the worst I have done was ( very cleverly ) balanced my rifle on top of my pack ( because I didn't want to scratch the stock on the rocky ground ) and had the pack tip over and spill it and scratch it about 10 times worse than if I had gently placed it down myself.:evil:

I really gave this thought because while scouting this summer, I had 2 falls/spills ( slipped in a snow patch on a steep hill, broke my hiking pole, and had tumble down a hill off a loggin road and tore my rotator cuff )

OKH

[Wolfman]

I once dropped my 'ol Enfield .303 in a creek - and the CREEK got damaged ;-)

Seriously though, I dropped a .22 in the creek once, while wading across when I was young. No stock damage, but she needed a good cleaning afterwards ;-)

Wolfman

[outdoorsman812]

i was hunting with a guy once who was using my dads rifle and he tripped over some brush and fell backwards on top of the rifle which was slung over his shoulder, didn't knock the scope out or anything.

another guy i knew was mountain goat hunting a few years back with another fella, the other guy was climbing up a sloap ahead of him and kicked a large rock (10-15 pounds) down accidentally and it came directly down on top of his scope, bent the scope real bad.

i have never had anything bad happen with any firearms yet....

[Avalanche123]

When I rifle hunted , I banged my scope against my truck door and that was the end of that day before it even got started.
Had a friend drop his compound bow one day into a 10 day hunt and boy was he pissed.
You have to make sure it is properly sighted in again after any falls etc....also make sure your barrel is not plugged either.

[Gateholio]

Sure, lots of times.

Only major one was when I left it in a horse scabbard while I went to take care of business and the horse bashed it on a tree, kocking scope out of alignment. I started using Leupolds after that and havent' had an issue.

Mmost of my hunting rifles have scrapes on the stocks and scopes. No big deal, IMHO.

Tape te barrel and use a good scope, good mounts, and 99% of your worries are taken care of.

[trailhunter]

I did a replay of the scene from sniper when the guy slips down the bank and lands in the water with his rifle over his head..................haha that was me. Saved the gun before myself, we were both ok

[Big7]

I fell once walking an old back channel of the Muskwa R. and my gun came off my shoulder and smashed into the rocks. Tipped my scope in the rings almost 45 deg - I had to sight it in again as it was out 6 or 7 inches at 25 yds!! Had to replace the scope a while later as it was pretty pooched! Managed to get through the hunt ok though.

[308BAR]

A few times walking over rough terrain. It's usually bumps and scratches on the stock. Usually on a trip and fall I try to take the brunt of the impact and try to soften the my rifle's fall.

[boonerbuck]

Had the sling let go twice within 45 minutes before I tried to kill the biggest Muley buck I saw in my life. The rifle was off a foot @100 after that. I also threw it in the woods in a fit of rage so maybe that had something to do with it.

With the same rifle I slipped off a log while crossing a creek and I went off one side and the rifle went off the other and crashed in the creek 6 feet below. Held zero that time.

Same rifle...I had half a mule deer on my back and fell backwards down a slide. The rifle was burried muzzle first to the stock in the soft rubble. Glad the hunt was over....

Rolled my quad down a mountain with a rifle on a front rack. Burried that one in the dirt at the bottom of the hill muzzle first. Scratches but held zero. Shot better if anything.

Drove over my ol' 303. Couldnt tell the difference. Shot better if anything....lol.

[The 'Hummer']

Drove over my ol' 303. Couldnt tell the difference. Shot better if anything....lol.

Slight deviation in topic but that kinda' reminds me of my first 4x4, a '57 Land Rover PU. The more dents I put in it the better it looked and the better it ran.:biggrin:

[stanway]

Drove over my ol' 303. Couldnt tell the difference. Shot better if anything....lol.


Yeah, but how was the truck?:wink:

:biggrin::lol:

[quadrakid]

learned the hard way that it,s important to sight in after dropping your shooting iron, also had my old remington 30-06 end up six feet deep in a pool of the river in the yukon when we swamped our boat on a sweeper.shot 1500lb plus 59inch bull that evening with the same rifle.that was quite a day.

[mainland hunter]

went down on a steep slope on a horse which landed right on the gun. scope was 1" off and that was a pretty hard thump. leupold variXII on browning a-bolt.

[BimmerBob]

Walking across a dry creek bed on an old cottonwood windfall about 12 feet above the ground while looking for bears in the Terrace area I took a step and the bark kicked loose. I fell (quite gracefully I might add) to the large creek bed bolders on my back with the rifle and pack under me. Huge scrape on the stock and some scratches on the scope but when I test fired the rifle it was still bang on.

Leupold scopes and mounts are now my must haves on rifles and I avoid cottonwood windfalls if at all possible.

[SLIK]

My roommate went on some deer hunting trip. Slipped near some creek and filled his barrel with mud. Ended up using a stick and a sock to clean it out.

[sawmill]

My buddy and I were sighting in our rifles at a gravel pit and when he had his bang on he leaned it against the front bumper of my truck and forgot about it until I drove over it and bent the barrell of his brand new Weatherby 7mm:sad:
My Dad had a horse fall into a little gulley once and the tip of the scabbard hung up and broke the stock,bent the barrel.He saved the scope and the action of a 1964 Husky 7mm.
I had one of my crosshairs come loose on the first day of a two week hunt,I will not hunt with a rifle that does`nt have Iron sights as backup.It save my hunt.

[happygilmore]

Where do I start?
Ever had this happen? Top swivel snapped and my rifle swung like a pendulum and smacked the ground!

climbing some rocks I reached across and my rifle sling sliped down my arm breaking my scope on the rocks- didn't find out scope was smashed until 4h later when I got back to the truck - good thing I didn't see a monster mulie!

set rifle down and went to get on horse, dad was going to pass me rifle, horse spun around and knocked rifle about 20ft down slide... almost shot that stupid nag...if it wasn't partially my fault...

...moral of the story... always have a backup!

[bsa30-06]

These stories above are why i always pack a back up gun in the truck, even if just going for the day.You never know when something dumb like a strap coming loose and dropping your gun will happen, better safe then sorry.Havent had it happen yet, but i'm sure one day i'll need that back up gun.

[mark]

tripped on barb wire once, snapped the stock right in half! Was a great reason to go synthetic!

[BCrams]

I had a good fall when packing a ram out and broke my stock right in half.

Drove over my rifle while deer hunting 2 yrs ago.

Numerous hard falls and bangs over the years.

[hunter1947]

I can't really recall anytime that i have dropped my gun ???.

[The 'Hummer']

The topic brings back memories. In army cadets, a couple of years ago, in Clear Lake Man. or here in Vernon the instruction we were given as I recall was there was nothing wrong with dropping your rifle. Just make sure you were underneath it, before it hit the ground.:)

[okanagan hiker]

wow... so I am not alone in having dropped my rifle.

I do keep my muzzle covered ( fingers cut off a rubber glove ) to keep debris out, and try to place it on the ground / rocks / fallen trees carefully. That said, I guess I don't need to sweat the small bumps and scrapes ( they kind of give it character )

I did have a misstep in a small creek, went down but kept the rifle out of the water! I got soaked tho.

OKH

[johnes50]

I was coming down a steep logged over second growth mountainside and there was deer sign everywhere. I had to crawl over lots of downed logs.

I stood on one about three feet thick and slipped. My rifle fell out of my hands and in between the log I was standing on and another one parallel to it the same size. I followed the rifle and landed on top of the rifle with the barrel at nose level and my head downhill at about a 30 degree angle.

I was wedged fairly tightly between the two logs with one arm free. It took a while but I was finally able to wiggle and squirm my way out of there. Took about ten minutes and I was pooped. Never did see a deer. The gun was OK though. Scope was still sighted in.

[The 'Hummer']

I was coming down a steep logged over second growth mountainside and there was deer sign everywhere. I had to crawl over lots of downed logs.

I stood on one about three feet thick and slipped. My rifle fell out of my hands and in between the log I was standing on and another one parallel to it the same size. I followed the rifle and landed on top of the rifle with the barrel at nose level and my head downhill at about a 30 degree angle.

I was wedged fairly tightly between the two logs with one arm free. It took a while but I was finally able to wiggle and squirm my way out of there. Took about ten minutes and I was pooped. Never did see a deer. The gun was OK though. Scope was still sighted in.
Sounds as though both you and your rifle were lucky in that ordeal. Very lucky. When I know I'm going to be in that kind of terrain I have something that helps considerably. When I left the logging camp I was working at on the west coast of the island, many years ago, I had just purchased a brand new pair of Pierre Paris caulk boots. Still have and use them especially in timber and/or blow down conditions. A side issue, but they are the old hammer in caulks and also, I believe it's been a while since Paris was in business.:smile:

[huntergirl270]

Not naming any names but I know someone who rolled his quad and busted up his 30-6 pretty badly.. Too bad he's not a good enough boy for Santa to bring him a new one ;)

[MichelD]

Yeah, I slipped on ice under snow and whacked it right on the scope.

Missed a deer at 30 yards later that day.

My neighbour borrowed my 270 last year and this year when I went to check it at the range it was 3 inches low at 100 yards. I'd forgotten he told me he fell with it, so I had to re-sight it in.

I was kinda disappointed, I'd expected the Leupold scope and Burris rings to hold a zero after a bump. I guess Weaver bases aren't the greatest.

[boonerbuck]

I can't really recall anytime that i have dropped my gun ???.

You obviously are not hunting hard enough then!

haha...jkng:razz: