Great Day Out "Part 2" : The Carnage

[longshot]

I was going to share this in my "Great Day Out" post yesterday, buuut, I was too tired.. Near the end of the hunt, just as I finished up my 8 ducks, the gun my dad was using basically exploded. He was using the gun we got for my sister, a Ithaca M37 12 gauge that had been fully checked and had proven to be a fully functional gun.

Some ducks came infront of my dads spot/blind, and all I heard was boom, boom, BOOOOMMMM... That third boom did not come out of the barrel, it came from in the receiver! A broken piece of the spring loaded shell retainer, the bar that holds the upcoming shell in the magazine tube, had broken off by its steel retaining pin snapping.. Well that broken piece of metal was pointing straight at the primer of the 3rd upcoming shell, and when my dad pumped the forend back, it blew its load.. everywhere in the gun.

The primer shot out the bottom hitting my dad in the chest, the shell expanded and through hot burning powder everywhere in the gun, the pellets shot foreward shooting into the walls and plug of the magazine tube, bent the magazine tube, and the shear explosion broke the breech bolt and carrier and fudged the trigger assembly.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2013-01-13_21_06_49.jpg

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2013-01-13_21_06_59.jpg


This is the piece that broke off and hit the primer off the upcoming shell in the mag
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2013-01-13_21_07_13.jpg


Pretty much in this position is how the shot went off.. juust as it was popping out of the mag tube, the broken part his the primer
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2013-01-13_21_07_59.jpg


The plastic melted, and the 12 ga brass expanded to the looks of a 10 ga.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2013-01-13_21_07_26.jpg

[longshot]

The primer shot out the bottom and hit my dad in the chest, a small piece but went flying at a good speed!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2013-01-13_21_07_40.jpg

THANK GOD this was the last shell in the mag.. as the pellets shot out out with enough force to bend the mag tube, and shoot into the mag plug.. This incident would've been much worse if there was a shell infront of this one in the tube.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2013-01-13_21_08_37.jpg


The trigger group is cracked
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2013-01-13_21_10_12.jpg


And again, the mag tube is bent and dented from pellets and the blast..
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2013-01-13_21_11_01.jpg

[longshot]

We got away lucky, and we retired the gun instantly and my dad finished off his limit of lards with my trusty 870.. Thank god there werent 2 shells in the mag. I dont even want to know what would've happened. This shows, even though this gun got thouroughly inspected, crazy things can happen to well known name brands of firearms. Definately not your typical firearm malfunction..

[wingmaster]

jeez, scary accident, glad to hear all are safe

[Duck Buster]

Holly cow you and your dad are lucky to be alive, that is a very weired failure, glad nothing worse happened.

I know this was a gun failure not a shell failure but what shells and loads were you using, I have seen failures in guns that are designed for 3 1/2" shells but they can't seem to handle the heavy pounding. Just curious.

And was this a new gun or one you bought used, I think I would be calling the gun maker to inform them of the failure.

[Dano]

Wow! Glad to hear you guys are alright.
Could have been a serious injury there for sure....
Dano

[nano]

Glad all is well, that could have been bad for your dad.

[Allen50]

thats one lucky shooter,,man if that blew backwards,, so lucky,,and he still went on to shoot more ducks,,cool for him,,

[longshot]

I know this was a gun failure not a shell failure but what shells and loads were you using, I have seen failures in guns that are designed for 3 1/2" shells but they can't seem to handle the heavy pounding. Just curious.


Just Federal 2.75" 1-1/8 oz 1350 fps #2's.. nothin major. Atleast it wasnt buck shot!