Thread: Guns blown, persons damaged- powder misadventures- examples

Prior to moving to NZ was carrying out some pest control over the family farm using bird scaring 12 guage rounds. They are 3 inch cartridges which send what is essentially a firework about 300 feet before that explodes over the pesties - big bang of at least 140 db which you did not want to be near to.

There were two varients - one with a bigger report and had to be used from a barrel with a maximum of half choke. Grab a single barrl Baikal shotgun and a hand full of the scarers and went out to the newly drilled pea field to move the mob of wood pigeons on.

Yep you guessed it. In the ammo was one of the larger type that i did not notice at the time. Went to send it out over the field and on pulling the trigger just heard the rocket type propellent burning in the barrel and relised i was holding a pipebomb.

Managed to break the action and throw the Baikal as quick as i could - the banger going off as it hit the ground about 20 feet away.

Kept my fingers and toes but the ears rang for a few days. Baikel was never quite the same though...