Burst musket barrel question

[Croppy Boy]

If powder only could do this to the gun, I wonder what would have happened if he had loaded a patched 0.715 ball :shocked2:

 

It may have been just a bad piece of steel. Inclusions? Heck, that could happen to any gun maker. Even here in the states. Steel made in China now, as I have been told.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I am calling on EVERY owner and shooter of Indian barelled muskets to come together and find out where this musket came from...Theres ALOT of us out there that hunt with these and really go to town with them.

It came from India.....They all do. I guess you get exactly what you pay for when you buy a cheap gun from India. :wink:
Many of these things will probably give good service and never blow....then there will be the occasional POS that blows apart. Quality control on Seamless Tubing in India probably doesn't exist.
I have used seamless tubing barrels from Benny Coogle on occasion and never was overly worried about them failing. They were all large bored, 11 bore or better and 60" long or over. Breeches were 1 3/8" to 2". These were also made from steel purchased here in America. Where it was actually made?????
:hmm:
This barrel that blew had to be incredibly weak off the start. Large bored guns creat little pressure even with a patched ball in the tube let alone a blank. This thing may have had a hairline crack in the breech end from day one.
All involved are very lucky they were just shooting blanks. You can imagine how badly this thing would have opened up with the pressure of a ball load. :shocked2:

 

[Mike Brooks]

It may have been just a bad piece of steel. Inclusions? Heck, that could happen to any gun maker. Even here in the states. Steel made in China now, as I have been told.

I know of only one barrel maker that is still using American made 12L14.

 

[matt denison]

.."I know of only one barrel maker that is still using American made 12L14.."

That would be Long Hammock Barrels I guess.

LDog aka Matt Denison

 

[Mike Brooks]

.."I know of only one barrel maker that is still using American made 12L14.."

That would be Long Hammock Barrels I guess.

LDog aka Matt Denison

Nice to know there's two then. :thumbsup:

 

[Parzifal]

If powder only could do this to the gun, I wonder what would have happened if he had loaded a patched 0.715 ball :shocked2:

Yeah and your out in the bush all alone and far from any help.

 

[montanadan]

Mike-Most of the barrell material comes from South America.Rice,Colerain, and green mountain,just to list a few.I do not own any of the Indian made muzzeloaders,so I can not comment.I would be very afraid of anything coming out of China right now.Respectfully montanadan.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Never owning a Bess, or being a reenactor, or even having hot blanks ... is 110grains of BP really necessary for a blank load ?


I guess I'm too cheap, that' all, and my intent is NOT to cast dispersions :surrender: on those lucky enough to walk away from this unfortunate incident.

 

[54ball]

I hate to see any traditional muzzleloader fail and cause injuries. I also hate to see traditional guns even ones made in India get bad press or banned.
The truth is that any gun may have failed under the circumstances. These circumstances are not clear to anyone of us right now. It's anybody's quess but I have a theory.
Here are some points to consider.
A 110 grain blank load will not cause that without a barrel obstruction.
Reenactors as stated in this case do not ram their charges.
They fire in volleys with light loads. 110 grains with no wad or ball will have a lot of smoke, make noise, but have a light recoil.
An oily, wet, or fouled breech will prevent ignition of the main charge.
Repeated priming and firing will eventually fire that charge.
Again in volley tactics march load shoot retire load march shoot ect. ect.
Theory... A load did not fire. 110grns. The second load did not fire. 220 grns. The third load did not fire. 330 grns. The fouth load did not fire. 440 grns. The fith load 550 grns, Houston, we now have ignition. The super heavy charge has no place to go, a pipe bomb.

 

[Leonredbeard]

54,
Sounds like a reasonable explanation to me.
volatpluvia

 

Who is the other one besides Long Hammock?

 

[Parzifal]

Ok , but how many 110 grn blank cartriges are worth 1 p.r.b over 90 grains of ffg??

 

[Mike Brooks]

Who is the other one besides Long Hammock?

Getz

 

[Parzifal]

Hey guys....Big ol load from my shoulders ..I Spoke with The good folk at loyalist today and 1st of all It wasnt one of theirs. 2nd of all the only failure he knows of was from a grossly overcharged barrell that shot and BROKE THE STOCK, leaving the barell intact, he "Blair" has that musket in his shop as a example of why you never shoot a overcharged musket.

Also I found out some interesting stuff, We all talk about the major 3 companys, but there are 3-5 other small importers that get their muskets from unknown sources, and these things thus are of dubious worth.

I for 1 am thankful for customer service at this level , I called him to pay for a lock repair and then asked him all these assinine questions which he answered with tact , honesty and patience.

Not all gonnes from India are alike, Just like not all gonnes from america, spain, italy are the same, know and trust your builder and importer.

I trust mine.

Rob

 

[Trot]

I think we need to see some of these taken apart and inspected, breech plug, threads etc.

 

[Mike Brooks]

failure he knows of was from a grossly overcharged barrell that shot and BROKE THE STOCK,

Breaking those stocks wouldn't take much. The ones I have seen are made from wood that is about as hard as pine. :shake:

 

[CoyoteJoe]

True, and the barrel probably did not start out as commercial heavy wall seamless tubing, more likely it started as flat stock hand forged around a mandrel and forge welded, obviously not too well. Labor is cheap and yet they are under pressure to work fast because they are paid by the piece. I used to buy Indian knives by the dozen to sell cheap at gun shows and craft fairs. I got one which had an open seam 2/3 the length of the blade. Viewed from either side it looked OK but looking at the edge it was two separate blades! :haha:

 

[Parzifal]

I think we need to see some of these taken apart and inspected, breech plug, threads etc.

I agree whole heartedly!!

Maybe there could be a way to procure some barells for said project. It would really ease the mind and or conferm the fears of the whole dare I say.....COMMUNITY...?!

That would be a AWESOME article for muzzleblasts or some other such publication.

Rob :thumbsup:

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Rob, have you pulled your's yet? Let us know when you do, I (and others) would be interested in finding out what it is like.