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25 or so yrs ago my Uncle short started his brand new rifle.....

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I was with him and usually I stood along side. I was just a little farther back when it happened. From what I can see nothing came flying off and the ball did leave the barrel. If it was a true obstruction I probably wouldn't be writing this.
 
Wow, that is insane. I assume he was using real black powder not a some random powder that happened to be black ;-)

I short started a barrel once long time ago. The worst that happened was a bulge that measured about 20 thou larger than the surrounding area. It was a very thin round barrel. I was using 120gr of 3f BTW.

For an octagon barrel to be split like that... If this was using black powder the caliber must have been pretty large(bordering on insane) , or I would suspect the quality of metal of the barrel.

Even mild steel, let's say 1 inch across flats, bored to 0.69 cal leaves a wall in thinnest place that is .155 in thick. A tube with those parameters made of mild steel(assuming yield strength of 250Mpa - 36kpsi) shouldn't even start deforming until at least 11k psi.

Was this an original wrought iron barrel or twist steel. Was modern nitro powder used? Enquiring minds want to know. :)
 
Many of us here have watched people do stupid/forgetful stuff for many decades that lead to tragic accidents like this.
Thankfully no-one was hurt that day.
Can you share with us the lesson you learned as a youth on that day? Or any way to help prevent something like this again?
 
I short started a .54 ball during a senior moment one time, I was sure I ruined my barrel after I shot the rifle and realized what I had done. The barrel was a C weigh Rice, much to my surprise the barrel didn't sustain any damage what so ever, I was shooting 90 of of 2F.
 
Wow, that is insane. I assume he was using real black powder not a some random powder that happened to be black ;-)

I short started a barrel once long time ago. The worst that happened was a bulge that measured about 20 thou larger than the surrounding area. It was a very thin round barrel. I was using 120gr of 3f BTW.

For an octagon barrel to be split like that... If this was using black powder the caliber must have been pretty large(bordering on insane) , or I would suspect the quality of metal of the barrel.

Even mild steel, let's say 1 inch across flats, bored to 0.69 cal leaves a wall in thinnest place that is .155 in thick. A tube with those parameters made of mild steel(assuming yield strength of 250Mpa - 36kpsi) shouldn't even start deforming until at least 11k psi.

Was this an original wrought iron barrel or twist steel. Was modern nitro powder used? Enquiring minds want to know. :)
It was Goex BP with a PRB, that I remember. My Uncle would have probably been using 70grs of the powder since this was literally the third shot he had with it. it is/was a .54 or .58.
 
I short started a .54 ball during a senior moment one time, I was sure I ruined my barrel after I shot the rifle and realized what I had done. The barrel was a C weigh Rice, much to my surprise the barrel didn't sustain any damage what so ever, I was shooting 90 of of 2F.
I once did the same thing, only it was a one inch .54 caliber Green Mountain! An O/S moment for sure! But the barrel wasn't even bulged and the ball hit close to where I was aiming! The pictured barrel appears to be from an OTC gun - T/C or perhaps a foreign import?
Was it a G Douglas barrel perhaps? seems they were sued at one time and lost due to some bad barrels.
I have used their barrels for 40 years and never had the slightest hiccup. ymmv.
As I recall, it was suspected that the barrel blew up because smokeless powder was used? Which is why the "black Powder ONLY" warning on OTC guns today! Given stupid in the right proportions any barrel can be made to pop! I've used many Douglas barrels! They shot good and I never had any problems. The pictured barrel appears to be from an OTC gun! Foreign made, perhaps?
 
I should mention here that this was a Spanish made gun and while I have had many of these and the quality was acceptable for fun shooting, they don't approach the quality of a Green Mountain or similar barrel.

EDIT: It actually is a Investarms made in Italy and is .58 caliber.
 
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