# Call me stupid but lucky.....



## kaferhaus (Oct 8, 2009)

I've been shooting over 40yrs and learned from other peoples mistakes along the way.... I call myself "overly cautious" when it comes to taking steps to avoid mistakes. 

Well I made a huge one that I knew better than to ever do and take steps to avoid.

I took several rifles to the range today. As one barrel was cooling I'd swap rifles and keep shooting. I always make sure I remove the ammo from the bench with the rifle, put the proper ammo for the next rifle on the bench shoot it, remove ammo, start over etc. etc.

Today....... I was getting ready to put the 308 back in the rotation, put the ammo on the bench, grabbed the rifle and blew the gun up.

I have several rifles that look identical to each other but of different chamberings.... the rifle I grabbed was on the case labeled 308 but the rifle was a 25-06....

Because of my bench technique.... one hand on pistol grip and the other on the rear bag (I shoot free recoil with everything) I was not injured in any way. Had my hand been under the rifle it would likely be torn to shreds or worse.

In a way this is a tribute to the built in safety features of Savage rifles.


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## kaferhaus (Oct 8, 2009)

more damage...


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## rob883 (Oct 3, 2007)

you have seen the elephant and lived to tell about it !!


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## Linkovich (Oct 24, 2007)

Wow, crazy! Glad you're ok


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## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

Wow, that'll give you a freaking scare I'd bet! Glad you are ok.


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## kaferhaus (Oct 8, 2009)

The pics aren't so good, but the bolt head is half sheared away and the "baffle" as you can see is in 5 pieces. I had to remove the barrel to get the bolt out.... the "pin" that holds the bolt head to the bolt body has a severe bend in it, extractor never was found but oddly enough I did find the detent ball.... The pieces of the stock were found on the ground several feet from the rifle. The 308 case was nearly vaporized...

I guess trying to squeeze a 308 bullet down a .257 bore causes a few issues..... ironically the barrel appears undamaged.... If you look at the bolt lug recesses on the action you can see the set back marks.... it's toast. A dial indicator shows .011" set back on one recess and .009" on the other.


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Glad you are OK..... Scary stuff right there!


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## FrankwT (Jul 25, 2010)

Glad you mde it out OK that is one scary mess!


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

Glad you are okay... and many thanks for sharing your mistake. Takes a big man to admit it to a big group of people you don't know, just to try to keep it from happening to somebody else.

Jim


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## GENTLE WOLF (Aug 19, 2009)

First, glad you are ok. Second and just as important, thank you for sharing your mistake with the rest of us. Maybe one person will remember your story and not make the same mistake.

I guess Jim t and myself were typing at the same time.


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## kaferhaus (Oct 8, 2009)

jim t said:


> Glad you are okay... and many thanks for sharing your mistake. Takes a big man to admit it to a big group of people you don't know, just to try to keep it from happening to somebody else.
> 
> Jim


I'm a very knowledgeable shooter.... I've shot competitive events for over 30yrs in most every discipline there is. Been reloading for longer than that (this was factory ammo, but same same..) I was a range safety officer for years....

I'm very much proud of my knowledge and ability but not so arrogant that I can't admit that this kind of thing can happen even to the most safety conscience of us. You simply cannot be too careful. 

I removed all the tags from my cases as soon as I got home. That "smart idea" of mine to label the gun cases is what led to this near tragedy. Had the cases not been marked I would have physically looked at the barrel markings. Of course I should have anyway...

Just as I did for the previous 40yrs.... 

I fully expected to be derided and called all sorts of names when I posted this, but I decided that if it stopped someone else from having the same experience it was worth the embarassment...


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## kaferhaus (Oct 8, 2009)

> Takes a big man to admit it to a big group of people you don't know


LOL... that doesn't bother me near as much as telling it to the guys on this forum that I DO know...... I've met many members of this forum.... haven't met one yet that I didn't like either.


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## bobinbusan (Feb 16, 2010)

Just be thankful that the MAN UPSTAIRS was watching out over you today and deceided it wasn't your time yet and deceided to let you keep all your body parts and to share this with the rest of us who have done something like this and haven't share this like you did.
THANKS a lot for sharing this with us again and making us all wiser on our FIREARMS PROCEDURES and check off list to prevent this from happening again.:thumbsup: 
THANKS
BiB


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## Joraca (Dec 29, 2007)

Glad you are OK.

When I first started taking my kids deer hunting, my son and I were shooting 30-06s, and my daughter was shooting a 7x57 mauser. Those mauser cartridges wound up in everybodys pockets. No mishaps, but it worried me enough that I switched her to a 30-06. Her Savage 110 with 125 gr Remington bullets turned out to most accurate gun in camp, and she had no trouble shooting it.

In another story, for pistol silhouette, one of my guns was a Contender in 357 magnum with a rifle scope. I held the scope close my face for greater stability when shooting standing. I had two loads, a 125 gr bullet at about 1000 fps, and a 200 gr bullet at about 1300 fps. The loads were easily visually distinguishable. I'd load them and put them loose in open top boxes, which I placed in my shooting tray. As you may have guessed, I fired a heavy load thinking it was a light one, and cut myself pretty badly. The lesson from that was to take the time to put the loaded bullets in closed top boxes and just have one open at any given time. 

Joraca


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## skullworks (Oct 2, 2007)

Glad you're alright!!!!


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## bcbz71 (Dec 22, 2008)

Wow...nothing like a rookie mistake to "re-blue" you. I did something similar last year. Was sighting in my .270 (I thought) but really had my 30/06 rifle (BARs all look the same). Couldn't figure out why I was skipping bullets all over the range. Finally clicked that I was shooting .270 through my 30/06. Talk about a "come to Jesus" moment. 

Just can't be TOO CAREFUL with firearms.


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## bobinbusan (Feb 16, 2010)

Had sort of the same story up in GREEN RIVER Wyoming, a person shooting a 340 WBY{.338} and a 300 WBY{.308} at the range had placed a 340 WBY round in the 300 WBY and when he fired it, he said he thought he rent straight to hell, saw fire is all he could remember and the 300 WBY was ripped, busted with a toasted scope, all of it was junk, he said he was very very lucky also and like you did he shared his story with all us us.
This has happen more then once, so we all need to remember to stay ALERT & FOCUSED @ the RANGE


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