A Hard Lesson Learned.....

ronecol

ronecol

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Orillia, Ontario
It must be 15 years ago now but haunts me to this day. It was just breaking daylight on a cool, damp, and misty morning on the first day of the white tail hunt. I put the magazine in my 740 and worked the action gingerly so as not to make too much noise. About a half hour later as I walked through the hardwoods slowly and quietly a few steps at a time I suddenly spotted a nice buck about 100 yards away walking down off the side of a knoll and heading pretty much right in my direction. I stopped in my tracks and at the first opportunity went to one knee, raised my rifle and removed the safety. He came closer and closer stopping periodically to graze or eat an oak nut. Finally he stopped no more than 40 yards away with his nose to the ground and quartering to me. I took careful aim at his vitals and squeezed the trigger. Nothing. No bang, no click, nothing. What the hey? Had I forgot to chamber a round? I lowered the rifle and worked the action as quietly as possible which was anything but quiet. His head went straight in the air. Up came a cartridge and jammed in the breach behind the one that was already in the chamber. I had a full blown jam. The last I saw of that white tail was his white tail bounding back up that knoll. When I had gingerly racked the first cartridge earlier in my attempt to be quiet the bolt had not closed. Big lesson learned.

Ron
 
I can see how that could happen indeed. I say that because I own a Voere 2185 semi auto in 30-06.
To fully chamber the first round, it sounds like an M2 Browning .50 calibre HMG, when the bolt slams shut at o`dark thirty in the A.M.
Suddenly all of the big game in Northern Alberta can hear me and my rifle in the woods, and I have not even fired a shot yet!
For this reason alone it is rarely used for deer hunting at first light.
 
Ouch man, that sucks. It could have been a lot worse though, while you had the action open to see if you chambered a round it "could" have went off due to a hang fire. Plenty of fish in the sea, right?
 
unfortunetly. semi's are designed to snap shut, so you have to pull them back and let them go to chamber a round properly.
just like most lever's wont work right if you try and cycle them slowly, they jam up, end of shell misses the chamber etc.
so lesson be learned, you want a super quiet gun, use a good bolt. or a breakopen without an ejector.
 
Ronecol,
At least the rifle worked as designed. Believe me, you don't want to be holding one when it does go bang and isn't fully closed. Been there, done that. Lived too.
On a philosophical note, if some or most of the bucks didn't escape then the ones you get wouldn't mean much. Without failure, there can be no sucess.
 
Aries- said:
unfortunetly. semi's are designed to snap shut, so you have to pull them back and let them go to chamber a round properly.
just like most lever's wont work right if you try and cycle them slowly, they jam up, end of shell misses the chamber etc.
so lesson be learned, you want a super quiet gun, use a good bolt. or a breakopen without an ejector.
Click to expand...

That was my hard lesson learned. I sort of knew that but I knew it a lot better after that. :)

And yes it was a good thing it didn't fire.

I know the incident was entirely my fault but I didn't have much fondness for that rifle afterwards and subsequesntly sold it. I seriously considered the 7600but ended up acquiring a M70 Compact Classic 7mm.08 which has served me well.

Ron
 
Here's my first time out deer hunting hard luck story. I was around 15. My Dad lends me his old Savage 30-30 bolt action rifle. The drop me off in an opening and drive around to the back side of the bush to push through it. Right away I hear crashing through the bush. How could they be through the bush so quickly? Next thing I see 4 or 5 deer walking out of the bush. I go to close the bolt on a cartridge and something isn't right. The deer walk closer and closer. A clear silouette of them, easy to shoot at about 50 yards. I can't close the bolt fully. Nor can I open it. I manage to hammer the bolt handle closed, but I'm afraid to pull the trigger. Something must be wrong with the ammo. Now I can't eject the shell either. Deer slowly saunter off in the distance. The shells were some #### reloads my dad's friend had given him. NFG. No idea what was wrong with them, but the guy shouldn't be reloading. Lesson learned was buy your own rifle and shells. Don't rely on anything someone else give you to use. Too much unknown.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
. The shells were some s**t reloads my dad's friend had given him. NFG. No idea what was wrong with them, but the guy shouldn't be reloading. Lesson learned was buy your own rifle and shells. Don't rely on anything someone else give you to use. Too much unknown.
Click to expand...

One or a combination of three things:
Maybe rifle chamber too tight for sloppy reload (resized casing, still too big)

Neck sized only brass, especially if from a different fired case from another different rifle. Creating a stuck casing condition not unlike the first.

Or and most likely, a previously fired and resized casing, (maybe more than once)that has not been trimmed to proper minimum length, the casing mouth is being jammed against the chamber throat.

Edit: A plausible, but unlikely cause is a dirty/corroded chamber, but with the relatively strong camming action of a bolt action, and giving the benefit of doubt that most hunters at least give basic care to thier firearms, I would rule this an highly rare and outside chance. (most unlikely)
 
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I had a simular thing happen to me last year only with more pleasing results. Early November saw me in my buddies truck heading out to check the back fields at first light when a nice sized buck(bigger then my first) was spoted in another field acting for all its worth like a mule deer(no tag for them) by the time we realized it was a flag tail it was on the other side of the road and moving pretty good. So we bail out and i worked the bolt thinking i had put the mag in already. I noticed pretty quick when a round didn't chamber and took a look i had left my mag in the truck. Thankfully i ahd the orginaly 3 rounder it came with in my pocket loaded by the time i got a round chambered my buddy had shot at and missed the deer so how i tagged it at 300 yards(lasered) we both heard the impact i still not sure who was more supprised me my buddy or the deer. He was subject to some ground shrinkage but was still a very impressive buck for my second and due to work i only had 2 other days to hunt that season
 
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