Shotgun Explodes

[dramey82]

Shotgun Explodes, opinions on the failure?

[Corsten]

Wonder what he was fiddling with on it right before he shot it.

[Ruger]

Wow, I'd say that's kind or rare on a bolt gun. But maybe his resetting/fiddling with the bolt might have had something to do with it. Or maybe a really hot load. The only one I've ever seen blow up was do to mag load going into an older gun that wasn't rated for it and it was a semi not a bolt.

[Puc]

Stop right at 11 seconds in and you will see the bolt itself flying back and hitting him in the face. It looks like it was not an explosion of the breach so to speak, more of a failure for the bolt to be held properly when brought to battery. It almost looks like when he fiddled with the bolt to get it to fire he left it in its upwards most position,, maybe all the up in its locked position with just not quite enough edge in the lock up to hold the bolt closed when fired. DEFINITELY an ugly outcome..

[MichiganShootist]

As a younger man I had several bolt shotguns (because they were cheap) Many like the one shown in the video were sold by Sears, Western Auto, hardware stores etc. (you get the picture). The metal used in many of these guns was substandard. I can remember broken extractors, broken firing pins, and even one broken locking lug... on a 16 gauge that only had 2 lugs in the first place

My bet is that the gun had one or more damaged locking lugs. He was messing with the bolt trying to make sure it was locked. The bolt wasn't locked fully in place and it fired the bolt backwards into his face.

An interesting question... Why would you be shooting a ancient bolt shotgun on a video at an indoor range in the first place???????

Mark

[TheWabbit]

Stop right at 11 seconds in and you will see the bolt itself flying back and hitting him in the face. It looks like it was not an explosion of the breach so to speak, more of a failure for the bolt to be held properly when brought to battery. It almost looks like when he fiddled with the bolt to get it to fire he left it in its upwards most position,, maybe all the up in its locked position with just not quite enough edge in the lock up to hold the bolt closed when fired. DEFINITELY an ugly outcome..

I played it back in 1/4 speed and it looks like may have been a touch high. no fire escaping from the barrel only a bit of black smoke but the bolt flying back and the wood and metal separating I have to say either the bolt was worn out or damaged or somehow he was able to minimize bolt lockup to a dangerous level ( your idea ). Another thing I thought was a partial obstruction, it's hard to tell. I really would've like to seen the other side of the shotgun during this.

[Flash-hider]

That might be a Sears & Roebuck. Google Sears & Roebuck shotgun recall and you'll find a multitude of information and opinions. the reason I think this is a Sears is it looks like the style on shotgun made for them by...I can't remember at this time.

Sears, JC Higgins bolt action shotguns were made by Hi Standard

[Puc]

I played it back in 1/4 speed and it looks like may have been a touch high. no fire escaping from the barrel only a bit of black smoke but the bolt flying back and the wood and metal separating I have to say either the bolt was worn out or damaged or somehow he was able to minimize bolt lockup to a dangerous level ( your idea ). Another thing I thought was a partial obstruction, it's hard to tell. I really would've like to seen the other side of the shotgun during this.

Indeed Wabbit.. It looked to me like when he was messing with the bolt to get it to fire, his last yank on the bolt was in an upward motion,, almost like he wanted to see if it would fire on the edge of lock up or something. That move was a little foreign to me,, it seems that adding downward pressure on the bolt would have been the common sense move. I have done some crazy gun testing things in my past too,, not to crazy though. I tend to be one of those scaredy cat types though who does the old prop up the gun, tie a string to the trigger and hide behind a tree if I am suspicious at all. That feller is gonna have some pretty nasty scars..

[Puc]

Another point to ponder,, probably saving this fellows right eye.. If you watch carefully he pulls the trigger before he draws a bead resulting in the bolt damage being to the side of his face instead of taking out an eye - or worse. Yeah,, that was nasty..

[Roundballer]

Wonder what he was fiddling with on it right before he shot it.

That is where the safety "slide" is on that model.

Wow, I'd say that's kind or rare on a bolt gun. But maybe his resetting/fiddling with the bolt might have had something to do with it. Or maybe a really hot load. The only one I've ever seen blow up was do to mag load going into an older gun that wasn't rated for it and it was a semi not a bolt.

I would go with hot load or wrong shell. the 12's were only 2 3/4.

That might be a Sears & Roebuck. Google Sears & Roebuck shotgun recall and you'll find a multitude of information and opinions. the reason I think this is a Sears is it looks like the style on shotgun made for them by...I can't remember at this time.

Sears, JC Higgins bolt action shotguns were made by Hi Standard

It is, I have one, they were recalled. The recall was specifically about a screw that could break, and when you operated the bolt, you could pull the bolt straight back into your face.

You can see in this one, the whole breach/barrel assembly was blown off the stock.