I WOULD THINK THAT MANY OF THE FAILURES COULD BE BLAMED ON 130+YEAR OLD PARTS AND FATIGUE.  ALSO ABUSE BY PREVIOUS OWNERS    ART

I have this 149 year old rifle that has been through 3 wars and is still going strong - wait, it's a 71 Mauser. Guess I should hang it up next to the 109 year old pistol, a Colt 1911.

ledball wrote on May 5^th, 2020 at 9:13am:


One day when I was at Etna Green, Chuck Blender approached me with his locked up Cody Ballard. Told me he had just double charged it and wanted to know what I would do with it. At that time I honestly didn't know. Don't remember seeing any cracks or damage to it, just locked up tight. 

At Cody one year, Garbe changed the rules in middle of the match. No more loading at the bench, could use only pre-loaded cases. So I go to bed that night and just as my head hits the pillow I realize I had not charged any cases with powder. Got dressed, headed to the loading room at the range where all my stuff was. Rob Labbs was sleeping in the room. Rob and I loaded a hundred cases with powder. Of course we got to BSing about this and that as we went. 

Next day shooting a BR match had a bullet go over the target and a stuck case in my Cody Ballard 38-55. Somehow got an over charge in a case. That was the end of my shooting with that rifle that day. 

Sue Miller for the sake of safety decided to use pre-loaded cases in her 32-40. Went out and cracked the receiver with a double charge. 

In my opinion, when breech seating in a match it is safer to single charge cases at the bench as you shoot. The home and loading room is full of distractions. When a match is run correctly there should be nothing to distract a shooter when loading.  Terry Savage blew up his wife's hammerless Ballard after someone interrupted him with a question.

I don't remember reading that, Jeff.

I think it highly unlikely that anyone goes shooting with the intention of blowing up their rifle while sitting behind it. My guess would be that the great majority of blowups are a result of either re loading ignorance, mechanical failure due to age,  neglect, or just bad luck.
To my way of thinking loading a black powder cartridge with smokeless powder would be like fitting a supercharger to a T Model Ford to improve the performance, no doubt it would, but hardly in the spirit of collecting T Model Fords, and it might also damage the cars motor as well, just like using smokeless powder has done to some old rifles. Like I said before, shame about  the rifles, destroyed forever.
Mike.

Any BP era gun can be sanely loaded with smokeless forever and not damage it. If you don't know how, or don't believe it, then stick to BP.

Sanely, that's important. Over the last 60 or so years I have re loaded all my ammunition for my 218 Bee, 22-250, .222, and my 243 Win, I have never had a problem, I made sure the loading information I got for each cartridge was from a reliable source, or published information. Someone purchasing a firearm which may be well over 140 years old and not having it checked by a competent gunsmith is possibly taking a risk in my opinion. Even then a defect in the casting may not be apparent, and could worsen over time. I certainly understand the principal of reduced loads but some people may not, hence the blowups. I would be interested in any details of blowups with BP and what was the cause if anybody knows. I have seen one M/L blow up picture that showed the barrel split at the breech and the lock blown out, I believe it was suggested that a second ball had been loaded on top of the first.
Keep safe.
Mike.

Mick B wrote on May 6^th, 2020 at 10:19am:

2 balls on a standard ML BP charge should not be a problem unless there is air space between them.   

Double charges of powder were what I was told was the standard proof test to check antique ML to see if they were safe to shoot in the late 60s.   That was how I proofed my shotguns. 

I believe it was in Muzzle Blasts that a guy shooting an older rifle had the breech block blow out.  This was in the late 19th or early 20th century before X-rays.  It entered his skull through his eye socket. I do not recall the circumstances, but many years later that breech block was discovered as the cause of his headaches. 

There was an incident at Tacoma where a guy shooting squib loads rather than pulling the bullets shot with a bullet about 12 inches from the chamber.  It split the barrel of his Sharps and bloodied his hand.  I believe he lost the end of one finger.  The cases were not completely dry when he loaded them.