Saturday, February 09, 2008

Misadventures with a New Gun

I guess after today I only have about six of my nine lives left. My crazy stunts when I was a teenager took a couple and then today a new gun took at least one.

After doing lots of research on just the right coyote gun, I decided to get a Savage 24F rifle over/shotgun under in a .223/12 gauge. So I ordered it and very enthusiastically picked it up yesterday. My plan was to go out to the Ben Avery Shooting Range north of Phoenix this morning with my daughter to sight it in and practice with it.






Things were going well with my daughter practicing with a couple of .357 revolvers and me shooting my .17 HMR.






Then I decided to do a pattern test on my shotgun. So with a coyote target set at 15 yards my plan was to shot once from a bench rest.

All was well till I pulled the trigger. The gun fired with a perfect pattern and at the same time the gun broke apart in my hands. After I checked to make sure that I was not bleeding and that all the kids in the area had their hearing protection on, I expressed my displeasure with a string of four letter words. Still holding on to both parts of the gun I had my daughter go get a couple of range masters to help me out.




After looking things over and using a cleaning rod to get the stuck shell casing out of the barrel, they agreed that the gun was defective.
Upon closer inspection at home, after I changed my underwear, I discovered that the hinge on the back of the barrel had been glued on. The concussion of the shell going off had caused the hinge to split between the barrel and the stock. I am probably lucky that the shell casing stuck in the barrel or it might have hit me in the face.




Looking back I am extremely lucky that I did not get hurt and that no at the range did either.








I ask God every day to watch over and protect me and today He saved me again!