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"Snap Cap" blows hole through picnic table seat

6K views 37 replies 31 participants last post by  Grayson Mayne 
#1 ·
I shot at one of the clubs I belong to in upstate NY today. I have not shot at this club in several years and I probably will not shoot there again.

One of the club members shot two rounds of trap and started to put his stuff away. There were several other members standing around the picnic table when we heard the report and felt the rubble hitting our shins. The guy put a "snap cap"
in his gun and pulled the trigger. The end of the barrel wasresting on the picnic table seat when it discharged. There was a hole right through the 2"X 6" seat and the rubble underneath was spread.

The club member reached in his pocket and pulled out the real snap cap and said "that was a live round, here is the snap cap". That was it. No I'm sorry. That was a stupid thing to do. Nothing.

Needless to say, I put my stuff in the Jeep and headed for home.

Please, please, please............ never take anything for granted. If you are going to put a snap cap in the chamber, make sure it is a snap cap before pulling the trigger.

I fell blessed that no one got hurt....

Dr. Honk
 
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#3 ·
Okay, it is dumb, I know. But I'm sure the man didn't do it on purpose.

That being said, I myself am not a believer in snap caps just for that sole reason.

You can see what happens when someone isn't paying attention........And we have all had those "not paying attention" moments, just not maybe with guns or being life or death.

Be careful out there!

Hauxfan!
 
#7 ·
I heard of a fellow that was checking out a gun that was for sale. He asked if it was alright to handle the gun from the owner and got permission. He opened the gun to see that it was unloaded and safe. Good show! He then asked the owner if he minded if he used a snap cap and tested the trigger and got an OK. He placed his snap cap in the gun, closed it and pointed the muzzle in the air but over a number of spectators and torched off a round over the heads of the spectators. Yup, anything that even resembles a live round just plain should not be used as a snap cap and none should be carried around in the same pocket with live rounds. The worst of all is the fellow that uses an empty hull for a snap cap.

My advice, just to balance Sir Morgan's point, is that the use of snap caps is totally unnecessary since nearly every gun can be broken down and hammer springs relaxed when there is zero chance for a brain goof. I don't like any snap cap that has the feel or resemblance to a live round. Then, pulling the trigger at a totally inappropriate time or place should be reason to send a shooter home for the day....Bob Dodd
 
#8 ·
This same thing happened last year where my son shoots. The sad thing about it is the guy is a scorer (in his 60s). My son is/was small for a twelve yr. old last year, he shoots a bt micro. The guy scoring said something to my son about not being safe on the line, the way he had to snap the bt open, it was kind of stiff at that time. Never once did anyone else ever say anything to him about it. The barrel is/was always pointed down range, and he never had a misfiring problem. We left after a Saturday practice session a week or two later maybe more than that, seems the score keeper shot a round, when done, he was walking back to the club house, and dropped a "snap cap" in his gun and pulled the trigger. The gun went off, and a fellow walking near him actually had a couple of pellets penetrate his leg. I thought it was kind of ironic that this guy was "teaching" my son about trapshooting safety. At least the guy was sincerely apologetic in this case Fortunately no one was seriously injured, and no property was damaged. The guy who got hit will never shoot with the score keeper again, guaranteed. The score keeper uses spent shells for a snap cap. My son has a wooly snap cap for his gun that doesn't get put into the gun until we are back at the truck.
 
#14 ·
24str8
I really don't know what he was thinking closing up his gun while still walking near the 24-27 yrd. line towards the club house from what I was told. I know it's not a made up story, as I work with the guy's wife that got hit with the shot, plus I talked to him about it the following weekend. I imagine he was going to put his gun in the rack, until he either left, or got done score keeping for the day. He's a nice guy, but that's no excuse for what happened, period. This guy has been around trapshooting a very long time, just goes to show that no matter how long you've been doing it, you can still make rookie mistakes. The shot actually bounced off the concrete around the 24-27 yd. line and hit the guy with the ricochet. Believe me, I made a mistake once last year myself, felt like an idiot after my gun went off right down along side the traphouse. Had my finger on/in the trigger guard when closing the gun (BT), and nudged the trigger while closing it, bang, makes you feel about two inches tall. Just missed the wiring harness for the voice calls. I hope that was my one and only mistake I ever make at the trap range.
 
#16 ·
OK, this one I have to comment on. It's not the snap cap, it's careless gun handling. Who in the hell ever points a gun at a table and pulls the trigger? Who points a gun at anything he doesn't intend to shoot and then pulls the trigger? I'll tell you who, a slob. And that slob is going to hurt someone some day for sure. I get the hebi-jeebies just watching guys use toe rests. Familiarity breeds contempt. We shoot thousands of rounds a year. If we permit ourselves to get sloppy and lazy with regard to gun safety we will have an accident, no two ways about it. If one uses snap caps but never pulls the trigger unless the barrel is pointed down range then one will never have a problem. Do it in the back of your car, at a picnic bench, in a building and sooner or later you will have a discharge. Period.
 
#18 ·
Ok, the real problem is todays modern guns, if we would all shoot hammer guns this would never happen does not matter if its a sidehammer, center hammer or under hammer. All guns without external hammers should be illegal in trap, skeet or sporting clays. They should all be melted for scrap or converted. We need to all stick together and pass this legislation so this does not happen again. Snap caps No ! Hammer Guns yes !
 
#19 ·
I was at a State shoot a few years ago and there was this older guy on my squad that had one of those high end guns that for some reason couldn't withstand having the hammer springs compressed. So he would come off the line drop a snap cap in and dry fire the gun. Thats okay except the muzzle of the gun was usually pointed up and once I was looking down a tube when I heard that click. His reply to my verbal exclaimation was 'don't worry it's not loaded'.

So my take on snap caps is that they are great solutions for making problems. If your high buck shotgun is so fragile that the hammer springs cannot remain compressed for a few hours then perhaps it isn't as good as it needs to be.
 
#21 ·
At our gun club it is signage everywhere, KEEP IT OPEN-KEEP IT SAFE. Our club and members are very good about the rule here. And we remind poeple all the time. You do not have to be a jerk about it, we're not, we just remind all the time. A gun is only as dangerous as the operator's malice. I personally won't even close my guns to case them at the club at the end of the day. I shoot 870's, and bt 99, the bt comes in half real easy. no excuses.
 
#24 ·
I think that if all people took two more minutes to practice safety by just raising that muzzle to a safe location and then snaping it we would have no problems. I think that most people that shoot have enough knowledge to know that it is stupid, however I think it is laziness that gets them. It is soooo much easier to leave the gun on the table or straight away and not turn around or point it up. What people fail to realize is in our sport on little mistake could and would be deadly. I know for a fact that the high school leagues here is a one mistake and they WILL shut down the whole deal. Take the time to be safe and curtieous and we won't have to worry.

Bottom line three words USE YOUR HEAD!!!!!!!
 
#26 ·
Nipper,

The gun looked like an Ithaca single barrel break open gun. The guy put the business end of the gun on the seat, put in the "snap cap", closed the gun and pulled the trigger while it was vertical to the bench.
That's how it can happen.

The purpose of this thread was to be aware that stupid things can happen and you should always be aware of your fellow shooter.

Dr. Honk
 
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