ORIGINAL: sabinajiles
ORIGINAL: Triple Se7en
I'd rather keep all my fingers & barrel-holding hand - even if the muzzle is pointed away from my torso/face while loading hastily. Thousands of MLers have fingers missing
Thousands??? Would you care to share your source for this tidbit of information?
I have poured blackpowder down a barrel immediately, for reloading sfter a shot, for more than 30 years and have never had a flash. I don't know anyone else that has had one either. I imagine I have a better chance that a tree would fall on me, during hunting, than have a flash during reloading.
Same here...I shoot 40 shot range sessions on Saturday mornings, taking 40 premeasured charges with me in 35mm film canisters, and run through them just about as fast as I can load and shoot.
After setting up coke cans, steel hangers, paper targets or whatever I'm using that day I begin shooting, and after every shot I set the rifle back down so it's leaning against the padded bench with the muzzle leaning back away from me.
I pour the next charge while smoke is still curling up out of the muzzle, and the powder charge dropping into the breech forces the remaining smoke out of the touchhole.
If any ignition was going to occur, it would happen right then.....long before I got around to positioning a patch and ball on the muzzle, then short started them into the muzzle, then seated them down on the powder charge, etc.
Been doing that for about 4000-5000 shots now and it's never happened...and I have to say, I've never meant anyone who's had it happen, I've never had anyone tell me they personally knew somebody who's had it happen, I've never seen any post anywhere in years of ML forums about anyone personally knowing anyone who has had it happen.
And if a powder charge did somehow ignite under those circumstanmces, it would just 'foosh' up out of the barrel and singe a finger tip or something but wouldn't blow fingers off...it would just be a flash of flame.