hunting firearm functional failures in the field
02-19-2018, 06:01 AM
#1
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hunting firearm functional failures in the field
hunting firearm functional failures in the field
I don,t know how many of you gentlemen have made dozens of out of state hunting trips, but I learned decades ago that if your going to be several thousand miles from home it makes a great deal of sense to bring a secondary hunting rifle.
(the last thing you want too do is wait all year for a hunt and pay thousands of dollars and once in the field find your prize rifle, or ammo, won,t function)
for several decades I took a couple weeks a year and went mule deer and elk hunting , I tried many years back in the late 1960s-1990's, and occasionally even into the early 2000s too find two states with similar consecutive but not over-lapping dates, generally Id select two from Colorado/Wyoming/Idaho and ideally Id want at least one of the two with over the counter licences (this got more difficult as the regulations changed obviously.
I point this out only to explain Id drive out and spend up to 3 weeks every year in the process(driving and hunting)
I belonged to a hunting club, and Id generally drive out from Florida to Colorado or Wyoming,with one or two other guys sharing the gas,cost, where Id pick up one or more other guys that would fly into local airports, who would also pay part of the gas cost to have the truck transport the gear, and pick them up on the hunting trip.
the result was over several decades I got to hunt a good deal and I also saw that it was very common for guys to have problems, with the rifles they brought.
fogged scopes, loose scope mounts,loose screws,on actions or triggers damaged magazines were more common than you might imagine, lost ammo, or defective re-loads (hang fires at below zero temps) were not unheard of, but stuff like loose screws that could be prevented with proper cleaning,and a drop of loc-tite on bolt/screw threads, or firing pins locking up in below freezing temps due to improper maintenance and cleaning procedures were also not rare.
more than a few hunts were saved because I generally brought a back-up rifle, a converted 1917 enfield sporter 30/06, and a remington pump 30/06 , on early hunts and a marlin 45/70 and a ruger bolt action 35 whelen that made the trip dozens of times, got a lot more actual hunting time than you might think that a secondary back-up emergency rifle would ever see.
(most of the back-up rifles had peep/receiver sights)
IT was rare for a whole hunt that would last at least 7 -10 days to not have, at least one guy of the 3-6 guys have a scope or rifle damaged when some guy dropped it or slipped and fell, carrying one, or not have a loose screw, broken scope mount,trigger get out of adjustment, or mis-placed ammo.
If you've had a good deal of hunting experience and hunted with lots of other guys you've un-doubt-ably seen similar issue's
OK what have you gentlemen had fail in the field?
I don,t know how many of you gentlemen have made dozens of out of state hunting trips, but I learned decades ago that if your going to be several thousand miles from home it makes a great deal of sense to bring a secondary hunting rifle.
(the last thing you want too do is wait all year for a hunt and pay thousands of dollars and once in the field find your prize rifle, or ammo, won,t function)
for several decades I took a couple weeks a year and went mule deer and elk hunting , I tried many years back in the late 1960s-1990's, and occasionally even into the early 2000s too find two states with similar consecutive but not over-lapping dates, generally Id select two from Colorado/Wyoming/Idaho and ideally Id want at least one of the two with over the counter licences (this got more difficult as the regulations changed obviously.
I point this out only to explain Id drive out and spend up to 3 weeks every year in the process(driving and hunting)
I belonged to a hunting club, and Id generally drive out from Florida to Colorado or Wyoming,with one or two other guys sharing the gas,cost, where Id pick up one or more other guys that would fly into local airports, who would also pay part of the gas cost to have the truck transport the gear, and pick them up on the hunting trip.
the result was over several decades I got to hunt a good deal and I also saw that it was very common for guys to have problems, with the rifles they brought.
fogged scopes, loose scope mounts,loose screws,on actions or triggers damaged magazines were more common than you might imagine, lost ammo, or defective re-loads (hang fires at below zero temps) were not unheard of, but stuff like loose screws that could be prevented with proper cleaning,and a drop of loc-tite on bolt/screw threads, or firing pins locking up in below freezing temps due to improper maintenance and cleaning procedures were also not rare.
more than a few hunts were saved because I generally brought a back-up rifle, a converted 1917 enfield sporter 30/06, and a remington pump 30/06 , on early hunts and a marlin 45/70 and a ruger bolt action 35 whelen that made the trip dozens of times, got a lot more actual hunting time than you might think that a secondary back-up emergency rifle would ever see.
(most of the back-up rifles had peep/receiver sights)
IT was rare for a whole hunt that would last at least 7 -10 days to not have, at least one guy of the 3-6 guys have a scope or rifle damaged when some guy dropped it or slipped and fell, carrying one, or not have a loose screw, broken scope mount,trigger get out of adjustment, or mis-placed ammo.
If you've had a good deal of hunting experience and hunted with lots of other guys you've un-doubt-ably seen similar issue's
OK what have you gentlemen had fail in the field?
Last edited by hardcastonly; 02-19-2018 at 03:02 PM.
02-19-2018, 01:34 PM
#2
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Join Date: Dec 2017
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I don,t know about the rest of you gentlemen but having a small high quality gunsmith tool kit and cleaning kit ,in the truck, has frequently been helpful
Last edited by hardcastonly; 02-20-2018 at 12:20 PM.
02-20-2018, 07:50 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: West Central Illinois
Posts: 1,099
Not an overly experienced person on this. But, what little I've learned is to keep it simple. You can easily bring way more than needed. Proper preparation including checking and rechecking your weapon(s) is key. Adequate range time. No way I am carrying a gunsmith tool kit. Cleaning rod for the firearms caliber maybe. But, how many shots are you gonna take? Prairie dog shooting may be a bit different.
I like the idea of a backup firearm or backup release. If you have a hunting partner, you likely have a built-in backup firearm.
I like the idea of a backup firearm or backup release. If you have a hunting partner, you likely have a built-in backup firearm.
02-20-2018, 09:43 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Waipahu HI USA
Posts: 2,915
Fail-me: 8 years ago, I flew over to Molokai for an Axis deer hunt. I practiced shooting off sticks & kneeling with my .270. I was comfortable out to 300yds with it. We got to a place to check the sight-in and zero. The top vertical bar of my scope reticle was bent over left, making a lopsided 4.
I ended up using a borrowed rifle (a nice A-bolt in 300wsm) and took a decent buck and a doe. It was a Brunton scope I won at a banquet dinner.
Fail-another guy: A while ago, I was on a goose set-up in Sask., Can. One guy had his brand new semi-auto go down after 2 shots. He had to walk back to get a back-up gun (870). And he bitched a while about having to shoot a "lowly" pump. Later he pulled a piece of hay/grass stem out of the action of his new gun.
I ended up using a borrowed rifle (a nice A-bolt in 300wsm) and took a decent buck and a doe. It was a Brunton scope I won at a banquet dinner.
Fail-another guy: A while ago, I was on a goose set-up in Sask., Can. One guy had his brand new semi-auto go down after 2 shots. He had to walk back to get a back-up gun (870). And he bitched a while about having to shoot a "lowly" pump. Later he pulled a piece of hay/grass stem out of the action of his new gun.
Last edited by JoeA; 02-20-2018 at 09:46 AM.
02-20-2018, 12:32 PM
#6
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: texas
Posts: 1,201
high quality scopes, (Leopold, Nikon, Zeiss, Steiner ) proper install procedures and the better quality scope mounts goes a long way toward reducing problems
you don,t need to buy the most expensive mounts or rings but a decent quality mount is critical.
IVE never yet had a properly installed weaver style base and rings fail, loc-tite on clean de-greased, and properly tightened, screw threads helps
https://shop.brownells.com/optics/ri...SABEgJTs_D_BwE
https://shop.brownells.com/optics-mo...SABEgJTs_D_BwE
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...prod41830.aspx
torx head screws tend to be better strength and quality,
Ive seen lots of cheap mounts fail
you don,t need to buy the most expensive mounts or rings but a decent quality mount is critical.
IVE never yet had a properly installed weaver style base and rings fail, loc-tite on clean de-greased, and properly tightened, screw threads helps
https://shop.brownells.com/optics/ri...SABEgJTs_D_BwE
https://shop.brownells.com/optics-mo...SABEgJTs_D_BwE
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...prod41830.aspx
torx head screws tend to be better strength and quality,
Ive seen lots of cheap mounts fail
Last edited by hardcastonly; 02-20-2018 at 12:59 PM.
02-20-2018, 12:58 PM
#7
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Join Date: Dec 2017
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https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...prod41830.aspx
torx head screws tend to be better strength and quality,
torx head screws tend to be better strength and quality,
02-20-2018, 02:34 PM
#8
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: SW Montana
Posts: 550
The 20 or so years that I had horses I would use them to pack one more camps into the back country to hunt elk, moose, and sheep. All of those camps were in grizzly country and most of the time I would carry a Ruger .44 magnum on my hip.
Late in some seasons the temperature would fall below zero. One time I drew my pistol and the cylinder had frozen tight and wouldn't cock. Luckily it wasn't an emergency situation.
I have done 6 hunts in Africa and multiple hunts in other foreign countries and in other states. Only on one African hunt did I take 2 rifles.
On South African hunt I only took my .300 Weatherby and I took TTSX loads for the larger animals, and some FMJ loads for the small animals that I wanted to hunt. One of those small animals that I wanted was a Caracal so we left the guts of one of my larger animals in a field about 150 yards below a blind on the hill overlooking the field.
When a Caracal came in to the bait I took the shot and my rifle just went CLICK. The primer did not ignite the powder but it forced the bullet into the barrel. No one in camp had a solid cleaning rod, but the next day I found a section of steel welding rod in the lodge shop. I taped the sides of the rod and was able to push the bullet out.
I now carry an aluminum cleaning rod in my hard gun case, and a 9" piece of 1/4" brass rod in my soft gun case. All of the other 19 FMJ cartridges in that box fired perfectly.
Two years ago I was in Mozambique hunting Sable. There was another hunter in camp on a Leopard hunt. He had opted to use one of the PH's rifles. A couple of days into his hunt we discovered that the scope mounts on that rifle were loose. No one in camp had a Torx driver bit that fit. Luckily the PH had another rifle.
I now carry a Leupold multi tool in my pack that has Torx and allen bits.
Late in some seasons the temperature would fall below zero. One time I drew my pistol and the cylinder had frozen tight and wouldn't cock. Luckily it wasn't an emergency situation.
I have done 6 hunts in Africa and multiple hunts in other foreign countries and in other states. Only on one African hunt did I take 2 rifles.
On South African hunt I only took my .300 Weatherby and I took TTSX loads for the larger animals, and some FMJ loads for the small animals that I wanted to hunt. One of those small animals that I wanted was a Caracal so we left the guts of one of my larger animals in a field about 150 yards below a blind on the hill overlooking the field.
When a Caracal came in to the bait I took the shot and my rifle just went CLICK. The primer did not ignite the powder but it forced the bullet into the barrel. No one in camp had a solid cleaning rod, but the next day I found a section of steel welding rod in the lodge shop. I taped the sides of the rod and was able to push the bullet out.
I now carry an aluminum cleaning rod in my hard gun case, and a 9" piece of 1/4" brass rod in my soft gun case. All of the other 19 FMJ cartridges in that box fired perfectly.
Two years ago I was in Mozambique hunting Sable. There was another hunter in camp on a Leopard hunt. He had opted to use one of the PH's rifles. A couple of days into his hunt we discovered that the scope mounts on that rifle were loose. No one in camp had a Torx driver bit that fit. Luckily the PH had another rifle.
I now carry a Leupold multi tool in my pack that has Torx and allen bits.
