dennishoddy
Moderator
I took a friend out to the Ponca range this afternoon. He wanted to shoot my Savage Smokeless Muzzle loader. He's interested in buying one and wanted to shoot it before he bought one. For the record he is very experienced in shooting Muzzle Loaders.
We discussed the differences in the Savage and other MZ's, and he proceeded to load mine. Some friends drove up during the loading process, and we shot the breeze for a few minutes. He sat down at the bench. (those that have been to our range know there are three legged chairs at the shooting benches)
I cautioned him to take the maximum eye relief on the scope, as the 300 grain round at 2400 fps is equal to a .416 elephant gun. It kicks like a freeking mule.
He fired the shot, and the gun went 90 degrees up, and he fell backwards off the stool. WTF? His shoulder is going to take awhile before the black and blue goes away.
He wasn't hurt otherwise, and the gun didn't appear to be damaged. We walked to the targets, and there was no hole. Amazing since that gun is a tack driver.
Walking back to the bench, the first thing that caught my eye was there was no ramrod under the barrel.
Looking around and not seeing it, I finally realized the distraction with the friends coming up caused him to leave the ram rod in the barrel when he shot.
I don't know what it weighs, but we looked every where, and it was not to be found. That was the reason for the extra brutal recoil.
That had to be at least a 600 grain+ round going off.
So that brings up another lesson. Pay attention to what your doing, and avoid distractions. Two experienced shooters missed this one little thing that could have ended up much worse.
We discussed the differences in the Savage and other MZ's, and he proceeded to load mine. Some friends drove up during the loading process, and we shot the breeze for a few minutes. He sat down at the bench. (those that have been to our range know there are three legged chairs at the shooting benches)
I cautioned him to take the maximum eye relief on the scope, as the 300 grain round at 2400 fps is equal to a .416 elephant gun. It kicks like a freeking mule.
He fired the shot, and the gun went 90 degrees up, and he fell backwards off the stool. WTF? His shoulder is going to take awhile before the black and blue goes away.
He wasn't hurt otherwise, and the gun didn't appear to be damaged. We walked to the targets, and there was no hole. Amazing since that gun is a tack driver.
Walking back to the bench, the first thing that caught my eye was there was no ramrod under the barrel.
Looking around and not seeing it, I finally realized the distraction with the friends coming up caused him to leave the ram rod in the barrel when he shot.
I don't know what it weighs, but we looked every where, and it was not to be found. That was the reason for the extra brutal recoil.
That had to be at least a 600 grain+ round going off.
So that brings up another lesson. Pay attention to what your doing, and avoid distractions. Two experienced shooters missed this one little thing that could have ended up much worse.
