Everything went according to plan, and I got a nice tom at 25 yards last weekend, when I decided to end it and squeeze the trigger. "Pow." That's how quickly an unexpected hunting accident can occur. This is a violent and unpredictable game that we play. If anyone had been positioned to the side of the muzzle, they could've easily been killed. I caught a little schrapnel on the forehead, that missed my eye by about 1". Just a little cut, so I was lucky. This was a M.A.D. Maxx Hevi-Shot choke that was relatively new, and as far as I know, was clear at the time of the shot. The load was just a plain old Winchester #5 3.5". I've run at least 50-100 rounds through that choke, with no issues.
No obstruction that I was aware of. I routinely grab the choke and give it a twist to verify that it's tight in the barrel, and I know that I checked it earlier that morning. I'd like to think I'd have noticed, at that time, any mud or debris that could have been plugging the choke. Possibly the previous shot left a wad inside the barrel? I did not clean the barrel between the last two shots. The choke was a few years old, and I know that it had a few pits of rust on it. Maybe one of those pits was deep enough to tap into a weak spot in the metal, and affect the structural integrity of the unit? I have no idea... I did some digging online, and found this picture of a blown barrel on a brand new Super X3 with a Briley choke. I thought mine looked bad! Wow! Since this happened, I've made it a point to mention it to a lot of my hunting buds, and I was surprised to learn how many other guys have had near-misses (as well as significant injuries) with barrel blowouts. Duly noted. With this little episode in the rear-view mirror, I'm going to be a whole lot more cognizant of a lot of things. Guns have always scared the hell out of me, and I've always been a bit of a nut about safety - but now I'm going to probably take my caution levels to new heights.
No. I went home with a bruised ego and a bloomed barrel. After the shot, he just scrambled a few feet and stood there, giving me the stink-eye. I could've whaled him with a follow-up, but once I heard the "pop," and saw all the metal sticking out, I just lowered the gun and told him how lucky he was. I should've just thrown the gun at him. He was pretty close.
That would freak me out. Luckily nothing horrible happened. Seems like if there was debris in the barrel or choke, something worse would have happened.
I have split a barrel due to obstruction. People on this site and this thread really should learn the difference between "your" and "you're" when you say "glad your ok" that makes no sense you should be saying "glad you're ok" your = possessive.....ownership you're = contraction........you are example glad you're okay, did you get your turkey?
