Blowing down barrel

[Minnesota Mike]

Have always been taught that this was a no-no and that some fool once upon a time did so and bad thing happened.

However have been asked recently by newbie as to when and where that actually happened . . . ugh . . . Don't know. Can anyone help provide that info?

Thanks.

r/
MM

[Spotted Bull]

I know that there is a pic in one of the Buckskinner books of a guy doing it...

[biliff]

Hot button issue so I'll try not to stir the pot.

Blowing down the barrel after the shot was thought to kill any hot spots and soften the fouling a bit. I've been doing this since the early seventies and it was an accepted practice at that time and suppossedly the way "the old timers" did it. Don't recall any historical documentation (except for one quote by Audubon in 1810) to that effect but that was the thinking at the time.

Somewhere along the line(not sure exactly when), the practice fell out of official favor and has been banned at a lot of events/ranges. This was in response to someone having a rifle go off while he was blowing down the barrel at a NMLRA event. The story I've been told is it was a husband/wife team, both shooting, husband loading for both. Wife had a misfire, handed rifle to hubby but didn't communicate the misfire. Husband thought rifle needed to be loaded, blew down the barrel and the rest is history. Don't have anything more specific than that, and even that is all unconfirmed.

[Two Steps]

Mike...I don't know if it has really happened or not...but...folks being folks, somewhere back down the trail, some poor fool probably did blow the top of his head of...somewhere.
Now days, I think it's more a safety precaution just to make sure that it doesn't happen.  Kindda like not priming til you're on the line or making sure your horn is plugged.  
Some places enforce this no blowing rule and others don't.  If ya don't start doing it...it's not a problem not to.  If you've been doing it for years...it can be a hard habit to break :|

I've read countless posts and been in numerous discussions about the whys and the why nots of blowing down the barrel.  IMO, it is now and will forevermore be both a personal decision   and a point of contention (unless the Range Rules say NO).

Opps, didn't mean to ramble     My short answer should have been "No sir...I don' know the where or when".
Al

[Captchee]

cant say  that i have ever found ANY documentation to  someone actually being shot while blowing down the barrel . I have sent letter after letter to the NMLRA since the mid 1970's asking for the information to substantiate  it and i always get nothing in reply .
 I also have talked to folks that say they witnessed it . So I also ask , where as I would like to read the police report or news paper article .
 Never found either yet .

  this roomer seems to  go around alot . The only thing that changes is the time an place  an who supposedly had it happen to them . It varies , NMLRA even , club shoot , western rendezvous .
 Was a married couple ,  a young kid ,  new shooter , old longtime shooter , man , woman ,. The person was talking  and dint remember they loaded. . The gun didn’t go off but the shooter thought it did  and it hang fired ……… the list goes on and on .

Personally I think the issue is one of  not pointing a gun , loaded or other at anything you don’t want to kill . IE always keep it pointed in a safe direction . Blowing looks kind of odd and un safe to someone who is new to BP

 Now what I personally have seen is  a guy lose his fingers  from loading  with a hot coal . he dumped the powder , he then ran the RR down to seat the ball  as he stood there chatting with the 4 of us and BOOOM!!!  By , by fingers  and  part of his hand .

  What can be substantiated however is people being shot while cleaning a loaded gun . Think on that one for a while  next time your cleaning . Then realize no rules are made or enforced concerning that . even though its killed alot of folks and been well documented

as was said , a hot topic for sure .
 Myself , i always blow  down the barrel eather derectly or  in events where they dont allow it , i use a blow tube

[greyhunter]

I agree Al it's a hard thing to quit.  I made a blow tube from vinyl tubing so now I can blow down the barrel and only worry about losing my hand!   If ya hear the shot, feel the kick, and see a hole in yer target it's a pretty safe bet all your blowing down is an empty gun, however safety first. So I'll use my non pc tube and watch the smoke come out the vent hole.  It's kinda like spitting in a ditch, theres no reason to, but we guys do it. When ya shoot ya lower the rifle, puff down the hole and walk away from the target like, there, take that!

[Stryker]

Personally I think the issue is one of  not pointing a gun , loaded or other at anything you don’t want to kill . IE always keep it pointed in a safe direction . Blowing looks kind of odd and un safe to someone who is new to BP

Ditto. Just because the may have done it that way 200 years ago, doesn't mean I'm going to. I also don't melt lead for balls in my eating skillet.

[Voyageur]

[quote="greyhunter" So I'll use my non pc tube and watch the smoke come out the vent hole.  It's kinda like spitting in a ditch, theres no reason to, but we guys do it. When ya shoot ya lower the rifle, puff down the hole and walk away from the target like, there, take that![/quote]
That's exactly what I made several years back and I continue to blow down my barrel---just as Greyhunter put it.   "Doc"

[FG1]

Ive done it from the get go . My main purpose is to be sure vent is clear . Guess Ill keep on as I know I just fired it with exceptions to a "two row" or revolver .  

[pathfinder]

If a story like this can't be verified,let it die!!! I've told folks to quit in the middle of a hearsay storie because it has to stop somwhere. If you can't verify don't pass it on.

[Capt. Jas.]

A BLOOMING Youth, who had just passed the Boy,
The Father's only Child and only Joy,
As he, intent, design'd the Larks his Prey,
Himself as sweet and innocent as They,
The fatal Powder in the Porch of Death,
Having in vain discharg'd its Flash of Breath,
The tender Reas'ner, curious to know,
Whether the Piece were really charg'd or no,
With Mouth to Mouth apply'd began to blow_
A dreadful Kiss! For now the silent Bane
Had bor'd a Passage thro' the whizzing Train_
The Shot all rent his Skull, and dashed around his Brain!

Pteryplegia Or, The Art of Shooting Flying, Markland, 1727

[Fletcher]

Why would you blow your nasty, salty, smelly breath down a perfectly good barrel???

I think if your load is right the powder should be burned out pronto.  Wait a half minute before loading again if you are not sure.  I don't like wiping every shot like the NRA and NMLRA suggest in their training.  That is why I use the water base lube for range shooting.  I never get powder residue or smoke with that lube. I use a Wonderlube for hunting and I have never gotten a chance for a fast second load.  Either did not need it - the first first hit was good, or missed completely and the game was long gone.

Can't prove it - but just feel down deep that playin the smokpole like a flute is bad ju-ju!

[Three Hawks]

Someone is gonna take offense at this. So be it.

Ya gotta wonder about someone who would knowingly put the muzzle of a gun in his mouth.

If I was running a range and saw someone on the firing line put the muzzle of a gun, any gun, in his mouth, he'd be airborne fifty yards past the gate before his butt hit the ground.  It would also be the last time he ever set foot on that range.

Think about it for a minute, what would any of you do if you saw a kid put the muzzle of a gun in his mouth?  Now, how would you explain to that kid about an alleged adult he saw doing it?

Now  here come the sea lawyers with all the yabuts.  Yabut I only do it alone, yabut it's my rifle. yabut.........................

Three Hawks

[Capt. Jas.]

How about this one? When I fit a gun for someone, I always have them mount it and point it directly at my eye. Two will verify it is clear before that happens though.

To be honest, blowing down the barrel is nowhere near as scary as being muzzle sweeped by nearly half the people you see at  shoots. This is the worst problem out there.

[Captchee]

Yep
 The type of roomers and  over reactions only add to all the other roomers that have gave muzzleloading a bad name .  RB being in adequate, BP being dangerous, guns being un safe . Add that to rule and enforcements that  don’t take into account all the other things we do that  can  appear  to be unsafe .
 Blowing down a barrel is the least of my concerns  when running a range .

edit===
 never mind .
 again to answer the question for this post .
 there is that i know of , no actual documented case that can be substanciated . """ROOMER""  will still flow  while at the same time  issues that really do need adress , go un checked