Photos from Dan's GH 20
 

Dan asked me to post these photos from the aftermath of his accident. He feels they will definitely stir up some lively "conversation". There will be a second thread with photos following this.

Second batch of photos-

Sorry, two more photos.

GH 20
 

Shocking and unnerving. M

I'm so glad that Dans recovery is going well. I guess I'll start the inevitable questions. Is the pictured shell the one that caused the barrel to burst? Were the barrel wall thicknesses measured at any time prior to the this accident. How about the area just forward of the forcing cones? Was it a factory load or handload that caused this, and lastly, did the prior shot fired from this barrel sound a little "off" to Dan.

WOW that is an incredible catastrophic failure, it appear there was an almost complete blockage just in front of the chamber to do that kind of damage to wood and barrel steel. That is the worst example of a blown up gun I have ever seen.

Multiple people have indicated that the shape of “failure “ is an unmistakable indication of a blockage. This barrel was fired just seconds before at the preceding target. The shot, report and recoil were unremarkable and the 30(+-) yard crossing target cleanly broken. I’m personally sufficiently convinced that the base wad of the prior shell came out and lodged in the barrel. Note the shell photo of the actual shell fired when the “failure” occurred. There is no base wad in place. I was shooting a mix of factory and older reloads and unfortunately not saving them. I plan to send the barrels off for a detailed analysis and will certainly will share them. Going forward I implore my friends and fellow lovers of shooting vintage shotguns to take 2-5 seconds and check your barrel after every shot. It may save injury and the beautiful piece of history we are holding in our hands.

I am curious, I have never shot any of those Winchester promo shells but I have seen them around my club. Do they have a fiber base wad? Do they have a plastic base wad? It would be interesting to compare the hull in the picture with another one.

If that is the Winchester "Super Target" loading they advertise it uses a one piece hinged wad (whatever that is). It makes me wonder if the wad could have broken at the hinge, shot cup and shot exiting normally but lower part of wad, the gas seal stuck in the bore????????? I would not think so but obviously something out of the norm happened.

https://winchester.com/Products/Ammu...Target/TRGT207

A little further thought. If the base wad separated wouldn't much more of the primer be protruding into the hull and thus more visible when looking inside the hull? If the base wad separated might we see some of the shiny silver metal of the inside portion of the steel head looking down into the hull? I don't have answers just thinking out loud.

Pete if you search Shotgun World reloading forum -Winchester base wad coming loose- you will find a lot of discussion of this. Some is reasonable and some useless but it seems as though it is a '' thing''. I was taking the payment at my club's clay fields about a year ago and a trap shooter trying out a new Gaurini single was enraged over a ring bulge in the barrel and was using Winchester promo shells with the white plastic base wad. He blamed the barrel and maker, i thought differently having read the discussion. Do not know the outcome of his calling the maker.