I returned from a week in Argentina duck hunting this morning. The shooting was very good with 10 species taken. On Thursday morning, however, almost 50 years of luck shooting side by sides ran out. I had my 32" #1 frame VHE 16 gauge in the blind. It had been working very well for me the previous 3 days. At first light a flock of 8 gargantilla, the white cheeked pintail came in from the right. My buddy, Tom Rowland on my right took one with his 1912 Fox Sterlingworth 12g "pin gun" and I missed my first shot but killed one going away with my second. Everything seemed normal as I broke the gun to reload, I felt something odd and turned the gun over. "Damned, I popped the bottom rib." Closer examination showed a fully opened 3 inch split in the bottom of the right barrel running from 15" from the breech to 18".
At first I thought I had gotten something in the muzzle but there was no evidence of that. I was using Obera 27 gram loads of #5s. The only thing I can think of is a cocked wad. Who knows?