The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

[Rick Roemer]

Ok thanks. As for the shells - what would you suggest? Is it not ok to shoot 3" in this gun? The tungsten matrix are advertised as safe for fixed choke guns - like bismuth. I honestly have only shot maybe 10 or so through it anyhow.
And the other shells are lead (the one that I used yesterday)

[James L. Martin]

I use those Winchester Longbeards. in a Remington 11-87 ,the shot load is encased in some sort of epoxy, you can cut open the shell and the shot will be one solid lump, I know that when fired it becomes a powder and buffer. I would shoot 1 1/2 oz max at 1200 fps or less. If that meant 2 3/4 " shells so be it. My self I would use 1 1/4 oz of 5 or 6 copper or nickel.

[Wild Skies]

Another possible explanation could be the slight bulge and barrel split may have been caused by a phenomenon termed momentum -- too big of a load at too much velocity through too tight of a choke. These same catastrophic results could have occurred regardless whether lead, bismuth or tungsten loads were used.

[Bill Murphy]

First thing I would do after a blow up is to take the rest of the box of shells, weigh each one individually after assigning a number to each shell. Next, I would dismantle every other shell and weigh each component, leaving every other shell intact. I would keep all loads of powder in plastic bags for testing, to see if the powder is the powder that is supposed to be in that load. Next, I would take two of the shells and send them to Tom Armbrust for pressure testing. However, your blowup seems to be an obstruction.

[Bill Murphy]

How far back in your barrels is it to perfect, undamaged barrel?

[Rick Roemer]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

How far back in your barrels is it to perfect, undamaged barrel?

I think you could cut it to 29", but probably best to go to 28". I suppose Briley would be the place?

[Rick Roemer]

Originally Posted by Greg Baehman

Another possible explanation could be the slight bulge and barrel split may have been caused by a phenomenon termed momentum -- too big of a load at too much velocity through too tight of a choke. These same catastrophic results could have occurred regardless whether lead, bismuth or tungsten loads were used.

Yeah I wondered about this - just never thought of it prior to this accident. Choke in that barrel was .032.