Category: All About Guns
It was Dirty Harry who introduced me with this Bruiser.
Now I have owned one of this Super Guns. Frankly it was way too much gun for this old fart. Even back then when I was a lot stronger and meaner than I am today.
But nonetheless it definitely made an impression on me with a constant ringing in my ears that is still with me. I have also finally gotten rid of the flich that it endowed me with.
However I still miss it! Even with its huge and expensive diet of $2 to $5 a round. But if T Rex does come back around the Neighborhood. I know what Rifle I want with some solids in its magazine!
Grumpy
What You Need To Know About .458 Winchester Magnum
Winchester has introduced the .458 Winchester Magnum in 1956 in order to compete against the .470 Nitro Express and .450 Nitro Express cartridges.
The cartridge is a belted and very dangerous rifle bullet, suitable for hunters. Winchester Model 70 African rifle is the first rifle that chambered the cartridge first time. However, at present there are many rifles that are available for the cartridge in order to give you a wide option to choose from.
Many of the ammunition manufacturers prefer to provide the .458 cartridge chamber in the rifles. The .458 cartridge is one of the best and most popular for hunting animals during the hunting seasons.
Specifications of .458 Winchester Magnum
The cartridge is one of the famous among the African dangerous game hunters because of the performance level. The outlet is very strong and hit long distance animal whenever you shoot.
Although there are .416 cartridges that are good for hunting, .458 Winchester Magnum is still the ‘King of the African Safari’ as a hunting cartridge. Specially, if you are going for hunting in the wild life areas, you must keep the cartridge with you. You may the cartridge or similar one for hunting the heavy skinned animals.
According to the manufacturers, you will have 2,150 ft/s (660 m/s) using the cartridge. For that reason, this is very amazing and high speed bullet that can damage the targeted animal right the way you want to hit. This is a 33gram bullet that shoots from a 26 inch (660 mm) rifle barrel.
The .375 H&H case has reduced to 2.5 in (64mm) so that the .458 caliber bullet easily adjusts in the case. The bullet is the longest cartridge launched by Winchester ammo organization. However, the cartridge is available in different sizes but the work and features are same. On the other hand, the cartridges are not highly different from each other on length.
Performance level of the .458 Winchester Magnum
Winchester has achieved good performance level from its .458 magnum bullet to the hunter’s rifle. This is an original 510 gr bullet that provides 2,150 ft/s velocity fired level to a person. For getting highest performance from the cartridge, you could prefer 26 in (660 mm) barrel rifle to shoot.
However, the bullet velocity level has been surplus to 500 gr for 24 in (610 mm) barrel to get the same distance shooting range. Therefore, you will have a choice between 24 inch to 26 inch barrel rifles for the cartridge in order to get higher performance and shooting accuracy for hunting. While other bullets provide higher density of shooting, .458 bullets give a dangerous shooting result, even to kill hunt an elephant if you want.
The cartridge has enough power and shooting range to give the hunters a dangerous way to kill wild lives during the hunting season. The weight of the bullet is also reasonable that will not destruct due to heavy wind during shooting time. But, this is also a matter of regret that you may not able to hit the long range animals for hunting using the cartridge rifles too.
.458 Lott with 465 and .450 Assegais with 500 gr do not offer as much accuracy and weight tend while comparing with the .458 Winchester Magnum. Now a day, you can also use modern powers in order to get highest velocity at 2,600 ft/s launching a 300 gr bullet to the target.
Sporting Usage Level of .458 Winchester Magnum
When it comes for sporting usages of any bullet performance, .458 Winchester Magnum is a great option to use for hunting heavy thick skinned animals. Because of the highly performance level and velocity of between 1950-2250 ftands, a single 500 gr bullet is enough to kill African animals like rhinoceros, elephant and African Cape buffalo.
The rifles that are designed for the 11 lb bullets especially for .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge is very much suitable for African continent hunting. Moreover, the cartridge is enough powerful to hunt a leopard and Lion in Africa too!
However, experts believe that the .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge is not made for thick skinned wild lives to hunt. Therefore, you should never forget about the cartridge if you do not have any idea about the hunting area. Just keep the cartridge and rifle with you so that you can shoot any heavy skinned animals with the rifle if needed.
While considering the heavy skinned species hunting, you may prefer to have the .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge to have a good hunting experience. The North American game species required the cartridges because of the velocity level and weight of the bullet. Hunting polar and Alaskan bear become easier and comfortable using a single .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge during the hunting session.
The .458 Winchester Magnum bullet is not designed for long distance shooting because of the variable conditions. More than 150 yards shooting space could be troubled you if you choose a heavy skinned species to shoot. 50-80 yards shooting range is perfect for the cartridge because of the specifications of the bullet in African hunting experience.
You can also add a reloading dies in the .458 Win Mag rifles if you want because this will reduce the problem of reloading the rifle. Hand loading and manual loading may need some time while hunting. But, an size adjustable dies ensures to provide the correct and quick reloading option.
Moreover, the reloading cartridge dies can also convert the chambers of a same rifle. As a result, you can use the rifle of the .458 Lott for your .458 Win Mug bullets very easily. At the same time, the resizing die will help you to solve out the problem of case “budge” problem of the bullets.
Advantages of using .458 Winchester Magnum
When you are in hunting professional or hunting is your passion, you must need to select the cartridge according to the hunting target. However, many of you may not choose the cartridge because of the long-distance shooting unavailability; you can still get some of the advantages.
- The cartridge has a higher velocity about 2,150 ft/s with a 500 grain bullet. The weight of the bullet is always capable of going to the targeted without any influence of the wind. On the other hand, the cartridge has a higher rate of success in the hunting field.
- If you are going to hunt in the African side, this is one of the cartridges that you will pick for hunting.From the beginning of the cartridge, this has been the king of the cartridges among all other .458 cartridges in the market. The higher velocity rate, bullet weight, accuracy level and other factors are suitable and preferable to the hunters.
- The cartridge is specially designed for short range heavy skinned animal hunting purpose. For that reason, any short distance heavy skinned hunting experience can only be possible if you are using the cartridge.You will get a good accuracy to 100 yards for an elephant, African buffalo and others. Moreover, single cartridge is enough to stop the oxygen production of a heavy skinned species.
Lacks in .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge
Of course, all cartridges are not perfect as well as not suitable for getting all rounder hunting experience. A .458 Winchester Magnum can never give you a long distance shooting experience with full accuracy that you can have in a short distance shooting.
At the same time, the thick skinned animal hunting is not suitable for with the cartridge. The thick skinned animals including leopard or lion hunting is not suitable with the 500 grain bullet.
Sometimes people find the hunting practice cartridge before going to the real hunting games. But, the cartridge is not suitable for practicing because real dangerous hunting session because this is very costly. Per round bullet of the category may cost you around $120-$140 depending on some factors. For that reason, you will not surely go with this level of budget to practice.
For that reason, the cartridge could be avoided in some cases and in many areas in the world. People who love to hunt deer will never buy the cartridge in order to hunt a deer. Due to having a thick skin, the normal caliber bullets are enough for those types of small animals. The cartridge is one suitable for the dangerous hunting seasons.
Hunting experience with .458 Winchester Magnum cartridges
Hunting in the African side is always challenging and depends on your correct decision of bullets with rifles. Normally, the African hunters are suggested to take two or three hunting rifles with them in different caliber bullets.
I bought a classic rifle and another .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge rifle. The .458 caliber 500 gr bullet rifle cost me about $560 with two rounds of bullet. I have been hunting from three years and hunted 7 African Cape buffalos during my 3 year hunting career.
I have chosen the .458 Winchester Magnum cartridges for African side buffalo hunting because of their heavy skinned. Earlier, I had try with different calibers but did not get enough good result with the normal calibers. As you know, the caliber is perfect for heavy skinned animals, I have chosen the caliber. For that reason, I have shot one bullet from 50 yards distance and it’s enough to hunt the buffalo.
Because of having the cartridge, I did not need to use my rifle for hunting. A single bullet stops the oxygen production and soon I reached to my hunted buffalo to get it.
However, I never tried to hunt any thick skinned animals using the cartridge because the bullet is not made for them. Therefore, if you are also thinking of hunting such kind of heavy skinned animals in Africa, you should not avoid the .458 cartridge too!
Some powerful Rifles for the .458 Winchester Magnum
There are many dangerous rifles for the cartridge and you may get confused. Therefore, there are top 2 rifles for .458 Win Mag cartridge that you can buy and start hunting with the cartridge.
CZ 550 American Safari Bolt Action Rifle
CZ 550 American Safari Bolt action rifle is one of the most suitable for the .458 Win Mag bullet in order to provide dangerous hunting experience. The safari bolt action rifle is the perfect choice that offers American pattern stock.
The hunters will have 3 different laminate color combination rifles in order to choose the color you like! This 24-inch barrel rifle is perfect for the Win Mag cartridge as well as a part of the traditional African hunters. The wooden pattern of the rifle ensures to give a solid structure and smoothness of shooting.
WTHBY DGM458NR4O MKV DGR 458WIN
WTHBY DGM458NR4O MKV DGR is another good but premium expensive rifle for .458 Win Mag cartridges. This is a 24-inch barrel hunting rifle that comes with 3+1 capacity.
On the other hand, the rifle is a bolt auctioned rifle with a blue and black finishing. The trigger is adjustable, so, adjust it and you will have the best experience of shooting with the cartridge. For that reason, the .458 Win Mug will give the hunter proper shooting space and short range shooting using the premium rifle.
Conclusion
.458 Win Mag cartridge is enough powerful and suitable for dangerous hunting games. For that reason, never compromise while choosing for the dangerous hunting sessions along with worldwide hunters especially when you are in Africa.
The best features and cartridge shooting experience will enhance your hunting career and give you a sharp shooting career. However, choosing the right and featured rifle for the cartridge is also important for any hunters. As the cartridge is for the short range hunting only, you should choose it when you are going for short distance hunting.
If you are an experienced hunter, you may not have any problem to find out the best rifles for the cartridge. But, never to up to 26 inch barrel rifles for the cartridge because more than the length could become a major problem for not getting good range accuracy too!
Categories
Some Colt Porn – No not that kind!
Colt 1849 Colt Pocket Model Pistol Revolver 31 caliber
Categories
Malta
Okay now I am guessing that you are going what has Malta have to do with shooting. Right? So please bear with me on this one. All right?
Now Malta is one of the those small little countries of Western Europe. That is down in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Just south of Sicily. You know that ball that Italy is kicking.
Anyways it is a very nice place with some really friendly folks. 
Unlike some other parts of Europe. Which I will not name. (Like that place where they eat snails for example.)
Also since they were a Part of the British Empire for over a 150 years. You will find that most folks speak English. It is also a very popular vacation spot for the Brits during Winter & Summer.
Yeah I know this picture is not very PC nowadays! But the good news is that it is one of the few places in Western Europe where Gun Ownership is allowed & flourishes.
As they have several gun shops there that I found out about on the web alone!
That & the sport of Bird shooting is a very popular local sport. Since a lot of migratory birds flee the cold European Winters for the warmer African climate. By way of here.
Anyways, If You get a chance & are in the neighborhood you might want to check it out. I know that I had some really good experiences there.
Grumpy
Breaking: CMP Releases Important Info on Surplus 1911s
Make sure you’re prepared to score your surplus 1911 from the CMP.
Editor’s note: Just received the following email in my inbox, figured I’d get the word out right away… If you haven’t heard, the Civilian Marksmanship Program got the green light to surplus 1911s next year. Apparently, there will be as many as 10,000 available for purchase. Given the high demand, there have been a lot of questions on how CMP will orchestrate the sale of these historic pistols. Well, CMP’s chief operating officer Mark Johnson just sent out the following:
To all CMP constituents:
The CMP Board of Directors has discussed at length how the sales of 1911s would be handled, if the CMP were to ever receive them from the United States Army.
Some preliminary decisions:
- Decisions concerning the grade and pricing of the 1911s will not be made until inspection has occurred of a substantial quantity which will take an estimated 150 days post receipt.
- All laws pertaining to the sale of 1911s by CMP will be strictly obeyed.
- Potential purchasers will have to provide to CMP a new set of documents exhibiting: 1) proof of U.S. Citizenship, 2) proof of membership in a CMP affiliated club, 3) proof of participation in a marksmanship activity, 4) a new form 2A with notary, 5) successful completion of a NICS background check, 6) a signed copy of the 01 Federal Firearms License in which the 1911 will be transferred to.
- The CMP customer will be required to complete a form 4473 in person and successfully complete another NICS check by the recipient FFL holder before the pistol can be transferred.
- Qualified CMP customer will only be allowed to purchase one 1911 per calendar year.
- No 1911s available in the CMP stores, or on line, only mail order sales.
- CMP will set the date in which it will accept orders for the 1911s. The date will be posted to the world.
- Orders will only be accepted via mail order delivery.
- Orders will only be accepted post marked on the date or after, no early orders.
- Once CMP receives 10,000 orders, customer names will be loaded into the Random Number Generator.
- The Random Number Generator will provide a list of names in sequence order through a random picking process to CMP.
- Customers will be contacted in the sequence provided by the Random Number Generator.
- When the customer is contacted a list of 1911 grades and pricing options that are available will be offered for selection of one.
- As CMP proceeds down the sequenced list less grade and pricing options will be available. Again, this done completely random.
Mark Johnson
Chief Operating Officer
Civilian Marksmanship Program
About the CMP
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is a national organization dedicated to training and educating U. S. citizens in responsible uses of firearms and airguns through gun safety training, marksmanship training and competitions. The CMP is a federally chartered 501(c)(3) corporation that places its highest priority on serving youth through gun safety and marksmanship activities that encourage personal growth and build life skills.
This rifle is typical of the Sporterized Mauser class of rifles. I am willing to bet that somebody brought this back from the ETO after WWII.
Also you can tell it’s a late period rifle by the stamped steel magazine plate on the bottom.
As you can guess in the last days of Hitler’s Insane Reign, Things had gotten pretty desperate!
Anyways enjoy the show!
Grumpy
I am very sure that these guns has killed its fair share of deer & other game though. That and brought a lot of happiness & joy to their owners over the years.
May they always have a good home!
Weatherby’s Mark V Deluxe.
Weatherby
The longest distance I’ve ever driven in one day—656 miles—I drove in order to get my hands on a .257 Weatherby Magnum.
It was at Creekside Gun Shop near Rochester, NY, and the nice man said on the telephone that this one had some piece of wood, and that I really had better grab it fast before someone else did.
That was all I needed to hear. It was 1966, and I was as poor as owl dung, but I scraped together every cent I had and off I went to Creekside.
The stock was as advertised. In the 1960s, Weatherby Mark V stocks could be dead plain, or have a little figure, or be fancy enough to induce glaucoma; it was all luck of the draw.
Being a woodchuck hunter at the time, I proceeded to put together some handloads with 87-grain Hornady Spire Point bullets and a munificent charge of the old H4831, and was astonished when the .257 put five shots into an inch. Back then, you didn’t see minute-of-angle groups from big-game rifles.
I found, however, that as a woodchuck rifle for farmland, it was way too much—too much power, and especially, too much noise. One farmer, who was used to me popping away in his pasture with a .222, came out in a great sweat when I fired the .257 to ask if my rifle had exploded.
So I sold it. As John Barsness has pointed out, the gun-writing business is a cruel mistress that allows us to keep very few rifles, unless we have lots and lots of money. You have to keep turning them over in order to obtain the necessary experience.
After that, I had at least two more Mark Vs in .257 Weatherby, and they left, too, and now I’ve acquired my fourth or fifth, because when the Great Range Officer in the Sky says that I’ve completed my last leg, I’d like to have one on hand. This one is even prettier than the 1966 rifle.
Roy Weatherby introduced the .257 into his family of cartridges in 1948. The other .25s on the market then were the .250/3000 Savage, which was the first round to crack the 3,000 fps barrier
the .257 Roberts, which was dreadfully underloaded then as it is now, and the .25/06, which was strictly a handloading proposition. Ballistically, the Weatherby round was light years ahead of the other three. It was like dropping a Corvette Z06 in amongst a pack of Hupmobiles.
The .257 was Roy Weatherby’s favorite. Today, it’s either the second or third most popular cartridge in the lineup. It’s an exceedingly flat shooter, but without the recoil of the larger-caliber magnums. If you can handle a .30/06, you can handle this round (the muzzle blast, however, tends to be ferocious).
After I accepted that it was much too powerful for varmints (except for coyotes, on which it excels) I limited myself to 120-grain Nosler Partitions and found lasting nirvana.
Weatherby says its factory ammo propels this bullet at 3,300 fps, and I recall that the point blank range is something like 350 yards.
Weatherby, incidentally, has always been dead honest about their velocities, probably because they have never had anything to hide. If you want to do the range-compensating-scope dance, you can far exceed that.
How does the .257 stack up against its new small-diameter cousin, the 6.5/300? On the one hand, the latter round will considerably outrange the former one; the bullets are heavier, of far higher ballistic coefficient, and go considerably faster. On the other hand, the 6.5/300 is no delight to shoot.
Its whopping powder charge produces a cataclysmic report and a fair amount of recoil. Also, the ammo costs a lot more.
And, does one buy the traditional wood-stocked Mark V or the synthetic-stocked Accu-Mark? If you’re looking at it from a practical standpoint, the Accu-Mark is the way to go. When Weatherby says “Accu” they are not kidding.
These heavy, synthetic-stocked, fluted- stainless-steel-barreled tack drivers are the last word in lethality.
But I got a traditional Mark V Deluxe with a very pretty stock and French, or skipline, checkering. It’s much too shiny to be a practical hunting rifle. So what? I have enough practical hunting rifles.
Practical isn’t everything.
It was at Creekside Gun Shop near Rochester, NY, and the nice man said on the telephone that this one had some piece of wood, and that I really had better grab it fast before someone else did.
That was all I needed to hear. It was 1966, and I was as poor as owl dung, but I scraped together every cent I had and off I went to Creekside.
The stock was as advertised. In the 1960s, Weatherby Mark V stocks could be dead plain, or have a little figure, or be fancy enough to induce glaucoma; it was all luck of the draw.
Being a woodchuck hunter at the time, I proceeded to put together some handloads with 87-grain Hornady Spire Point bullets and a munificent charge of the old H4831, and was astonished when the .257 put five shots into an inch. Back then, you didn’t see minute-of-angle groups from big-game rifles.
I found, however, that as a woodchuck rifle for farmland, it was way too much—too much power, and especially, too much noise. One farmer, who was used to me popping away in his pasture with a .222, came out in a great sweat when I fired the .257 to ask if my rifle had exploded.
So I sold it. As John Barsness has pointed out, the gun-writing business is a cruel mistress that allows us to keep very few rifles, unless we have lots and lots of money. You have to keep turning them over in order to obtain the necessary experience.
After that, I had at least two more Mark Vs in .257 Weatherby, and they left, too, and now I’ve acquired my fourth or fifth, because when the Great Range Officer in the Sky says that I’ve completed my last leg, I’d like to have one on hand. This one is even prettier than the 1966 rifle.
Roy Weatherby introduced the .257 into his family of cartridges in 1948. The other .25s on the market then were the .250/3000 Savage, which was the first round to crack the 3,000 fps barrier
the .257 Roberts, which was dreadfully underloaded then as it is now, and the .25/06, which was strictly a handloading proposition. Ballistically, the Weatherby round was light years ahead of the other three. It was like dropping a Corvette Z06 in amongst a pack of Hupmobiles.
The .257 was Roy Weatherby’s favorite. Today, it’s either the second or third most popular cartridge in the lineup. It’s an exceedingly flat shooter, but without the recoil of the larger-caliber magnums. If you can handle a .30/06, you can handle this round (the muzzle blast, however, tends to be ferocious).
After I accepted that it was much too powerful for varmints (except for coyotes, on which it excels) I limited myself to 120-grain Nosler Partitions and found lasting nirvana.
Weatherby says its factory ammo propels this bullet at 3,300 fps, and I recall that the point blank range is something like 350 yards.
Weatherby, incidentally, has always been dead honest about their velocities, probably because they have never had anything to hide. If you want to do the range-compensating-scope dance, you can far exceed that.
How does the .257 stack up against its new small-diameter cousin, the 6.5/300? On the one hand, the latter round will considerably outrange the former one; the bullets are heavier, of far higher ballistic coefficient, and go considerably faster. On the other hand, the 6.5/300 is no delight to shoot.
Its whopping powder charge produces a cataclysmic report and a fair amount of recoil. Also, the ammo costs a lot more.
And, does one buy the traditional wood-stocked Mark V or the synthetic-stocked Accu-Mark? If you’re looking at it from a practical standpoint, the Accu-Mark is the way to go. When Weatherby says “Accu” they are not kidding.
These heavy, synthetic-stocked, fluted- stainless-steel-barreled tack drivers are the last word in lethality.
But I got a traditional Mark V Deluxe with a very pretty stock and French, or skipline, checkering. It’s much too shiny to be a practical hunting rifle. So what? I have enough practical hunting rifles.
Practical isn’t everything.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — It was the opening day of deer hunting season, and Ronald Hansen says he loaded his rifle the same way he had countless times before, aimed at a target and fired a shot.
This time, the gun barrel exploded, knocking the farmer from Hampton, Iowa, backward, severely damaging his right hand and ear and burning his face.
Unknown to Hansen, the manufacturer of the rifle that injured him in 2014 had received other complaints of explosions and injuries over the prior decade. Customers repeatedly reported that the barrel of the stainless steel 10 ML-II muzzleloader exploded, burst, split or cracked, according to thousands of court documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
Lawyers for the company, Westfield, Massachusetts-based Savage Arms, were expected to appear Wednesday in federal court in Iowa to defend against a lawsuit filed by Hansen. He is seeking damages for his injuries, alleging the company failed to warn customers about the defect.
It’s one of several lawsuits that have claimed the company recklessly kept the muzzleloaders on the market even as they kept occasionally mangling hands, damaging hearing and burning faces. At least three have been settled on a confidential basis since last year.
Martin Crimp, a Michigan State University metals expert who examined a 10ML-II that exploded and caused a hunter to lose multiple fingers in 2009, told the AP the barrel of that gun was “metallurgically defective.”
An expert hired by Hansen’s lawyers came to a similar conclusion, saying the steel used to make the rifle was prone to catastrophic failure after repeat firings.
Anthony Pisciotti, an outside lawyer for Savage Arms, said he wasn’t authorized to comment. A spokesman for its parent company, Vista Outdoor, didn’t return messages.
Savage Arms, which discontinued the gun in 2010 after thousands were on the market, has insisted it’s safe when used properly, has no defects and was designed in accordance with industry standards.
Savage Arms has argued that operator error is to blame for the explosions, saying users must have created too much pressure inside the barrel either by loading two bullets or using the wrong amount or type of gunpowder. It has issued a safety notice on its website warning owners to “carefully follow the safe loading procedures” in the product manual to avoid injuries.
Hansen’s case highlights how gun makers, unlike manufacturers of other consumer products, have the sole discretion to decide themselves whether to recall potentially dangerous weapons. In 1976, Congress blocked the newly-created Consumer Product Safety Commission, which has broad authority to regulate everything from toasters to toys and BB guns, from restricting the manufacture or sale of firearms.
“It’s an example of an industry that can essentially do whatever they want and there’s no consequences other than being held accountable in a civil liability context,” said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center in Washington D.C.
Other companies have faced allegations that they allowed unsafe guns to stay on the market. Remington agreed to replace triggers in its popular Model 700 rifles — only after several lawsuits claiming that they were prone to accidentally discharging. Ruger was accused of marketing revolvers for decades that could fire when dropped.
Savage Arms recently agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Trent Procter, who was on a hunting trip with friends in October 2009 when the 10 ML-II he’d owned for years “just blew apart” when he shot at a target.
Procter, 48, missed nine months of work from his job as a power company lineman as he endured surgeries on his left hand and rehabilitation. He had to move to a different job and still experiences numbness due to nerve damage in his hand, where he’s missing parts of his thumb and middle finger.
Photos of Procter’s hand were shared on hunting websites after the explosion, and he said it was insulting that some suggested he and not a defective product was to blame.
“I’m surprised it was never recalled or a warning was put out that this was actually happening,” he said. “It’s quite scary when you think about it.”
Last year, the company also settled a case brought by Michigan hunter Rodney Palatka and his wife, who was pregnant with twins and suffered a miscarriage after witnessing her husband’s injuries.
James Putman of North Carolina alleges in a pending lawsuit that his Savage 10ML-II burst as he hunted last year in the George Washington National Forest, blasting his thumb off and forcing his early retirement as a firefighter.
Savage Arms started making the 10ML-II in 2001. It was designed to withstand the use of smokeless powder, which appealed to some shooters because it didn’t require the same messy cleanup as black powder.
The company’s knowledge of the barrel problems is becoming clear after years of lawsuits.
In Palatka’s case, a federal magistrate in 2015 sanctioned the company for a “purposeful record of obfuscation” that included falsely claiming that it was aware of only two prior explosions while withholding information that showed otherwise.
The company acknowledged in Hansen’s case that it received 45 legal claims related to burst or split barrels dating to 2004. Hansen’s lawyers say documents show Savage Arms created a special “muzzleloader return team” and faced hundreds of warranty and service claims.
Some hunters were offered free replacement rifles after they were told their errors caused the damage.
Hansen, 50 and a lifelong hunter, testified in an August deposition that he followed the recommended procedures when he loaded his 10ML-II, which he bought in 2010 and had shot 200 times. He said he weighed and loaded 43 grains of the recommended powder and one bullet. He set a target at 50 yards, laid on a dirt pile, aimed and fired.
Hansen, who was rushed to the emergency room after the explosion, testified he still struggles to hear even with a hearing aid and cannot perform some farm chores due to his hand injury.
Savage Arms has suggested that Hansen used an improper mix of powders that caused too much pressure. Trial is set for next year.