Is it possible??

[Sir-diealot]

I was taking a family members child to hunters safety and the instructor mentioned this happening. I want to say his explanation was the person loading shoved the ramrod down too fast and pressure set the powder charge off. I thought seemed far fetched but he swore they could replicate it.... sometimes. My theory was the new steel ramrod can cause sparks but I honestly don't know.

Maybe the steel causing a spark but no way the pressure would do that, some loads are to go in pretty tight.

[mtns2hunt]

If anything at least anyone reading this should be aware and always load with CAUTION....if he would have accidently had his face or chin over the barrel it would have definitely been a lot worse...

Agreed, I was taught, mostly from reading but also in two hunter safety classes to always have the barrel pointed away from my face and body.

Now if there was no cap I would consider contaminated powder. What if there was metal left in the barrel from cleaning especially if he was using a steel brush. What if he had poured smokeless powder in the gun as well. There could be several variables at play here including pressure and old or deteriorated powder. I never throw away my muzzle loading powder because it never gets a chance to deteriorate. I shoot all year around and always start out with a fresh bottle at the start of the hunting season. However, in my opinion, the most important variable is the person loading the gun. Something was done incorrectly, certainly not on purpose, that resulted in such a catastrophic accident. I wonder what the police report said. I know that all such accidents are investigated buy conservation officers or local police.

Finally, I like this post because it raises awareness of possible risks and should be enough to insure everyone reviews their procedures: especially if they only shoot their muzzle loaders just before and during hunting season. Be safe!