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Test firing a rifle

RLamparter

Hot Rolled
Joined
Oct 4, 2008
Location
Central PA
What do you do to protect yourself when test firing a rifle unknown to you? For example, an old milsurp. Headspace checks OK or alternatively in some cases you don't have a headspace gage for that caliber. Ideally you could attach the rifle to an old tire, sandbag the receiver and fire the first shot with a string while standing behind a tree, but that's not practical for the infrequent occasion of picking up a new milsurp and doing the testing at a public outdoor range. I of course wear safety glasses while shooting although seeing iron sights now requires my prescription glasses. What are you doing to protect yourself from a kaboom?
 
Good basics like clean and see through bore. Check the general mechanics and function. That solves a whole lot of problems.

I would absolutely buy headspace gauges for any unknown or questionable firearm prior to any rounds fired. A backwoods trick would be put a single piece of scotch tape on the complete outer circle, primer side, of a live round, see what kind of tension, or if you can fully close on the round, when you close the action on it. Don't fire the weapon that way though, lol.

I don't personally like to mess around with my or others safety, I'd buy the gauges.

A full face shield, the type for bench grinders, then wear your glasses also. Mechanics gloves, or thin leather gloves.
 
I was given a Remington 35 in pieces. I assembled it as I though it should be, went to the beach and found a big sand dune. Backed my truck up to the dune, strapped the rifle to the lumber rack, tied a string to the trigger..stood back 50 paces and pulled the string. I lived to tell about it.:)

Stuart
 
I was given a Remington 35 in pieces. I assembled it as I though it should be, went to the beach and found a big sand dune. Backed my truck up to the dune, strapped the rifle to the lumber rack, tied a string to the trigger..stood back 50 paces and pulled the string. I lived to tell about it.:)

Stuart

+1 It just isn't that HARD to actually go where there's a ravine, claybank, or "something" and use a tractor tire and bandsags. Even rednecks don't buy trash-risky firearms more'n about once every few YEARS. Only ONCE in a lifetime, actually. A pair of War One Austrian Steyr M95 "straight pull".

Thereafter, seemed wiser to spend a few sheckels extra but far less-often and just never-again traffic in JUNK to begin with.
 
Guess the simplest would be to duck tape it to a 4x4 with a 2x4 but stop, Stand on the safer side/behind and string pull the trigger. Then inspect the spent for expansion and marks.
Big bore you might lay a sand bag or two to top.

Never cheek-shoot a suspect problem gun.
After a safe fire or a few, fill and rack two clips full to see it does not go off with not a trigger pull. Agree not often this but is a good test for a new old gun.
 
I have a length of plastic drainpipe set into the ground,and use a carpet plug around the muzzle,to enclose the noise........I just wrap a rag around my hand,another around the works to muffle any noise ,and fire in a suburban yard.In an area where a single primer explosion will roll the black and whites.Not a sound,and Ive test fired dozens of rifles into this trap over many years.
 
Put the butt inside of car tire ,you can wrap the stock up if you want to protect it, but it want go any where,put a cord on trigger and get back safe distance and pull it. If you are real worried get behind something for added saftey. The butt needs to be in between to side walls of tire,rifle will be laying on its side. Hope this helps, a friend built lots of Mauser 98 and tested them this way. Make sure you have some kind of back stop for the bullet.
 
I have a length of plastic drainpipe set into the ground,and use a carpet plug around the muzzle,to enclose the noise........I just wrap a rag around my hand,another around the works to muffle any noise ,and fire in a suburban yard.In an area where a single primer explosion will roll the black and whites.Not a sound,and Ive test fired dozens of rifles into this trap over many years.

That's a pretty good setup for masking noise. What diameter pipe and how deeply do you have it embedded in the ground? How long a length of pipe? Are you shooting directly into the dirt at the end of the pipe or does the pipe have a log at the end? The gunsmith from whom I learned a little years ago had a piece of heavy water pipe, about 8-10" in diameter with a log at the end into which he shot - in his cellar work shop.
 
Most of us have seen photos of guns that have failed, but have any of you actually seen one fail in person? Did it grenade with pieces flying in random directions, or did it just rupture and stay pretty much intact? Would wrapping several layers of carpet around the receiver have been sufficient to contain the blast and pieces of metal? What were the extent of injuries to the shooter?
 
Most of us have seen photos of guns that have failed, but have any of you actually seen one fail in person? Did it grenade with pieces flying in random directions, or did it just rupture and stay pretty much intact? Would wrapping several layers of carpet around the receiver have been sufficient to contain the blast and pieces of metal? What were the extent of injuries to the shooter?

I have only seen pictures of burst guns.

But think.

The barrel can burst somewhere between the chamber and the muzzle. Not likely there would be steel flying for that, but lead sure could.

The chamber can burst. Steel from the barrel, cartridge brass, and lead could fly in any direction.

The bolt can be blown back from the breech. Nasty if you have your head down. All of the above materials could be moving at high speed, and "right back at you". The construction any mechanism of the particular rifle will tell of the possibilities. (An over under is not going to throw a pound of bolt back into your face)

Thinking of the energies associated with common cartridges, A couple layers of old carpet would very likely hold back "most' flying debris.
Of course, such precautions won't stop the little piece that kills you.
 
Setting off powerful explosions inches from your head is madness.....it is also shooting a gun.So ,if you are concerned ,dont do it...When I inspect a gun,or make some repair or alteration,I know it is sound,and proceed accordingly...My firing "pipe"does completely trap the sound to the extent I can hear the click of the firing pin falling.The tube is set into soft ground at 45deg,and the better the seal around the rifle,the less the noise.....I use old blanket or carpet...If I had a blowup,I could guarantee the cops would be there within minutes......Although my brother has a theory that you can get away with firing one shot,because no one knows immediately what it is.....Where I live,fifty years ago,we used to fire old milsurps in the backyard......but civilization has caught up with the place.....Of course,it might have helped if I hadnt sold the land around to developers.
 
I had a friend blow up a 1903 Springfield with an improperly reloaded cartridge. It was raining, so we were firing from inside my barn at a 100 yard target. A 1"x 1.5" piece of the receiver embedded itself in the wood ceiling about 3/8" deep. The stock shattered and blew wood splinters into his arms and face. Fortunately, he was wearing thick prescription glasses. Although both lenses cracked, he did not loose an eye. He spent several hours in the emergency room having wood fragments removed and getting stitched up. The other shooters were a safe distance behind him, and no one else was injured, although if anyone had been standing beside him, they would likely been injured as well.
 
I had a couple of blowups as a kid.....when I had to rely on others to reload ammo for me.....Which I have never done since I got my own gear.....I had a monumental blowup with a "cannon" ,using a substitute powder made of chemicals I wont mention.....but I think the stuff detonated...Fortunately,at the last minute I decided to stand behind a big tree,rather than watching.About 150lbs of gun simply disappeared,wheels, frame, barrel...The barrel was very heavy 2" ammonia pipe,and a piece had turned inside out.The wheels were old motorbike wheels,and one rim was straightened out and hanging in a tree...the tyres were shredded.
 
I met a fellow and bought a grinder and mill from him..He had been fired from GM with having perhaps 20 years in for making a hand gun on his spare time in the GM tool room..just saying one should be careful as to what is legal to make.

Also with heat treat and material selection making guns is a high skill not for everybody..IMHO..

Yes I OD and did other grinding on a fellows 3" bore cannon at the big shop..He roughed it in on the lathe and mill and I did the finishing on grinders.. never though about getting fired..guess I was lucky to not get in trouble.
 
Inspect!
I've worked on hundreds of Mosin-Nagants...and hadn't run into a "bad one" until this one recently that was in for some work. Inspection during blasting for Cerakote exposed this potential "kaboom"...

http://i.imgur.com/uX3BhVT.jpg
 
I combined several suggestions and came up with a test rig. I screwed a big block of wood onto the back of a 1x6 as a test bed. I then covered this with a layer of carpet to protect the finish on any rifle I might test. I wrapped 4 layers of carpet around the receiver and some of the barrel and kept that together with strapping tape. When testing, I duct taped the rifle and carpet "guard" tube to the test bed. I was able to stand just inside a concrete wall to pull the string attached to the trigger. I used 2" Schedule 40 pipe as a muffler, but the pipe cracked with the first shot, so I discarded that idea and just shot into the bank. The carpet tube can be used with multiple rifles without unwrapping it. Rifles with straight bolts however only fit in as far as the bolt.
 

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Lead-sled, secure gun with straps/wire ties and load sled with 2 bags of shot. Aim at backstop.
Cover receiver/barrel with multiple layers of quilted moving blanket, place two additional bags of shot over receiver, and fire from 20 ft behind with a lanyard.
Have had one bubba'd remington 700 come apart with this, (out of well over 200 "pawn shop rescues") and it wasn't very exciting.
 








 
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