A very scary thing happened.

[Sonny]

Monday I had some business to attend to in the big city and after I was done I hit up a few gun shops. One shop had a whole bunch of guns for sale on consignment. A Spanish Eibar 10 gauge double barrel shotgun caught my eye but do I really need a 10 gauge?
Hell yes because I don't have one.
So yesterday morning I took it out to the range for a try out. Dropped a couple of 3.5 inch shells into the chambers and snapped her shut..

BAM! The effing left barrel fired all by itself.

Scared the crap out of me. The gun jumped out of my left hand and the barrel hit me in the head, not hard but just enough to make my ballcap sit crooked on my noggin. Luckily I had a good hold on it with my right hand and stopped it from ending up in the dirt.
I cut open a shell and removed the shot, wad and powder, inserted it into the left chamber and when I closed it up the friggin primer went off again.
Went home and called the gun shop and explained what the hell happened and they knew I was pissed without me having to tell them. Anyways they were very good about it and said they would gladly give me a full refund.

So if there is a moral to the story I guess it is to make sure your muzzle is always pointed in a safe direction. Luckily I did and no one was hurt.

This was the first time I fired a 10 gauge but I never expected to shoot one from the hip like this..

[tjtM38]

That shotgun has a serious problem. Glad you weren't hurt.

[Sonny]

That shotgun has a serious problem. Glad you weren't hurt.

I'm not a gunsmith but I'm thinking maybe a worn sear on the left internal hammer and the snap of the action closing is causing the hammer to release prematurely but that's just a guess.

[tomaustin]

I have a 10 and it is scary when shooting well.....a controlled explosion...

[Longcolt44]

A BB gun or a 10 Gauge, safety is safety.

[Junk Yard Dog]

No, pointing the barrel downrange when the weapon goes hot is basic safety. The moral of the story is when you get an unfamiliar weapon, new or used, you take it down, inspect each part, and verify for yourself that all is well before you load it. My guess is worn sear, or firing pin rusted in the fired position. I have caught this sort of thing before with an old Stevens double, worn everything in the lockwork, I expected it after it failed a mild bump test. Just like buying a used car, guns can have worn out shit that needs replacing, commercial sporters even more so as they have not had trained military armorers keeping an eye on them.

[steelbuttplate]

No, pointing the barrel downrange when the weapon goes hot is basic safety. The moral of the story is when you get an unfamiliar weapon, new or used, you take it down, inspect each part, and verify for yourself that all is well before you load it. My guess is worn sear, or firing pin rusted in the fired position. I have caught this sort of thing before with an old Stevens double, worn everything in the lockwork, I expected it after it failed a mild bump test. Just like buying a used car, guns can have worn out shit that needs replacing, commercial sporters even more so as they have not had trained military armorers keeping an eye on them.

You might try working some PB blaster abound the firing pin , and in the trigger mechanism, is it stuck protruded ? try tapping it loose after it soaks awhile.

[Sonny]

No, pointing the barrel downrange when the weapon goes hot is basic safety. The moral of the story is when you get an unfamiliar weapon, new or used, you take it down, inspect each part, and verify for yourself that all is well before you load it. My guess is worn sear, or firing pin rusted in the fired position. I have caught this sort of thing before with an old Stevens double, worn everything in the lockwork, I expected it after it failed a mild bump test. Just like buying a used car, guns can have worn out shit that needs replacing, commercial sporters even more so as they have not had trained military armorers keeping an eye on them.

You might try working some PB blaster abound the firing pin , and in the trigger mechanism, is it stuck protruded ? try tapping it loose after it soaks awhile.

Drove to the city yesterday and got a refund no questions asked but here is what we did do...

So as soon as you open the action the internal hammers are cocked and the firing pins sucked back and don't protrude. Next we put a piece of scotch tape across both firing pin holes. Them snapped the action closed. Then we opened it up and removed the tape. Well there it was, a firing pin protrusion on the tape but only on the left side and not the right side. Also did a dry fire test. Closed the action and the right trigger went click when pulled but there was no click on the left trigger.
So everyone standing around the table agreed that when the action was opened both barrels were cocked but when the action was closed the left barrel fired on it's own.
In the end it all worked out. I got my money back and no one was hurt, plus a dangerous firearm is sitting on the gunsmiths bench awaiting repairs.

[steelbuttplate]

I wouldn't look for another double, I'd find a good 4x4

[Sonny]

Can you imagine if that were a 10 gauge and all four went off when you snapped it shut?

[Junk Yard Dog]

Can you imagine if that were a 10 gauge and all four went off when you snapped it shut?

I suspect the smell of fresh excrement, and urine would hang heavy in the air.

[steelbuttplate]

Can you imagine if that were a 10 gauge and all four went off when you snapped it shut?

I suspect the smell of fresh excrement, and urine would hang heavy in the air.

You couldn't smell it for the blood and snot in your freshly broken nose. That's where my Kentucky rifle hit me my first black powder shot ever, maybe 200- 300 grains powder was too much. It turned the hood of my white Jeep Wagoneer black. Must have been quite a fireball, but all I saw was stars.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Can you imagine if that were a 10 gauge and all four went off when you snapped it shut?

I suspect the smell of fresh excrement, and urine would hang heavy in the air.

You couldn't smell it for the blood and snot in your freshly broken nose. That's where my Kentucky rifle hit me my first black powder shot ever, maybe 200- 300 grains powder was too much. It turned the hood of my white Jeep Wagoneer black. Must have been quite a fireball, but all I saw was stars.

How did the barrel not burst apart, 300 grains would have filled the first few inches of the breech end. Who made that rifle? That load was for a swivel gun full of nails and broken iron pot fragments. Who gave you the idea to use a load that heavy in the first place? I would guess the normal load would be 35-maybe 60 FFG depending on the bore, most modern ones are .45-.50-.54 caliber

[steelbuttplate]

Can you imagine if that were a 10 gauge and all four went off when you snapped it shut?

I suspect the smell of fresh excrement, and urine would hang heavy in the air.

You couldn't smell it for the blood and snot in your freshly broken nose. That's where my Kentucky rifle hit me my first black powder shot ever, maybe 200- 300 grains powder was too much. It turned the hood of my white Jeep Wagoneer black. Must have been quite a fireball, but all I saw was stars.

How did the barrel not burst apart, 300 grains would have filled the first few inches of the breech end. Who made that rifle? That load was for a swivel gun full of nails and broken iron pot fragments. Who gave you the idea to use a load that heavy in the first place? I would guess the normal load would be 35-maybe 60 FFG depending on the bore, most modern ones are .45-.50-.54 caliber

The barrel was a Jukar. Late 70's and nobody knew anything about black powder here. Trial by fire. I was 19. The guy that ran the gun and tackle store in town told me a half a empty 12 ga. hull was just right. I adjusted down from that load to two .45 acp cases. Much better. Later on things like powder measures hit the market, this was in the first yrs. of N.C. black powder season.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Can you imagine if that were a 10 gauge and all four went off when you snapped it shut?

I suspect the smell of fresh excrement, and urine would hang heavy in the air.

You couldn't smell it for the blood and snot in your freshly broken nose. That's where my Kentucky rifle hit me my first black powder shot ever, maybe 200- 300 grains powder was too much. It turned the hood of my white Jeep Wagoneer black. Must have been quite a fireball, but all I saw was stars.

How did the barrel not burst apart, 300 grains would have filled the first few inches of the breech end. Who made that rifle? That load was for a swivel gun full of nails and broken iron pot fragments. Who gave you the idea to use a load that heavy in the first place? I would guess the normal load would be 35-maybe 60 FFG depending on the bore, most modern ones are .45-.50-.54 caliber

The barrel was a Jukar. Late 70's and nobody knew anything about black powder here. Trial by fire. I was 19. The guy that ran the gun and tackle store in town told me a half a empty 12 ga. hull was just right. I adjusted down from that load to two .45 acp cases. Much better. Later on things like powder measures hit the market, this was in the first yrs. of N.C. black powder season.

CVA, I know that rifle well, built a couple and bought a few more that were factory built, I still have one. CVA sold all the extras for that in the 1970's, I know because I bought all that stuff with my first BP shooters, and still have it all. BP came back in popularity during the 1950's old west cowboy movie and TV show craze, the Italians, Germans, Spanish, and Japanese began flooding the US market with replica BP shooters of all kinds. Loading a basic squirrel rifle like that CVA should have been common knowledge to anyone owning a sporting goods shop, or gun shop, the guy must have been some sort of moron. CVA is Connecticut Valley Arms, a big retailer and importer of BP replicas who sold kits and whole guns in catalogs and department stored during the 1970's and 1980's. They were doing a good business during the Bicentennial years when interest in American historical firearms was booming. They were one of the better outfits, and their stuff by Jukar was good quality, the reason you survived. There was a .45 caplock pistol that went with that rifle, it could be built from a kit also. The Kentucky you had was probably .45, they also offered a .50 Hawken rifle and pistol, and various revolvers, derringers and so on. I have one of their double shotguns, unfired, got it off a customer who bought it back then and just never used it. CVA is still in business, company headquarters is in Georgia, and they still sell BP guns, but not the old Jukars anymore, they opened in 1971

[steelbuttplate]

It was a .45 CVA Kentucky rifle. I bought one of those kits. I carried it about 5 yrs. killed two deer with it, and found a much lighter rifle that I've used 22 years. I've about quit black powder, the season here is early Oct., and too frigin hot. I used to hunt the Northern Mtns. near Virginia where the season is mid Nov. , a perfect time to be in the woods on the Blue ridge.