1903 Rifle with Blown Action

[Jim Tarleton]

I am pretty sure Michael's tests are on a Jouster forum. Sadly, I think Mike deleted them. I have PO's tests somewhere upstairs, where I haven't been in 10-years. I wonder if that coon still lives up there?

People are funny about what is safe to shoot and what is not. I have a Rem Rolling Block in 7mm. I shoot commercial ammo in it. One day I was plinking with it and as soon as I fired, something hit me in the forehead. I reached up and picked a fired primer out of my bleeding forehead. The source was no mystery. I was a mile deep in a swamp filled with cottonmouths the size of your calf muscle. I also know it is "technically" impossible for the primer to blow past the lock in a RRB unless the hammer is all the way back. I related the event to a friend of mine, and he called a 10 on the BS meter Always safety conscious, I calmly asked him if he wanted to give her a go. An hour later, that sucker was picking a fired primer out of his forehead.

I think I know how it was done.

The rifle is disassembled and locked away ever since, along with another RRB 45-70 project and my whole CCH setup. It is amazing what a little rap on the head will do for you. Did I mention I have a cute little dimple in my forehead now?

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[rcathey]

I am pretty sure Michael's tests are on a Jouster forum. Sadly, I think Mike deleted them.

I did manage to find some reference to this through a google search on a different forum. This is coming from someone who claimed to talk to someone who claimed to be there...so take with a few grains of salt. Still very interesting:

"The Springfield Trapdoor belonged to Don Neal, another single shot aficionado.
John said they kept adding 3031 powder to the case until approaching .458 magnum pressure and still the Springfield held. They had to knock the case out from the muzzle with a rod as the pressure rose. She finally blew with 40 grains of 2400 sending the block skyward as they could not get enough 3031 into the case to make Springfield fail.
His postmortem showed that the barrel had split at the extractor cut and the escaping gas had taken the action apart."