[RightOnTheBorder]

I once read a story (in a book called “Death in the Tall Grass”) about a hunter who got so wound up when he saw a lion that he operated the bolt on his rifle 4 times without ever pulling the trigger once. Afterward when the his guide asked what happened the guy actually thought he was shooting and missing. The lesson above is less about knowing how to operate your weapon and more about not panicking.

[Inyo-Mono]

Ah yes, Death in the Long Grass by Peter Hathaway Capstick, great read, right up there with Jim Corbett's Man-Eaters of Kumaon.

[Robert A Cook PE]

I once read a story (in a book called “Death in the Tall Grass”) about a hunter who got so wound up when he saw a lion that he operated the bolt on his rifle 4 times without ever pulling the trigger once. Afterward when the his guide asked what happened the guy actually thought he was shooting and missing. The lesson above is less about knowing how to operate your weapon and more about not panicking.

Many hundred - probably thousands! - of Civil War rifled muskets have been found abandoned after the battles with 4-5-6-7 musket balls rammed down the barrel. With wad and powder rammed down between each Minie ball!

How many tens of thousands of additional rifles were replaced or discarded during the war by men who misfired once, reloaded, misfired again, reloaded, misfired again, ....

[Axenolith]

There are stories of Civil War soldiers finishing battles with their rifled filled near to the end with multiple charges.