Errant Bullet Travels 1.5 Miles, Kills Amish Girl

WLWT ^ | 12:01 pm EST December 20, 2011 | WLWT

[TSgt]

FREDERICKSBURG, Ohio -- An Ohio sheriff says a man cleaning his muzzle-loading rifle accidentally shot and killed a 15-year-old Amish girl driving a horse-drawn buggy more than a mile away.

Holmes County Sheriff Timothy Zimmerly said Tuesday that the accident occurred Thursday night when a man fired his loaded rifle to clean it. He says the victim, Rachel Yoder of Fredericksburg, was nearly 1.5 miles away when she was shot in the head.

No charges have been filed.

Yoder was shot while traveling to her home in adjacent Wayne County, between Columbus and Akron. She was riding alone after attending a Christmas party for employees, most under 18 years old, who work at an Amish produce farm.

[verga]

He picks up a knife and comes after her as she loads one of the rounds dropped on the floor during the popping rounds out of the magazine incident and stuffs a round in the chamber which is accessible because THE SLIDE IS LOCKED BACK. Fail. I do remeber the episode, and I was thinking about your comment. I can't speak to the model weapon she was using, but that does work with my 45.

[verga]

It was a muzzle-loader, smooth bore, no rifling grooves on the projectile,

where does it say it was a smooth bore?

[JudgemAll]

One thing is I do not know how black powder, slow burning could be so powerful.

Sure, a long barrel and a heat quantity pressuring the gas, but that must have been a stuck bullet.

A 700 grain BMg coming out at mach 3, sure, 1.5 mile shots have been recorded...
I’ll have to check specks on black powder... Maybe they want to ban it indeed.

Anything to starve us.

[Peet]

I do remeber the episode, and I was thinking about your comment. I can't speak to the model weapon she was using, but that does work with my 45.

Interesting. All my semi-auto pistols will not slide-lock by themselves if there's no empty magazine in them. They can, of course, be locked manually. Unfortunately my collection is limited so I can't speak to Glocks, 1911s of various manufacture, and so on...

I assumed (yeah, I know about "assume") that _most_ semi-autos behaved that way.

[verga]

I assumed (yeah, I know about "assume") that _most_ semi-autos behaved that way.

I mentioned this to my wife and she reminded me that niether her Ruger or Erma Excam locked back with out the mags.

I now have to do a whole lot more research, and find out what her carry piece is on CSI:NY

[Peet]

I now have to do a whole lot more research, and find out what her carry piece is on CSI:NY

Sorry about that! ;-)

ISTR it had a really flat top on the slide (if only I could see that scene again) so I'm guessing Glock; probably in .40 cal. Considering the research the CSI folks do, I'd not expect an error that obvious, though.

OTOH, CSI-LV hired that bartender idiot and lost me as a viewer, but then nobody came close to Petersen...

[Avalon Hussar]

The Sharps is a breech loader, but it is still a black powder rifle. During the 1874 Creedmore Match, the US and Irish marksmen were regularly hitting the bullseye at 1,000 yards (the furthest target available at the match), with one American scoring thirty-six bullseyes and nine centers with his forty-five shots for an amazing 171 out of 180 points possible.

I understand that, but what I was getting at is I thought that a cartridge allowed the black powder to be packed tighter, thereby allowing less room for the gases to expand before pushing the sabot down the barrel and achieving a higher muzzle velocity, and consequently a longer range, which seems to be evidenced by the accuracy of the Sharps.

Was I wrong in thinking this?

[Pearls Before Swine]

A muzzle loader can use a huge powder charge, and at the optimum trajectory can travel about 3 miles.

Ban the sniper muzzle loaders! /S

[Okieshooter]

“Was I wrong in thinking this? “

Yes, the only advantage of a cartridge gun over a muzzle loader is the convenioce of breech loading preloaded cartridges. Some modern muzzle loaders even use smokeless powder.

[Avalon Hussar]

Yes, the only advantage of a cartridge gun over a muzzle loader is the convenioce of breech loading preloaded cartridges. Some modern muzzle loaders even use smokeless powder.

Hmm, learn something every day. Thanks for setting me straight on that one.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

I watched that again, there was enough time for her to have locked the slide back when she saw him get up, there is also a click sound about the time she did it. There is about half a frame after the first shot that shows the end of the gun, slide closed.

Although they didn't show her doing it she had to have opened and locked the slide as they showed the perp getting up and dispaying the knife.

Some semi-auto pistols have a clip safety that prevents firing without the clip being inserted. I don't think any Glocks do.

My pet peeve tv/movie goof is when they rack the slide when there was one in the chamber from their previous magazine insertion, or from the last time the racked the slide needlessly.

[Peet]

Thank you for updating me. I'll watch carefully if I can catch it in re-runs.

Some semi-auto pistols have a clip safety that prevents firing without the clip being inserted. I don't think any Glocks do.

I'll check the Sig 226 and get back to you tomorrow on that one.

[X-FID]

So think a little more! A muzzle loader can use a huge powder charge, and at the optimum trajectory can travel about 3 miles. Especially the long guns.

Three miles my aching ass. Some of you guys need to go to a rifle range, you just can't overload any weapon that can't handle it, it will blow up in your hands. Three miles LOL.

[editor-surveyor]

A Hawkin is built to handle it.

[X-FID]

A hawkin What? Need more info.

[editor-surveyor]

Rifle.

[buffaloguy]

“What are you guys aiming at a mile away?”

I just found out about it so I am not familiar with the target. I woud assume it is paper large enough to show 3 minutes of arc at 1 mile.

I will check it out and get back to you.

[buffaloguy]

.45-70 is long range. The army started to issue the Springfield trapdoor with 1500 yard sites in 1879 more for area affect than point shooting, but the round was and is quite capable.

.45-70 is commonly used with black powder at 1,000 yards and it does just fine. You do want to have adjustable sights that are rather tall. My adjustable sights are always being moved for windage and distance.

Berdan’s snipers during the Civil War started their work at 800 yards and went out to 1500 yards or so.

[buffaloguy]

Most rounds that you buy are flatnose to accomodate lever actions because the recoil is so high that a pointy nosed bullet will fire the primer of the round in front of it in the tube magazine. Which would be less than optimal.

There are many, many round and sharp nosed bullets available if you cast your own. Neihandtools.com has a good selection of molds and most mold makers make them. Lyman has some great molds for long distance as well silhouette shooting.

[buffaloguy]

There is an 1800 yard range near Hotchkiss, Co. which is a favorite of long distance shooters. From their site:

“Friends of Billy Dixon Ultra Long Range Shooting Facility (FoBDSF, or simply, “the range”), located at the Stengel Gun Shop. This facility is situated five miles west of Hotchkiss, Colorado, adjacent to State Highway 92 (on the north side). This range offers targets and shooting positions for shots to 1800 yards — by any sporting-arms definition, 40 yards beyond one mile is long range.

In long distance shooting, mass of the bullet is everything. 500 grains is minumum and you can go up to 575 if you wish. Most of the BP long distance shooting is subsonic. Maybe 950 feet per second according to a friend of mine who does it frequently with a Sharps.