Posted on 07/01/2002 10:00:31 AM PDT by Atlas Sneezed
A New Jersey man died after his rifle barrel exploded while he was target shooting over the weekend at the Easton Rod and Gun Club in Northampton County, authorities said Sunday.
The accident happened Saturday at the club's Lower Saucon Township firing range at 11:30 a.m., said Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim.
There was an explosion in the barrel of the rifle that Glenn deRuiter, 54, of 268 W. Portal Road, Bethlehem Township, Hunterdon County, was firing, Grim said.
The blast sent out shrapnel, and one piece hit deRuiter in the head, Grim said.
DeRuiter died at 2:30 p.m. at St. Luke's Hospital, Fountain Hill, Grim said.
Grim, who ruled the death an accident, said the malfunction happened in the rifle's receiver ring.
Neighbors learned of deRuiter's death Sunday night.
''Everyone is in total shock,'' said neighbor Beverly Graczyk, the mayor of Bethlehem Township, about 40 miles east of Allentown.
''All of us are just gasping and trying to recover,'' she said.
Dairy farmer Bernie Beatty is another neighbor.
''He was a wonderful man, a wonderful father,'' Beatty said. ''I just saw him the other day. He was always working in the yard, doing something.''
DeRuiter also was a gun enthusiast, Graczyk said.
''He had quite an extensive gun collection,'' Graczyk said. ''I believe he worked for a company that manufactures firearms.''
DeRuiter and his wife, Joan, who is a teacher, have lived in the township for about 20 years.
''Glenn was a quiet, very nice man,'' Graczyk said.
''They are the kind of people you really want for neighbors, to be part of the community. He was just a really good guy.''
Graczyk said she knew deRuiter's wife through her efforts to save the Asbury Bridge, which Graczyk said was a ''wonderful antique'' with iron tresses.
''She fought hard to save that bridge,'' Graczyk said. ''But the county wouldn't listen and put up a new ugly one.''
As word of the accident spread through the township Sunday night, Graczyk said, ''This is a tough one … really, really hard.''
Copyright © 2002, The Morning Call
Trusses or trestles?
That's my bet.
My first thought, too. Makes you wonder if he was pushing the max load listed. Too many folks don't have the proper respect for pressures.
The only thing I use other folks' reloads for is to recover the brass.
Could have been a underpressure (squib) load that lodged a bullet in the barrel.
The explosion occurs on the next round. Chances are good he was playing with reloads.
But, there is nothing wrong with reloads per se. They are an integral part of our gun culture. Like everything else with guns, reloads require clear thinking, attention to detail and safety above all else.
It can happen, even to careful reloaders... I knew a guy who accidentally grabbed a can of Winchester 231 instead of the Winchester 296 he wanted for a .44Mag load!
As I recall, about 7 gr of 231 is a very nice, light load with a 240gr LSWC bullet. About 29gr of 296 is a very heavy load wih the same bullet. This guy put 29gr of 231 behind that bullet! It blew the cylinder apart!
Mark
EBUCK
EBUCK
That was my guess.
Yeah, but not enough to blow up the chamber on a modern rifle. My guess is he forgot to put powder in a round and the primer had enough pressure to push the bullet into the barrel (it's happened to me). When he pulled the empty case from the chamber he probably looked at it a little funny then decided he had a brain fart and forgot to pull the last fired case from the chamber, loaded another and pulled the trigger.
That's why I weigh every completed round. The unloaded ones stick out like sore thumbs.
EBUCK
The other was a 6 shot semi-automatic 12 guage. on the 3rd or 4th round (attempting to rapidly fire all 6) the cap on the end of the ammo tube (or whatever it is actually called) came off and the whole thing just went to pieces.
Luckily I was not injured in anyway from either instance.
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