To his friends, George Brown, of Cortwright, has always been known as “Lucky.” Fortunately, that luck held on a Dec. 5, 2024 deer hunt outside of Marthaville. That’s when he experienced a disastrous, barrel rupture that could have easily caused serious or even lifethreatening injuries.
Given the circumstances, that’s a small price to pay. The 63-year-old hunter was acting as a driver for a deer drive, when he saw two deer heading his way. Lucky took two shots at the passing deer. The second shot only ejected a quarter inch out of the chamber.
In the excitement of the moment, he manually dislodged it, loaded the gun and put one more shell in the magazine. Then he ran after the deer for another shot. He caught up to one standing broadside at 40 yards.
“When I fired, my gun went ka-boom,” he said, “and my hands stung. I liken it to holding onto a wooden bat that’s just been hit hard by a fastball.” After regaining composure, he immediately saw that his barrel was ruptured nine inches from the breech, barely missing where his thumb was positioned. He guesses that the slug exited at that point and theorizes that it was because that last shot followed a squib load (a shell with not enough power to propel the bullet beyond the barrel). Blockages like this cause excessive pressure in the barrel and ruptures. That, or whatever else, could have caused the barrel rupture, cannot be proven with the information at hand. Nor does it matter.
What matters is that Lucky survived unharmed. “I should have recognized that something went wrong and immediately placed the firearm on safe, unloaded it, and determined the issue. I should not have loaded up and taken that third shot,” he said.
He went on to say that he, and the others in his group, thought his experience would be a good reminder to hunters — especially those using semi-autos — to stop shooting and check their barrels for obstructions after what appears to be an ammunition or ejection failure.
“I’m happy that no one was hurt and that I can pass along this information,” he said.
Originally published in the Spring 2025 issue of Ontario OUT of DOORS
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