One in a billion

[KHyatt]

A few days ago I read a thread about x-rays made of guns picked up from the battlefield (Gettysburg?) that showed multiple rounds loaded in abandoned guns. It reminded me of a gun that I saw in a small museum many years ago. I was only a child and I don't remember too many details such as the location. Hopefully someone here has been in the same museum and can provide more information.

The gun was a rifle (no idea what model) that was carried by a Union soldier. There was a significant bulge in the middle of the barrel. An x-ray image hanging on the wall with the gun revealed that a Minié ball had entered the muzzle of the rifle just as it had been fired and the two balls collided in the middle of the barrel. The soldier carrying the gun was killed by the explosion but I don't remember exactly how. The museum claimed that the odds of such a thing happening were one in a billion. I don't doubt it.

So, has anyone else seen this gun? Anyone know of similar occurrences?

 

[Gary Morgan]

Haven't come across that, but was told that during a battle on the Yadkin River in NC, a cannon ball shot from across the river landed in the barrel of a Confederate cannon, blowing it to bits.

 

[KHyatt]

Wow - I never heard of that incident. I imagine someone had a bad day. Maybe the incidence should be two in a billion.

 

[CowCavalry]

A few days ago I read a thread about x-rays made of guns picked up from the battlefield (Gettysburg?) that showed multiple rounds loaded in abandoned guns. It reminded me of a gun that I saw in a small museum many years ago. I was only a child and I don't remember too many details such as the location. Hopefully someone here has been in the same museum and can provide more information.

The gun was a rifle (no idea what model) that was carried by a Union soldier. There was a significant bulge in the middle of the barrel. An x-ray image hanging on the wall with the gun revealed that a Minié ball had entered the muzzle of the rifle just as it had been fired and the two balls collided in the middle of the barrel. The soldier carrying the gun was killed by the explosion but I don't remember exactly how. The museum claimed that the odds of such a thing happening were one in a billion. I don't doubt it.

So, has anyone else seen this gun? Anyone know of similar occurrences?

Wow, what bad luck. I have seen picked up minies for sale years ago around battlegrounds where two had collided in mid air and mushed together.