The gun in the lobby of the Rhode Island capitol building was also loaded for a number of years until a child ask if it was loaded. It was unloaded by the National Guard who drilled a hole in the bottom of the tube and removed the powder charge rendering it safe.
Nowhere near as exciting, but I was once mailed a .62 constabulary percussion carbine and force-of-habit, checked it upon receipt. Yup - had to use a worm to remove a 20 gauge slug over a charge of nitro powder in the chamber.
civilwartalk.com
I wonder how many passersby that witness this try to remove it.
Forum HostWhy would you do that????? The story of that musket with a round in was lost to time. There is NO way it would have gone off.
To follow up, this link contains a 2024 post by a guy who claims to be that kid.
I read your comment about the cannon in the lobby of the Rhode Island capitol building to my daughter and now I have to put some percussion rifles I had shipped to me in the garage, still boxed, until I head back home next month. She doesn't know that I have two more coming.
I feel your pain, at a recent gun show, I violated Bob's Rule #1: NEVER BUY A LOADED SHELL. To be honest, it was in with several others all that had been de-milled and to be honest it was too good a deal to pass up on. Once I got them home and realized that I did have an active shell , I put it in a 5 gallon bucket of water in my back yard which still didn't please my wife. The next problem was finding someone to deactivate it as there's not many people left that do this and safely getting it to them. Thanks to an excellent packaging job and a very good friend that was safely accomplished and now I'm waiting on it's return. And while it probably wouldn't have presented a problem, it always pays to be sure. Bob's Rule #2, There' s old and there's bold, but I've gotten way too old to be very bold.
My issue may now be spreading to swords too. There may be some justification since some of the swords I have recently obtained are very sharp Japanese swords. I don't think I need to worry about artillery projectiles. I've been deathly afraid of having a live one all my life. The few times I went metal detecting I always hoped I wouldn't dig up a shell. Years ago there was guy who would disarm live artillery shells down the road apiece in Chester, VA. He was killed trying to disarm a siege mortar shell, if I remember correctly. He was an expert and he still fell to an unfortunate accident, so there's no way I would have anything to do with a live shell.I feel your pain, at a recent gun show, I violated Bob's Rule #1: NEVER BUY A LOADED SHELL. To be honest, it was in with several others all that had been de-milled and to be honest it was too good a deal to pass up on. Once I got them home and realized that I did have an active shell , I put it in a 5 gallon bucket of water in my back yard which still didn't please my wife. The next problem was finding someone to deactivate it as there's not many people left that do this and safely getting it to them. Thanks to an excellent packaging job and a very good friend that was safely accomplished and now I'm waiting on it's return. And while it probably wouldn't have presented a problem, it always pays to be sure. Bob's Rule #2, There' s old and there's bold, but I've gotten way too old to be very bold.
Bringing the