Anyone broken a rifle by dropping it / falling over?

[dustin]

Morning all,

I had a bit of a spill yesterday while out and about.

Nothing exciting, just slipped over and fell on my ass, but my rifle went for a dive too when I scrambled to grab on to something out of reflex.

Everything was fine, but I can tell you there was a seconds panic when I realised I'd thrown it into the dirt

So have any of you blokes ever broken a rifle by dropping it?

I guess you'd either brake the action out of the stock, or if you bent the bolt in the action or something along those lines?

Does it happen much?

[Streamline]

Unless you really give it a bash on something hard, usually the worst thing that will happen is your scope with need a click or two back on zero.

Any decent rifle will be pretty rugged. A drop onto grass/dirt will scratch up your nice walnut, but won't stop it working.

To split the stock I think you'd have to drop it on a bad angle on a sharp rock or something like that. It's never going to just pop apart.

[BRNOmod2]

Fortunately only one experience - When was a young fella dropped my air rifle whilst clambering over some rocks, scope was buggered and would not hold zero. Was only cheap asian scope so was not unexpected given the battering it took. But was devastated at time as it was my pide and joy at tender age of 10.

[Lyam]

A few spills on slipper wet grass but never any issues.

Clambering over awkward rocks like BRNO said is what will get you if anything.

[Harts]

A few spills on slipper wet grass but never any issues.

Same, a few scuffles down loose gravel or wet grass and had the rifle go for a brief slide.

Never onto a hard rock surface though.

You'd have to pitch it into the ground I reckon to bend the bolt or action. But breaking a scope or splitting the butt of the stock could well happen.

[Oldbloke]

I have dropped my deer rifle a few times and just a few scratches were the result..

[bawoog]

I half dropped mine on the concrete and it was ok.

I knocked it off the bench and half caught it on my foot which I stuck out to try and soften the blow.

A tiny little flattening where the stock where it hit the concrete, everything ok after though.

[Sakoh]

I knocked it off the bench and half caught it on my foot which I stuck out to try and soften the blow.

Yep, the old foot lunge.

It's saved mine before too

[Grrzrr]

Same as everyone else.

A few slips on lose gravel or wet grass, but never dropped it with a real *crack*

[reddog]

I knocked it off the bench and half caught it on my foot which I stuck out to try and soften the blow.

Yep, the old foot lunge.

It's saved mine before too

Did the same taking a brand new VXIII Leupold out of the box , picked the box up and like slow motion the top of the box and the bottom
separated dropped onto a chair and the scope rolled onto the concrete floor , saved by the good ol foot lunge and the neoprene scope cover.
Lesson learned , Don't open you parcels when you get home after a session at the pub
But all good no damage done

[Vati]

Did the same taking a brand new VXIII Leupold out of the box , picked the box up and like slow motion the top of the box and the bottom separated dropped onto a chair and the scope rolled onto the concrete floor , saved by the good ol foot lunge and the neoprene scope cover.
Lesson learned , Don't open you parcels when you get home after a session at the pub
But all good no damage done

Nice save.

Not exactly a cheap scope... I'd have been fuuuurious with myself for dropping it

[reddog]

Yeah I gave myself a pretty good talking to

[sarki]

Yeah I gave myself a pretty good talking to

Isn't that the first sign of madness?

[Muddy1967]

Talking to you're self is cool, it's when you answer you're self back, that's when the fun begins

[Aster]

Talking to you're self is cool, it's when you answer you're self back that the fun begins

It's sounding better and better

[headspace]

My drill instructor way back said that if you drop your rifle you had better hit the ground before it does. The penalty would be a hundred or so push ups and having a new one torn out.
JD

[reddog]

Yeah I gave myself a pretty good talking to

Isn't that the first sign of madness?

Um any other signs I should know about

[Tonit]

Um any other signs I should know about

Any of these apparently...

- Nobody listens to you anymore because they can't understand you through that scuba mask.

- You begin to stop and consider all the blades of grass you've stepped on as a child, and worry that their descendants are going to one day seek revenge.

- Your dentist asks you why each individual tooth has your name etched on it, and you tell him it's for security reasons.

- When the waiter asks for your order, you go into the other room to tell him because "the napkins have ears."

- You write to your mother in Germany every week, even though she sends you mail from Iowa asking why you never write.

- You call up random people and ask if you can borrow their dog, just for a few minutes.

- You argue with yourself over which is better, to be eaten by a koala or loved by an infectious disease.

- You like to sit in cornfields for prolonged periods of time and pretend you're a stalk.

- You think that exploding wouldn't be that bad, once you got used to it.

- You try to make a list of the warning signs of insanity (cough).

- People offer you help, but you unfortunately interpret this as a violation of your rights as a boysenberry.