A SUPER LONG RANGE OOOOPS!

[goodgrouper]

Yesterday in the canyon above my house, a Udot (utah department of trans) avalanche control team was shooting their 105mm howitzer at a mountain side to produce man-made, controllable avalanches reports the local news. After cranking in the desired elevation to hit the top of the mountain via GPS, they fired a round only to never see it hit the mountain! Turns out that the shell casing holds five units of propellant and they always take out 2 of the units for avalanche control shooting. Well, not always! They forgot on the last round to remove the 2 units and as such fired a 30 pound shell <font color="red"> over the mountain </font> and into a man's backyard 3 miles away! Can you imagine the shooters face as he realized that there was no sound of the shell hitting the mountain where he planned! <font color="green"> Wheeereeedit gooooooo?? </font>

The shell landed in the man's backyard and caused in the area of 100,000 dollars of damage. Besides the 7 foot wide crater in his lawn, it destroyed the siding on his house, blew out all his windows, caved in a metal shed, knocked out the tail lights of his car and his neighbors car, and sent shrapnell into the living room just inches above the head of his young son watching tv!

Udot immediately fessed up to the long range flier, and will pay all damages. No word if the shooters still have jobs, or if they will be reduced to shooting much closer targets with regular guns like the rest of us.

I wonder if Udot is in need of another long range shooter.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[4ked Horn]

That is what we call a "f@&lt;#ing meow".

It comes from watching a cat run smack dab into a sliding glass door then walking across the room like it meant to smash into the door on purpose. The cat looks back at the room of laughing people and says "f@&lt;#ing meow".

All brain cells front and center.
Don't touch the trigger 'till you are ready to shoot.
And NO "f@&lt;#ing meows".

 

[3sixbits]

Thanks for the story, I needed that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Brown Dog]

Goodgrouper,
Reminds me of a story I heard recently about when the Parachute Regiment were working-up for the Falklands.

The machine gun platoon were on a range in South Wales 'balancing' and generally playing with their GPMGs. After lots of rounds downrange, a local lady rang to complain that the windows on her greenhouse were getting smashed and could they stop firing.

The range staff went to visit her to see the problem. True to her word, the greenhouse was peppered; but when they looked around they noticed bullet pockmarks at various other spots on her house.

She said words to the effect " Oh yes the house is always getting hit, I don't usually mind, it's just with all this extra firing I got a bit fed up" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Turns out the range had been built a few degrees off the specified bearing and its off-axis template took the danger area onto civ land. Whole thing had to be rebuilt!

In true longrange terms, I had a personal Wheeereeedi[they] gooooooo?? moment: 18rds in the air, village over ridgeline 5kms plus of target on gun-target line. Didn't see or hear a single round land /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif. A sphincter moment. Village wasn't hit; but we never found out where those rounds went (still up there in a low-Earth orbit is my best guess!)! Ho hum /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Pete Lincoln]

Shall i mention the 180 deg of target ( wrong way) salvo that a certain field regiment managed to pull off up at Bergan Hohne. wacked a farmers cow shed and field of corn to [censored].
Guys the impact area is North, why are you shooting south?
that was covered up and i bet the farmer is still living off the compensation and keep quiet money.
Or the 36 rounds that landed on the Prarie (and in a lake) on the training area around Wainright Alberta, where planks ( Brit term for Arty soldiers) got thier fuse types muddled up.. me and the ATO took several days to mark those impacts.
[censored] happens.
Pete

 

[Glock119]

love these stories, Great stuff. Glad to see others making mistakes, gives us something to learn from.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[jsali]

Reminds me of an article I read while back.

Armed forces were conducting an excercsie in western Europe. They had sealed off an area with more than enough room to contain all the live ammunition and artillery illumination rounds they intended to fire (something like 10 km square). So after conducting the excercise they receive a phone call from a local farmer who is a little peaved that one of his cows was "terminated with extreme prejudice" during the excercise. The military convinced this was a ploy to get money out of them sent a few officers to investigate the claim (after all, every round expended had been accounted for and confirmed on target). Upon arrival the team discovers a cow, four legs in the air, with an illumination round cannister imbedded in its chest. Apparently they did not take into consideration that the cannisters that contain illumanation rounds fly considerably farther than the phosphor cargo they transport.

 

[Buffalobob]

That is just too true - whop whop whop - you can hear em coming at you- as they tumble they make - a whoping noise. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I guess the cow didn't duck.

 

[Centre Punch]

Pete,
As i found out not long ago, you cant say: [censored] or [censored] and [censored], the program wont let you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Ian.

 

[Dave King]

LOL

[censored words]

Yeah, there are some pre-loaded words in the censored box (comes from the factory like that). I don't believe we've loaded any extra but then we didn't remove any either (we're [computer geeks] sort of lazy like that sometimes...saving keystrokes).

(I have thought about putting "Savage" and "Tasco" in there just for the entertainment value.)

 

[Bob S.]

That would be funny! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[abinok]

grrrr...

[ QUOTE ]
(I have thought about putting "Savage" and "Tasco" in there just for the entertainment value.)



[/ QUOTE ]

I just know that Savage comment was pointed at me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
**** remchester shooters....

 

[4ked Horn]

I would rather have a Savage comment pointed at me than Mr Rangers (empty) Winchester.

 

[Centre Punch]

Dave,
Dont forget Simmons!!!!!

Ian.