Nosler Explosion

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44 AMP

Staff
They are reporting all safe and accounted for.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I can't imagine a company as experienced as Nosler being deliberately lax on industrial safety, but even the best programs can miss something.
 
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imdarren

New member
Follow up.
The local news in Portland Oregon said that an Employee (I assume near the test firing tunnel) looked over and saw a cannister of powder on fire, and evryone evacuated VERY quickly, and then there was a huge explosion.
I'll be curious to hear the investigation report later.

Darren
 
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Mike Irwin

Staff
Hey, things happen. Years ago the plant that manufactured Pyrodex was leveled by an explosion which killed the powder's inventor.

What I want to know, though, is why the news anchor is wearing dinner plates on her dress?
 
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booker_t

New member
Dangerous business, although I'm surprised there was so much damage to the building. Good explosives handling and range design means only storing so much of one type of explosive material in any given area, having frequently measured grounds and bonds to prevent sparks or static charge, and other techniques to ensure that even if there is a detonation, it is very limited both in size and spread.

Mike, it was my understanding that the news crew plays frisbee between telecasts.
 
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GAR700

New member
I used to work at Nosler (4 years ago). Safety was always stressed and I am surprised something like this happened. It's a testament to their safety standards that nobody was killed. I can't imagine their safety standards slipping but I guess you never can tell. Wild...
GAR
 
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Don P

New member
What I want to know, though, is why the news anchor is wearing dinner plates on her dress?
Click to expand...




She has no thumbs and only two fingers on each hand. Only way she could work the buttons if they are BIG!
 
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dnsng52

New member
Appreciate everyones concern over the explosion at Nosler. I am an employee of Nosler. We were all called today. Company will meet payroll this next week. They are taking good care of all employees and we wll know more Monday. Plans are to be in production within 30 days.
Whether we meet that goal remains to be seen. We are still awaiting word from authorities whether it is safe to go in the building, such as air quality, etc. They have not as of yet determined the cause. There was no gun powder sitting out that caught fire. It was a flash fire inside the tunnel they shoot through. They were proof firing a new rifle when this happened There are no combustables inside the tunnels. This is what makes it such a mystery. Thanks again everyone. I will post again when I here more.
 
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Sevens

New member
I am horribly unqualified to sit here and guess at what happened...
So, of course, I'll take a stab! :eek:

Constantly firing rifles in to tunnels would lead to a build up (over many months or years?) of unburnt powder that is expelled from rifles or handguns that would collect... just waiting for the perfect storm for ignition?

My "theory" seems much more possible with handguns (which, I would think Nosler is shooting many LESS of) than with rifles as rifles tend to burn a larger percentage of their powder.

Is my theory full of it?
 
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dnsng52

New member
Our building at Nosler was release to us from the authorities and I was called back to work for Monday a.m. I do not know yet how many have been called back. There will be a lot of clean up needed. Much smoke and water damage. I work in maintenance and do most of the fabrication work so I no doubt will be salvaging and rebuilding equipment that was damaged or destroyed. Will post later on progress.
 
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riverwalker76

New member
I'd be interested to know if Nosler even produces any of their ammunition at that plant.

I don't know ... that's why I'm asking. Does Nosler package cartridges at THAT plant or do they just produce BULLETS?

When I first heard the report from the female reporter ... I said to myself .... here we go again. She's saying "bullets ... ammunition factory". :rolleyes: It's a typical reporter/ignorant assumption.

Now ... if it's the testing area I can understand. They said something about the 'ballistics testing area' which would make sense, but it's not a "ammunition plant" like the reporter would have you believe.
 
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dnsng52

New member
FYI Nosler. We do produce some custom reloading for the public use. It is pretty limited since it is custom loads and not sold to companys for resale. This is done on the opposite end of our plant. You can get more information on our custom loading on our website at http://www.nosler.com.
 
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N.H. Yankee

New member
The MTM muzzleloader plant exploded in Northern N.H. a few weeks ago killing two employee's. They had a machine that was written up for electrical safety issues, the machine was worked on the day before the explosion and from what I am reading in the news the state is looking into pursuing charges against the owner.

This doesn't mean he was negligent, he may have hired someone to repair the machine and it was done improperly. Supposedly the machine was tagged not to operate but the story seems to be vague. Anytime gunpowder is involved things can go wrong, EH lets see, I have a stick of dynamite in one hand and a lit match in the other, what could possibly go wrong.:D
Hope no one was injured, as most of us take for granted the risks the employees take in this industry.
 
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FrankenMauser

New member
The real damage here, is psychological.

It may be difficult for MTM to hire new employees, when everyone knows about the dangers of the operation, and the deaths that occurred.


Even with Nosler, being able to evacuate the building - some employees are likely to be shaken enough that this incident will end up being the "beginning of the end" of their employment there.
 
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