Man injured during rifle failure at Koko Head Shooting Complex
DENNIS ODA / MARCH 4
In this file photo, Rex Peralta shoots a gun at the Koko Head Shooting Complex.
A man was injured today after a rifle failed while it was being fired at Koko Head Shooting Complex.
An employee said the man was next to a person firing a 9 mm rifle when the casing erupted and the man was hit with debris on his lower torso. The victim sustained non-life threatening lacerations and went to the hospital.
Harvey Gerwig, president of the Hawaii Rifle Association, identified the victim as Christopher Mann, a former HRA board member. He said he heard from others that the incident was related to “catastrophic” rifle failure. He described Mann as a black powder specialist with an interest in historic weapons that fired using black powder.
34 responses to “Man injured during rifle failure at Koko Head Shooting Complex”
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That’s what ” specialists ” do.
And just what do they do exactly?
it is crazy to have this firing range is such a populated area. Closed it down.Most locals can hardly control cars with wheels and engines. Why do you think they can control a rifle. Close this dangerous range down.
allie, some Hawaii Kai residents as well as people visiting Hanauma Bay claim to have found spent bullets lying on the ground, but I am unaware of any fatalities or even a minor scratch due to the public’s use of the Koko Head range. You have to consider that the range has been in operation for over fifty years. You’d think by now any real danger posed by its location would be obvious.
There was a suicide at the pistol range. That would be the only incident I know of in the 25 years that I have been going. The range masters were all efficient and kept an eye on beginners and newcomers. It is very organized and safety comes first.
uh, saveparadise, I think allie’s concern was for the people residing outside and around Koko Head Crater. Thinking in extremes, that would be an area from Niu Valley and Hawaii Kai to maybe as far as Sandy Beach.
In my experience, the Koko Head Range masters do an excellent job and safety is the prime consideration. Generally, people who use the range share the same values and are generous with their advice to new shooters.. Some years ago, the pistol range was re-aligned to face east rather than in the direction of Hanauma Bay. I think this was a very good decision. My personal opinion is that a day at the range is probably a lot safer than a day on the H-1.
Not so crazy. Koko Head crater forms a natural barrier that prevents stray rounds from exiting the range.
The range was there well before the homes. Learn your history before running your mouth.
That’s a mean looking weapon in the picture.
Are there any other shooting ranges on Oahu besides Koko Head?
Not really official sites, it’s just Koko head on Oahu,.
Actually, there are several indoor ranges, mostly clustered in the Waikiki area, that see a lot of business from tourists. They’re not “free” in the sense that Koko Head is managed by the parks system. Consider them as closer to “pay to play” clubs. A long time ago tourists (mostly Japanese) were shuttled to the old Koko Head pistol range as a private money-making scheme. Fortunately, that ended when it was realized how unscrupulous the practice was, but not unfortunately, before one male tourist fatally shot himself.
Was that the suicide?
No it wasn’t. The death of the (presumed) Japanese tourist occurred when the pistol range was located facing Hanauma Bay. Tourists formerly shuttled to the Koko Head Range were so poorly supervised that some of them wore their earmuffs with the outer shells turned facing their ears. It’s anyone’s guess how the hapless tourist managed to face the muzzle of his handgun toward his chest and fired. This event may have preceded the time Ben Cayetano experienced his misfortune at Koko Head.
sailfish, the AR-15 platform you see in the photo is the new iconic American sporting rifle, replacing bolt-action Winchester Model 70 and Remington 700 rifles just as those rifles largely supplanted the Winchester and Marlin lever-action carbines before them. The AR-15’s ergonomics are superior to its arch rival, the arguably more rugged (and less expensive) AK-47, and for the end user, it’s almost infinitely customizable. If you have a good-quality lower receiver, you can configure an AR into anything from a compact home-defense carbine, to a handy deer rifle or an extremely accurate, long barrelled varmint or target rifle. The only glaring fault I see with the basic 5.56mm-sized AR-15 and its bigger brother the AR-10, is that Eugene Stoner should have sized his creation for an intermediate 6.5mm or 6.8mm cartridge from the get-go. But we kind of have to blame U.S. Army Ordnance Colonel Rene R. Studler for that fiasco.
Yeah, iconic all right, especially in full auto mode — look out, varmints! We’s gonna gitcha!
HanabataDays, you can’t possibly be as ignorant in real life as you seem here.
Hanabutta, full auto is illegal in Hawaii except to military and law enforcement. If you fired a full auto burst at the range your firearm would be confiscated immediately. It is a felony to even possess such a firearm. Being a felon they can also confiscate ALL of your firearms at that point.
Modern powder is very safe. Can’t say the same for black powder which is volitile and it doesn’t take much ignition to explode. For many years hand loaded 45 colt, 38 Special, 38 Super, 357 and 9mm with no problems if one follow procedures exactly as prescribed by the loading manuals. After properly cleaning the used casings it is very important to reform and trim the casing according specifications prescribed by tin the reloading manuals.
That .38 Super is a fine caliber
The first time I fired the .38 Super was when a guy next to me at the range invited me to try his pistol. I was amazed at the accuracy, low recoil and how quickly one can re-acquire the target.
As one enthusiast said, “At least my (.38 Super) bullets won’t bounce off the bowling pins like your .45s will.” Now if only John M. Browning had insisted that the Super’s parent, the .38 Auto (or .38 ACP) had been made with a truly rimless case. Then we wouldn’t have had seen the necessity for the 9×23 Winchester.
(Have never had the privilege of shooting the 9×23 Winchester but I understand that it at the time, solved some of the feeding problems of the .38 Super.)
The problem today as it was 60 years ago with reloading classic handgun cartridges is double (or even triple) charging a case with fine-grained, fast-burning smokeless powder. You have to remember that cartridges such as the .45 (Long) Colt were designed with the capacity to hold bulky black powder. It’s easy to get in trouble reloading them with light target loads if you’re not paying attention or aren’t systematic. That said, from the S-A article it’s impossible to say what caused the accident; it plausibly could have been due to a barrel obstruction caused by a squib load.
Delta is very knowledgeable. I would agree with the barrel obstruction theory. I have experienced a double load which is scary but would not cause that much damage in such a small 9mm casing with that small amount of powder. This was not a black powder rifle he was shooting.
The complete ignorance among mainstream journalists and editors — of anything related to describing firearms — is just staggering. “Fires a gun.” Standing next to somone firing a 9 mm rifle. Who cares? Oh, and the “man” was named “Mann.”
Uh, Rex is shooting a rifle, not a gun. I know how important distinction is to the “paper of record”.
…also it doesn’t sound like the rifle “failed.” More likely an out-of-magazine misfire….the round failed.
Now if he was standing next to someone firing a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, that would be a detail worth noting. Example: “A man firing an old-fashioned black-powder rifle was injured when his rifle suffered a catastrophic failure. However, it should be noted that another man firing a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile was not injured.”
Who really cares about a minor injury to a member of the small pen!s brigade?
Where in the article does it say the victim was an MMA fighter?
ROFLMAO
Poorly written article. Understand that it was a black powder rifle. Misleading photo.
A 9mm rifle with a shell casing is not a black powder rifle. The owner is a black powder specialist so the article may lead us to believe that Mann was using reloads with black powder but I highly doubt it in a modern 9mm cartridge which requires a fast burning powder load.