O.k., I'm not sure how many of you are hand loaders. Following are some photos of the most thoroughly "blowed up" gun I think I have ever seen. Herein we can find a valuable lesson; there are limits to everything.
This is a Marlin model 1895 that has been rechambered from .45-70 to .450 Alaskan. The .450 Alaskan was devloped in the late '40's by a man named Johnson in, of all places, Alaska. It provides a useful increase in power over the .45-70, something he felt was important, considering where he lived. It consists of a .348 Winchester case necked up to take .45 caliber bullets. He was building them on Winchester Model 71 and 1886 lever gun actions. Never comerically available, it has none the less become a cult classic for us lever gun fans. It approaches .458 Winchester Magnum ballistics when loaded properly.
"Loaded properly" is key to all of this. This gun was vastly over-loaded by an inexperienced reloader. He survived with no more than stitches to his left hand, which is a miracle in itself. I guess it never ceases to amaze me, with the ready access to information we enjoy today, that this kind of thing can still happen. Anyway, here are the pics:
