Just wondering if anyone makes a light and flexible glove with Kevlar or some other very strong fiber that would offer protection to the left hand in case of a barrel rupture. When I was surveying the firearms in our local historical society's collection several years ago, I had the opportunity to examine several muzzleloading doubles that had let go in the left barrel. As I recall, the failures tended to be in the first third of the barrel, suggesting that a charge might have moved forward under recoil from the right barrel and acted as a barrel obstruction in the left. The damage appeared as a large, open tear, sometimes with some metal missing and with damage to the forend. (None of the cartridge doubles with twist barrels in the collection had suffered any barrel bursts.) A high-tech glove on the left hand would offer some protection under such circumstances, but not complete, and of course no protection to an rearward blast of gasses of metal toward the head. Obviously, one shouldn't fire dangerous shotguns, but one never can be sure with 19th century metallurgy.
Last edited by Bill/Oregon; 08/18/07 12:40 PM.
