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Hey guys, I will have a range report on my saiga and new rifle later, but I have something I should share. Having eye protection when cleaning your gun is just as important as having it at the range. I learned that first hand tonight. I was cleaning my rifle and thinking to my self, geez I dont want to get this stuff in my eyes, and wham I pull out the cleaning cloth and recieve a few drops across the face. I thought maybe I was lucky at first and it didnt get in my eyes, but as I read the label I saw all the warnings about getting it in your eyes. Needless to say I took my contacts out, and flushed out my eye in the shower. When I got out I noticed the clear layer in my left eye was moving around like a contact, and thus it was time to go to te ER. I was pretty lucky, it was not busy tonight, and after the exam, I checked out okay. I did end up with a mild chemical burn though.

I was using "Rem Oil" with teflon Lubricant" and while it did a great job on the gun I dont reccomend using it to lub. your eyes. So guys please remember to use some kind of eye protection when cleaning your guys. You only got two eyes.

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:eek:

Hi

 

Ithink thats good advice for us all , its good that we can all share our experiences wether good or bad so that others can enjoy/guard against them. I guess we all get a little too complacent with regards to the solvents and chemicals we use to clean our guns, i have never used glasses to clean my guns but i will now.

 

thanks

 

assasin

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Yeah, but just think about the positive side. At least when you flip that fried egg up out of the frying pan and it hits you in the eye, hopefully it won't stick now. :D

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...I totally agree with Verson. Having worn eye glasses most of my life, I guess I cant even count the number of times they have saved my vision from permanent damage. Think of what one of those little springs out of a trigger group or bolt assembly, or even a ricochet, can do to your eye. Eye protection is something that is almost synonymous with shooting I think. Get a pair of Oakleys or a pair made of Flexon that are comfortable enough to not want to keep removing. Get a good set of earplugs too while you are at it, too. You will thank yourself down the road one day.

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Yeah, I gotta agree with safety. I recently used some "Blue Remover" which had a label that said something like "This product is proven to cause cancer in California." We all joked that it only caused cancer to people in California, but i still took it seriously...

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Good point I will now be wearing eye proyection when cleaning my guns(just getting ready to do that now).I also reccomend wearing nitrile gloves-they are like surgical gloves except blue in color and oil resistant. Pretty cheap at auto supply,

These will also stop salty fingerprints that lead to corrosion especially if the weapon is stored for awile.

G.O.B.

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Good point, hadn't thought about gloves...I usually wipe a fine coat of oil on all metal surfaces before storing away.

 

I recently had a little rust appear so I put some baking soda in the gun cabinet to absorb excess moisture.

 

Any of you guys have those dehumidifier bars in your safes/cabinets?

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I wear glasses all the time, and like Bvamp said, I can't count the number of times they've saved my eyes.I also always wear ear plugs if I'm firing anything louder than a .22.I ALWAYS wear surgical gloves when cleaning my rifles.They protect the blueing as well as keeping my hands clean.The best part is I get them from work for free.I got a pair of shooting glasses, but unfortunately they don't fit over my glasses, so I don't know if I'll have much use for them.

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Verson: how is your eye? is it going to be a problem if you shoot heavy rounds down the road?

 

KySoldier: what we use in our safe are those little packets of silca gell. you need a few of them if you just reuse the ones you get in shoe boxes, but you can also buy them from gun supply catalogs and whatnot. You can bake them once a month for like 15 minutes or so to dry them back out. Seems to keep almost all the moisture out of the safe. Long term storage, I just coat em up with oil real good and wrap them in an old pant leg, which I might add also works good for a dropcloth, as well as an improvised transport bag if you are like me and only have one gun bag. Make sure there is some oil on it though, or you will just soak the oil out of the metal into the fabric. Also, if you happen to keep a shotgun for home defense use, a cedar box seems to work best to keep moisture away from the metal, and can be disguised creatively. Just make sure you have access to it quick.

 

I really only clean guns with gloves when it is someone else's weapon, or when I aquire an antique. Those old old rifles and thier blueing do mark up when you touch the blueing. All my old weapons are sold off at the moment, but I always have a pair when im out flea marketing or yard saleing when im on the prowl for the oldies. I cant get some of those little springs back into thier proper places with gloves usually, plus I have big hands complicating the matter.

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Bvamp-

Thanks for asking. It does seem to be doing better. It still feels a little different, but I dont have any pain anymore. Funny thing is I ordered a pair of glasses the day of my accident 2/28 and that they sould be in 3/8, so since I could not use contacts I've been walking around with poor vision ( I'm a -7 pretty darn blind) well I called them the day they were to be in, and guess what? they are still at the lab on backorder!!! *grrrrr* at anyrate since its been so long I've managed to put my contacts back in, but only for shot periods of time otherwise my eyes start to kill me again.

 

My eye doctor took a look at it, and said that there shouldnt be any perm. scaring or anything. I prob. will be back to normal in a month or so. So it shouldnt be a problem down the road. thank goodness :)

 

I cant wait to go to the range again,

stay safe guys!

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well I am not a doctor by any means, but I do know that you should take double the time off from 12 gauging or any long arm that you shoulder with any kick to it...hearing and vision problems are common for long time shooters, so I wouldnt push it with your eye if you can help it for a while. Maybe its time to pricatice your hip shot....stick to your .22 for a while if you cant stand it. Glad to hear you arent permanently hurt.

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KySoldier: let me give you an example. apart from the hearing issue, which one can mostly avoid with hearing protection, I will give you an example of a guy I know here in NY:

 

A friend of mine, I will call him Sam, a couple years back joined a local gun club with a few friends of his to try something new. He was new to shooting, and apparantly he has a knack for clays. Well, Sam went out and bought a nice over under trap gun, and started entering tournaments locally in both the light and magnum load categories. Aparrantly, the magnum load categories were lighter on the competition. Sam thought nothing about this for the shooting season. The following season, he only did the magnum category, and he did pretty good in it actually, if I recall correctly. ANYway, he noticed his vision was getting worse, as he never had a need for glasses. He went to the eye doctor, and was informed that he needed to take a break from magnum shooting because it was starting to detach his retnal thingamagig nerve. I dont think Sam even shoots those 3" 12 shells anymore. Sam went and asked around the club what was up with that, and they all said that that was a common occurance in heavy kicking weapons.

 

Now I know that any gas operated semi auto has a lot less bite than an over/under, but still, its a lesson well learned and I know I keep that in mind when I go out slugging for the day. I keep my 3" shells more or less for self defense purposes, although I will occasionally blow a few off. Frequent use of these heavy rounds, as well as the heavier centerfire rifles, WILL damage your eyesight. Sounds like I am talking out my ass, but I assure you its completely true. Something to think about if you shoot a lot like I do....

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ah, I learned something new :) I better suggest the same to my friend who goes to the range with me. He just bought a mossberg 500 and loves the magnum slug loads. It is funny to watch though, he is a short buff asian dude and when he uses the magnum slugs you see him get knocked back a bit and his glasses slide all the way down his nose and almost fall off. He shoots, pushes the glasses back up and then shoots the next round. :) pretty funny stuff.

Edited by Verson
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