Squeaky 135 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Hello Guys: I got to see a lesson in why it's important to not just be safe towards other shooters, but to simply pay attention to what you're doing too. It seemed unusually busy at the range for a Wednesday. After a while I noticed this one guy had arrived and was very talkative with his friend with many gesticulations. Despite all the shooting and wearing ear muffs, the dude was making an annoying distraction of himself by talking so loudly and so much. I don't usually say stuff like this, but I thought to myself "I wish this guy would shut the f _ _ _k up!" Next thing I see after firing a round, everyone is gathered around him and he's holding a bloody towel to his forehead. He was talking so much he'd forgotten he'd left his cleaning rod in his barrel (with a patch), and fired a round. He must have gone in from the muzzle end. The result was a deep cut into his right forehead shaped like the left half of an I-beam, and small pieces of twisted brass from what remained of his cartridge shell lay everywhere. It's a miracle his eye wasn't hit. He needed serious stitches at the least. The guy refused refused ambulance transport. Such stuff is why I keep in mind these guns of ours are not toys. They are weapons and their mechanism of operation obeys the laws of physics. In this case, a volume of very high pressure did equalize with a volume of lower pressure in dramatic fashion. I think it was a little .17 HMR single-shot rifle of some sort that breaks open to load and unload it. That was enough to nearly kill him. The cut was deep enough to bloody-up the towel/rag, the concrete floor at his station had blood everywhere too. The cut probably went to the skull, but not further thank goodness. It's just that the head is very vascular. I got called to work, but last I saw the guy's head was wrapped-up by the E.M.S. medics like he was a battle casualty. I do hope he is OK. He's lucky things weren't worse, but he's going to have a very bad scar. Be careful guys, 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Everybody loves to hate the safety nazis. But there is a reason for our madness. 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Sucks to be him. But pain is a damned good teacher, bet he never does that again. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yakdung 2,926 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 The reason I joined a private gun club. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SHOTGUN MESIAH 855 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) That is the reason why I prefer to shoot in the woods. Never did care for gun ranges. Edited October 23, 2014 by SHOTGUN MESSIAH 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sim_Player 1,939 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) That is the reason why I prefer to shoot in the woods. Never did care for gun ranges.Looking for woods to shoot in, around here. Hard to tell what happened. Sounds like the chamber failed from the over-pressure, throwing brass. Bad stuff happens. It happens more often, when you don't think about what you are doing. I heard a story of an Egyptian jet mechanic trying to check the external wing fuel tanks, on a fighter jet, with a Zippo! It didn't end well! Myth, maybe. Possible, yes. Edited October 23, 2014 by Sim_Player Quote Link to post Share on other sites
magsite20 1,664 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) Might be good at times if shooting ranges were like swimming pools with a kiddy pool and a shallow end for the new people. Years ago a guy wounded a kid while loading a single action revolver, he’d step back from the firing line to load because he was an “expert”. Edited October 23, 2014 by the 4th Doctor 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matthew Hopkins 1,065 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) The reason I joined a private gun club. stupidity has no home, just because you join a private club doesn't mean the people there are going to be any smarter then on a public range, all that means is they have the money to join Edited October 23, 2014 by Matthew Hopkins 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matthew Hopkins 1,065 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) I heard a story of an Egyptian jet mechanic trying to check the external wing fuel tanks, on a fighter jet, with a Zippo! It didn't end well! Myth, maybe. Possible, yes. wow, that reminded me of something funny I saw when at was at BRIGHT STAR more then 3 decades ago. we were near a Egyptian airfield, these Egyptian airmen hooked up a external APU to a MIG-21 then they ran for cover in a ditch, then when the aircraft engine started up they waited a minute or 2 before they came out and disconnected the APU from the aircraft. maintenance is not a keen aspect of the Egyptian armed forces Edited October 23, 2014 by Matthew Hopkins Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mancat 2,368 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 My dad left a laser boresighter in a .22 once and fired three shots before he noticed. The same range had a full power rifle barrel on display that was split like a banana from the same obstruction. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scattergun10 125 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 That is the reason why I prefer to shoot in the woods. Never did care for gun ranges. Same here. One word comes to mind when I think of public gun ranges, DISTRACTION. Too many loud people making too much commotion who won't just shut up, practice, and leave. I can definitely see how a scenario like what the OP mentioned could happen. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yakdung 2,926 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 The reason I joined a private gun club. stupidity has no home, just because you join a private club doesn't mean the people there are going to be any smarter then on a public range, all that means is they have the money to join Correct. Fuck up in the club like that, poof your gone. Problem solved. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DLT 1,646 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 They ended up closing the local range because one cop accidentally shot another. Point blank to the chest with a glock forty. Believe it or not, the cop didn't die. It was a squib round that had initially failed to go boom on the striker hit, so the genius pulled it out of the shooters hands to look at it. It went off a split second later. At least he wasn't looking down the barrel. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Might be good at times if shooting ranges were like swimming pools with a kiddy pool and a shallow end for the new people. Years ago a guy wounded a kid while loading a single action revolver, he’d step back from the firing line to load because he was an “expert”. When I bought my first gun (a .45), I got a queasy feeling in my stomach when I picked it up and went downstairs to the range to try it out. I wasn't exactly afraid of it, just hyper-alert and not wanting to fuck-up in any way. I was paying attention to every small detail from the second I took it out of the case to the second I put it back in the case. I wasn't testing for accuracy, I figured the gun was accurate. I was just getting used to handling and firing the gun safely. Fired a box of 50 rounds and took it home. I don't get the queasy feeling any more, but I still have that hyper-alert feeling every time I'm around guns. Not quite so much when they are disassembled or working on parts, but still assume any gun could be loaded and give them healthy respect for the danger they carry. I don't EVER want to treat guns "casually". I agree that it's the "experts" that concern me. They treat the guns casually and that's when the trouble starts. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
james lambert 3,059 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Some self described experts may have years of experience in unsafe practices. There is an old adage Familiarity breeds contempt. You can be familiar and casual but contempt comes from thinking YOU can break the rules, cuz YOU are so good. I have seen it here on this forum, people argued they were just ok with ignoring practices of good range safety. When pointed out is was name calling Range nazi and so forth. Be smart pay attention, follow safety rules and your risk is minimum. Shoot with contemptuous (I dont need to follow the rules types) it becomes high risk 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yakdung 2,926 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Also, try and keep beer drinking to a minimum while shooting. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matthew Hopkins 1,065 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Also, try and keep beer drinking to a minimum while shooting. har, hold my beer and watch this Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnnyE 81 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Also, try and keep beer drinking to a minimum while shooting. har, hold my beer and watch this He probably knows where his teeth landed, and has no idea where his bullet landed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DogMan 2,343 Posted October 24, 2014 Report Share Posted October 24, 2014 There is always somebody at the range who I know I can't take my eyes off of and it's usually the guy who talks way too much. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
magsite20 1,664 Posted October 24, 2014 Report Share Posted October 24, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTcBgs2huRo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.