A warning to all of us

If you've shot a pistol match before, a rapid fire string isn't a string unless a peice of brass is burning through your chest hair....
 
I had a piece of 5.56 brass go down the back of my neck and get lodged between my skin and my shooting jacket/sweatshirt at a match once (shooting standing). Nobody got shot.

IMO, if you hold a firearm, you do whatever you have to do to keep that muzzle pointed in a safe direction regardless of what happens. This woman should get on her knees and thank God she didn't shoot someone else.
 
I was shooting a rapid fire string with my Sigma a few months back when one of the cases lodged itself between my safety glasses and my face. Finished the magazine and only then did I reach to clear it. Left a nice burn mark above my eye for almost a month. I usually don't wear a hat when shooting but whenever that gun comes out of the safe (and it doesn't very often anymore) the hat goes on.

Luckily, with SWs great customer service, what had been a case of a gun that ejected 95% of the casings straight into my face became a gun that only ejects about 5% straight into the face.
 
Hall said the woman was embarrassed more than anything else.
Click to expand...

You think? I can't tell you how many pieces of brass has landed on me...but it's never been so bad that I had to jump and almost shot everyone on the line....

And shooting old Winchesters, those things eject straight up and over... So a lot of it is landing on you... I've never found it to be like I a grabbed an hot iron...which I've done...(who said that?)
 
LOL, where was the rangemaster/officer at that place? I work at a range and any movements such as jumping around or wiggling would have had my direct attention and I would have been there AFAP. Then again these things happen in milliseconds. Good thing I am heading off to work now...Thanks for the reminder to keep even more alert now.
 
Moderator said:
I don't have chest hair.
Click to expand...
WTMI. Way Too Much Information.

I don't recall if Liz got any brass in a sensitive place, but I'll remember the warning when she & my nephew are up next.

DSCF0256.jpg
 
I used to get hot brass (my own) hitting me when I was a member of Sharon F&G and used the indoor range. I wear collared shirts typically and leave the top button unbuttoned . . . one left a burn mark just under the Adam's apple. I got one between my glasses and cheek. Yes, they burn, but I've always shaken it off while maintaining proper muzzle control.

I've since learned to ALWAYS wear a hat to minimize the chance of getting burnt by hot brass. It works well both indoors and outdoors.

The woman was an idiot and shouldn't be allowed near guns!
 
jamz said:
No one else shoots in the nude to avoid this?
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I recall seeing a series of photos like that taken in a gun shop and gun range! [thinking] [I also recall that she exhibited terrible muzzle and trigger finger control.]

[NO, if anyone finds them, do NOT post them (or the link) on NES . . . totally inappropriate and will lead to an infraction.]
 
Cato said:
Is this sarcasm or are you serious. I hope that you were kidding.
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I have to agree with Len. If you shoot yourself because a peice of hot brass went down your shirt you are an idiot and you shouldn't be allowed to touch guns...

What would have happened if she shot and killed the guy in the lane next to her? [thinking]

Do you know this woman Cato?
 
No I do not know her. But I don't feel that her right to "touch guns" should be infringed because of this mistake.

Many people who use potentially dangerous tools have done stupid things that could have caused harm to themselves or others. Should they all not be allowed to touch those tools again?
 
Cato said:
No I do not know her. But I don't feel that her right to "touch guns" should be infringed because of this mistake.

Many people who use potentially dangerous tools have done stupid things that could have caused harm to themselves or others. Should they all not be allowed to touch those tools again?
Click to expand...

IMO not in a public setting... It was total negligence on her part. The other shooters on the range were very lucky they were not injured or killed. Everybody that shoots pistols has had hot brass burn them, none that I know send rounds in unsafe directions that hit humans...
 
Thanks for the welcome. Appreciate it.

So do you believe that if a person in a public setting negligently drives their vehicle into another vehicle injuring themselves that they should not be allowed to drive again?
 
But what if the act was not reckless but negligent? I do not think that the shooter was reckless. I would say that it was more along the lines of when drivers have spilled coffee on their leg and then lost control of their vehicle and caused a collision.
 
Thing is, she still should have had enough control to put the gun down first... keeping control is just part of the responsibility that she has when operating a machine that has the potential to cause fatal injuries - whether it be a car, gun or milling machine.
 
Cato said:
Many people who use potentially dangerous tools have done stupid things that could have caused harm to themselves or others. Should they all not be allowed to touch those tools again?
Click to expand...


Theres a big difference, between, say, something which is
truly an "accident" and something which is full blown negligence.
Discharging a gun unintentionally because you got hit by a piece of hot brass
tends to cross the line into negligence territory. She probably had her
finger on the trigger when this happened. Had she obeyed at least that
rule (taking her finger off the trigger) she would not have shot herself.

This isn't all that much different than say, a person who spills coffee in their
lap while driving and lets go of the steering wheel to tend to the spill, and
their car shoots across 4 lanes of traffic. A piece of hot brass is
generally NOT life threatening. It's not -that- hard to make safe in
some manner or another and then deal with whatever the issue
was. Even if she couldn't put the gun down, she could have at least
indexed her finger alongside the gun and held it at the ground or pointed
it downrange while she used her other hand to do the "fidgeting".

I guess it's just a mindset thing more than anything else. I've been
stung by a bee while shooting, and while that was unpleasant, I didn't
endanger anyone else in the process of "dealing with it". I've also been
hit by a ricochet, as well, and at no time did the muzzle go astray enough
to put someone else in danger or did I accidentally discharge a shot.

As far as punishment goes, I dunno. In this case because she hurt
herself I think she was punished enough, but if she had hurt someone
else, perhaps charges of some sort would be appropriate.

An "accident" at a shooting range is a piece of jacketing or other debris
coming back from someone else's shot and hitting someone. Shooting
yourself or someone else because of a stupid piece of hot brass is negligence,
pure and simple.

EDIT: FWIW, btw, I -have- had an entire dunkin donuts large coffee explode
in my hand/lap about a couple months ago (the lid was not properly seated or
something was wrong with the cup) and while it was painful, I was still able
to safely take my car off the highway without endangering someone else.
The whole thing sucked, I had to drive back home and change my clothes before
I went to work again... [angry] At least nobody was seriously
hurt.

-Mike
 
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