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My reloading accident [gross pics warning]

Man, I'm disappointed. I was seriously expecting you to post a vid with some sort of hilarious finger substitute.

Or a stick figure cartoon showing a guy standing next to a Dillon 650 with pointer arrows showing like blood flying out of the press, etc. [laugh]

-Mike
 
Ben there.

Did this in 1981 and it hasn't been right since (I fixed it myself instead of going to the doctor). I used pliers and just pounded on it with my right hand 'till it looked okay and taped it up with that medical tape I found at home. Never hurts but every once in while I have to peel of that second layer of nail that comes in over the top of my regular nail. There always a tiny red spot under the nail that looks like fresh blood. I've alway figured it would become infected some day but it's all good so far.

Sorry for the cell phon pic.

0329001029.jpg
 
In answer to your question about the oozing. They can ooze a lot for several days. Usually after a day or two the color of the ooze turns more pinkish to clear amber colored. If it shows any puss at all get it checked right away. If you need further surgery or follow up I can suggest a couple of excellent hand surgeons that operate out of SS hospital. Keep it clean and gooped up pretty good with one of the anti biotic ointments (bacitracin, neosporin, or something similar). These will also keep the gauze from sticking as much when you do a dressing change. Avoid the ibuprofen for two reasons...one is as mentioned which is increased bleeding (which at this point should not be a huge issue) but the other is that it slows bone healing (that is if you damaged the bone).
 
When I load I guide the shell casings around with my left hand so they aren't jolted to a stop when the shell plate indexes. I do this so the powder doesn't fly out on movement.



I know exactly what you did,because I do the same thing so the powder does not shake out . I also caught my finger but by the grace of God I stopped before that happened.I jammed it in the same spot and your right not much pressure is needed to do serious damage. Hope you heal quickly
 
When you fired the round, did the finger chunk clog the gas tube?

Nope, didn't notice any difference, and the gun kept on cycling. I even marked it with an X on the bottom so I would know when I fired it, as the chunk was inside the round. It wasn't a huge chunk, maybe 1/3 of a dime and decently thick, as it bled like crazy.
 
Surgeon says I need to keep it wrapped as is for another 3 weeks before looking at it again.

Here is the break from a side view. Apparently the end of the bone was also broken in several pieces so there are a bunch of fragments hanging out at the end of my finger.
You can see the part of the bone that broke the skin.
zx4c5l.jpg
 
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nice!

thats what happened to my toe nail!!!!! dropped a bandpass on it wearing flip flops [laugh]

broke through the nail and skin...

yes, i cried.
 
Well I guess the shocker is out of the question for awhile. I'm glad it wasn't worse De.

Sometime, I'll tell you how I tried to stop a rolling car and dislocated my shoulder in the process. That really f'ing hurt, much worse than broken bones (edit: worse than bones I've broken. I might have cried if I did what you did.)
 
Dude! That hurts just seeing it! I hope all goes well for your recovery. Keep us posted on your progress.

Is it feeling any better yet, hurting less? I hope it is for your sake. Has to throb something awful.

I have some Lidocaine patches that work awesome if you squeeze the stuff out onto whatever hurts, makes it numb in a few seconds and last a good while. If you could unwrap it, some of that would probably help a bit, though I don't know about how it would feel on the open cut. But the stuff is like super strength anbesol, makes it really numb.
 
I know everybody here feels bad for you and we all wish you a speedy recovery from the pain[crying], but since your going to be scared to use that press again I want to be kind and give you $25 for that defective 650 and I'll even take all the blood spattered components too.
Just trying to help out a fellow shooter[rofl]
Dave
 
Man, that sucks. I hope it heals up ok. Finger injuries unbelievably painful. Any one that has even smashed their finger with a hammer will never forget how much it throbs.
I got my thumb stuck in the seam between the rear edge of the driver's door and the B pillar of my truck. I and two more friends went deer hunting (Kansas). In order not to slam the door shut I grabbed it by the edge and let it shut gently. Trouble is I got all my fingers except the RH thumb out of the way on time. Worse yet, the door was locked before I closed it.

Now image your right thumb pressed into a gap between 1/8" and 1/4", and you cannot open the door because it is locked. So you have to reach into your RH trouser pocket with your left hand for your keys while a rifle is slung from your shoulder.

PAIN.

We did hunt anyway. I just took the glove off and let the cold numb it out some. The drive home was fun though.
 
I got my thumb stuck in the seam between the rear edge of the driver's door and the B pillar of my truck.

I did something similar to a friend of mine. He was getting out of the back of my car and grabbed the pillar between my door and his, and I slammed the door and saw his fingers get smashed. By the time I saw it there was nothing I could do. I actually looked at him and said "Damn! Don't that hurt?" He just looked at me calm as could be and replied "Yeah, how bout opening the door back up?" Felt really bad, as the way the door hit his fingers it cut through the middle of the nail on his middle finger. He took it like a champ though, never complained a bit.
 
I got my thumb stuck in the seam between the rear edge of the driver's door and the B pillar of my truck. I and two more friends went deer hunting (Kansas). In order not to slam the door shut I grabbed it by the edge and let it shut gently. Trouble is I got all my fingers except the RH thumb out of the way on time. Worse yet, the door was locked before I closed it.

Now image your right thumb pressed into a gap between 1/8" and 1/4", and you cannot open the door because it is locked. So you have to reach into your RH trouser pocket with your left hand for your keys while a rifle is slung from your shoulder.

PAIN.

We did hunt anyway. I just took the glove off and let the cold numb it out some. The drive home was fun though.

The two times I've broken/dislocated a finger I've happened to have gone to the theater that night (And I don't see that many shows [thinking] ); Fiddler on the Roof for the broken one, The Producers (in LA of all places) some twenty years later for the dislocated one - which interestingly enough, was not so long after the first incident to prevent me from remembering my brain screaming "clap the good hand against your lap, not against the injured hand" from the earlier show. [laugh]
 
It's starting to smell a little funky.
I smell my finger about every 10 min now thinking the smell will go away but it isn't.
My finger needs a shower.
 
It's starting to smell a little funky.
I smell my finger about every 10 min now thinking the smell will go away but it isn't.

Better get a good sniff soon to remember it before it falls off. My wife says she is having visions of puss and gangrene from the smell description.

Dave
 
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