Shrapnel... "I've been Hit!!!"

richc

richc

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So for today's surprising moment. My son and I went to the range today. I recently bought a pistol from the estate of a deceased gun club member. It is a Smith & Wesson 44 Magnum with 8 3/8 inch barrel. Think Dirty Harry. It really is incredibly powerful. Your hand knows you've shot this thing. A real manly gun. And absolutely gorgeous.

So this is the first time I've shot it at the gun club. Several guys gather around to take a look/see. There is a 10" steel plate hanging at about 55 feet. I line her up and shoot. BANG... I nail the plate! And then a guy standing a few feet to the left and behind me yells "I'm hit". He is clutching the right side of his chest just below the collar bone. He is holding it tightly and won't let go.

I'm freaking out. He says he thinks it is bleeding badly and won't let go. He is hyperventilating. I'm thinking I should call an ambulance. FYI this guy is a veteran, and I'm also thinking that I've just shot a veteran on Memorial Day weekend. We're all waiting for the blood to come pouring out from between his fingers.

Finally he starts to calm down and we we get him to let go. Hmmm... no blood on the t-shirt. We talk him into pulling his t-shirt down to show us the wound. Well... I've gotta tell ya, I've seen mosquito bites that look worse than this. He has the slightest hint of a small blood blister. There is no blood. Nadda... nothing... zero. I know he got scared, and I do understand that. But there does seem to be a fair bit of overreaction.

We look around on the ground and find a sliver of lead. It is probably the size of a small fingernail clipping. I'm sure it was traveling at a good rate of speed, but me thinks he got a bit dramatic on us. At first I'm fearing the headlines in the Boston Globe tomorrow are going to be Surburban Maniac Shoots Poor Defenseless Veteran on Memorial Day"... Obama uses me as a poster child for an immediate and total gun ban in the US. Deval Patrick seizes my house, incarcerates my family and suggests the death penalty is in order.

Of course it was a very good lesson for all of us on why we wear eye protection.

Cheers,

Rich
 
That sounds like me after I was clawed by my cat. He put his claws in me, then stretched so his weight was hanging off of my hand. I screamed and Tom thought it was horrible, when he looked at it he thought it wasn't bad (it was a deep puncture wound!).
Maybe this guy has really sensitive skin? I'm glad he wasn't seriously hurt!
I love shooting steel plates. I have to look into making/getting some (and joining a club that allows them).
 
One time I was at the range shooting my ruger MKIII at some steel. I felt a fairly solid hit on my lower abdomen on the side. Almost like a small fist punched me. I looked down and I didn't' see any tear in the sweatshirt I was wearing. It did kinda freak me out a bit as well as I couldn't find the object in question.
 
The first post- that was funny [rofl] Man, nothing annoys me more than a wimpy wuss of a guy [thinking] [rolleyes] Second only to guys that say they don't want to cut up whole raw chicken because it's gross [rofl]
 
i shoot plates at bobs and get splash back quite often. have been cut once by a jacket and got some on the check while shooting the last shoot i made. this is why i never take my glasses of until i am out of the range.
 
Yeah I don't like being anywhere near when people are shooting at those steel hanging plates. I remember once seeing a lead sliver appear in the bench I was sitting at, again like a finger nail clipping, but it would have hurt if it went into some tender area. It seems like the shooter is the least likely to get hit by the splash.
 
Becka said:
That sounds like me after I was clawed by my cat. He put his claws in me, then stretched so his weight was hanging off of my hand. I screamed and Tom thought it was horrible, when he looked at it he thought it wasn't bad (it was a deep puncture wound!).
Maybe this guy has really sensitive skin? I'm glad he wasn't seriously hurt!
I love shooting steel plates. I have to look into making/getting some (and joining a club that allows them).
Click to expand...

Becka, do you remember the monster I brought to the Appleseed? As a youngster I tried shooting steel plates with that, but all it made was swiss cheese [laugh]
 
i found several crushed 45LC bullets that were bounced back from hitting the steel plates at HSC (when we were all there yesterday). no bigee - they can nick or cut you, but nothing worth excited about. Eye protection - all the time.
 
Mikey said:
Yup happens all the time with steel plates, makes target shooting a little more interesting.
Click to expand...

Yup. Happens with pin shooting as well. A friend of mine got hit hard enough on his chest to raise a welt. He was 50' back from the pins.
 
Up at the camp in NH we'd hang old propane tanks from the trees and shoot at them. They make a nice "ding" sound when hit. We got lots of bounce-backs that would hit the side of the trailer behind us. The worst were the .22's, they'd barely make a dent in the tanks. What's worse is having a hot .45 shell eject straight back in your face and land between your glasses and eyelid.
 
I got hit at the range once. I was afraid to look at the hit (on my thumb), but when I finally mustered up the courage... a little red mark. Very anti climactic.
 
Shooting at steel is like participating in a contact sport. If you do it long enough, you're gonna get hurt. If you wear the proper protective gear, the injuries will be minor. Wear a hat and glasses, don't stand closer than the manufacturer recommends and shoot at the proper steel for the caliber you're using. If you're looking for a club that shoots alot of steel, check out Harvard Sportsmens Club.l
 
OK, you don't shoot magnums at plates. Period. This is what happens. Safe for 1/2" plate is usually the smaller handgun rounds up to .45 ACP. .357, 44 and above revolver rounds are typical no-no's.
 
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What about .22's on the HSC plates? I'm thinking they are too small to be a good idea because they don't firmly push the plate over, so I'm not sure where they ricochet to. (But then, I'm just guessing and have no idea. I normally shoot .22 at my own spinner target that I stick in a berm which should be safe.)
 
Prepper said:
What about .22's on the HSC plates? I'm thinking they are too small to be a good idea because they don't firmly push the plate over, so I'm not sure where they ricochet to. (But then, I'm just guessing and have no idea. I normally shoot .22 at my own spinner target that I stick in a berm which should be safe.)
Click to expand...

Actually, HSC just did some testing to ensure that 22s are OK and they seemed to be just fine. 22 Spinner targets are best though as they spin easily. But they don't do well with larger calibers.
 
The guy must not have been a Marine.
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yeah no kidding. Judging by the story the original poster told the guy sounds like a freakin wuss. I guess I could see if it was a legit "injury" but common. Thats actually pretty funny. You must have wanted to laugh at him after you saw that nothing was actually wrong with him.

I shoot at plates all the time at the range with pistol caliber (.40, .45, 9mm and .22) and get hit regularly by shrapnel ricochets in the head, leg, chest, arm and everywhere else in between. Sometimes it hurts like hell and rips the clothes and I have even had the piece sticking out of my skin before.

It burns, hurts and I think its cool as hell. This is why I wear eye protection. Thats all I care about. WTF was wrong with this other guy. [rolleyes] We need to bring that guy to our next simunitions training class.

[laugh][laugh]
 
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My wife is scared of guns and I almost brought her to HSC today (we decided to do something else). If she learns that ricochets can actually come back and hit people, there's no chance of me ever getting her to the range again.

Maybe we should stay over at the 7 yard range when I bring her along.
 
Prepper said:
My wife is scared of guns and I almost brought her to HSC today (we decided to do something else). If she learns that ricochets can actually come back and hit people, there's no chance of me ever getting her to the range again.

Maybe we should stay over at the 7 yard range when I bring her along.
Click to expand...

Smart move, but HSC's plates are angled down and I have never been hit by shrapnel on any of the existing plates (there is one that is no longer there and it was my stupidity).
 
Since this is a new gun to you, it is possible that it is not a ricochete, but instead a lead sliver stripped off where the revolver cylinder meets the barrel. Sometimes there is a little play, and the chamber does not line up exactly with the barrel under firing pressure, and it strips a sliver off.

Saw it happen with a friend's .44 magnum. A sliver of copper jacket went backward and hit a guy off to his side and behind him. We know it was not ricochet, because he was hitting paper targets. It is always scary, because they bleed a lot at first.

Get to know the gun. And keep those "eyes" on at all time. Also, watch how you hold the gun! No fingers in front of the cylinder face until you know it is firing ok!
 
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I think we've all been hit with "shrapnel" at the range at one point or another. You should've thanked him for his service, & told him to man up & walk it off. [wink]
 
ateamrob said:
yeah no kidding. Judging by the story the original poster told the guy sounds like a freakin wuss. I guess I could see if it was a legit "injury" but common. Thats actually pretty funny. You must have wanted to laugh at him after you saw that nothing was actually wrong with him.

I shoot at plates all the time at the range with pistol caliber (.40, .45, 9mm and .22) and get hit regularly by shrapnel ricochets in the head, leg, chest, arm and everywhere else in between. Sometimes it hurts like hell and rips the clothes and I have even had the piece sticking out of my skin before.

It burns, hurts and I think its cool as hell. This is why I wear eye protection. Thats all I care about. WTF was wrong with this other guy. [rolleyes] We need to bring that guy to our next simunitions training class.

[laugh][laugh]
Click to expand...

could you PM me some info about the simunitions class? that sounds pretty awesome.
 
I'm the OP... the guy in question is a veteran... I hold all veterans in high esteem... period.

He was a sniper. He taught shooting skills in the army. He enjoys showing my son and other young folks at the range basic skills. He does go a bit over the top at times, as if he is teaching new recruits how to shoot to save their lives or the lives of others in battle. You can see the scars of war.

Someone mentioned maybe he was shot before. Ya know... the way he reacted today I'm wondering if it brought back some previous trauma. He acted really frightened. He was like a wounded animal. I don't mean that negatively, but just his reaction was raw and intense.

I'm going to apologize publicly in case I was over the line here. FYI my son said he heard the fragment flying back at us. It is entirely possible it triggered some prior memory for this guy. In that case I fully understand his reaction. Many of our veterans have seen and experienced things that are really difficult for most of us to comprehend.

So... do I think he over reacted... yup. But based upon a post here, I have a funny feeling that his reaction came from the depths of a prior soul wrenching experience.

My sincere thanks to everyone on this forum that has given service for our freedom and safety.

Best,

Rich
 
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