Suppressors Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

[SmokeRolls]

We had our yearly qualification shoot for Sheriffs dept,jailers, prisoner transports and bailifs today to remain in compliance with county's insurance. All was going well and we were shooting a segment that was strong hand (supported), shoot 5 rounds and then shoot weak hand supported 5 rounds. The first part went perfect and without a hitch, when I went to the week hand to shoot, I put my right thumb behind the slide and when it recoiled the H&K 45 tactical sliced the top of the thumb very deep.......It bled like a siv. Needless to say I was almost dumbfounded that I even did it. After a quick trip to the truck I put a bandage on and taped it up and within a few minutes I was back on the line and shooting just fine but it did teach me a lesson. I have never done that before but I realize that I had not trained enough on supported week hand drills under a time limit or speed drills. I had not trained dilligently with the right hand properly supporting the week hand and keeping the appendages out of the way of a sharp edged slide.
I shoot alot and have shot for 30 plus years but this doesn't mean that I have worked the buggs out of every training senario..... My wifes a nurse and said that the cut could really use a stitch or two too help hold it together but we stopped at the pharmacy and picked up some skin glue and doctored it up.
This is a cautionary reminder to train as much as you can in as many ways as you can, refine your skills because you most likely don't know all that you should.... I didn't and I learned...........
.............SmokeRolls

 

[hrt4me]

Re: Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

At least it provided a teachable moment for you without any serious injury

 

[SmokeRolls]

Re: Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: B. Melick</div><div class="ubbcode-body">At least it provided a teachable moment for you without any serious injury</div></div>
Yep....You could say that. When I shoot left (week) hand I always shoot with one hand and not supported. Just something I never thought about nor had to deal with. Almost always when they called for week hand shooting we always just one handed shooting with the week hand which I can do very well and very accurately, I guess my right hand just felt like participating this time and got bit. Once it got cut, I just stopped and did not move and analyzed what had just happened all the while holding the weapon on the target without moving one inch, ready to fire the next round. Once I realized that the bleeding was pretty good and getting things kinda bloody, I went to low ready and then dumped mag and cleared weapon. Applied pressure and the rest you know.
Crap happens, thats why they make bandaids and stitches. I'm just glad I learned a valuable leason and I can correct the mistake in the future.
Don't let complacency and lack of practice/ training bite anyone that reads this........It can happen to anyone.
..........SmokeRolls

 

[BookHound]

Re: Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

Most guys aren't big enough to admit their mistakes, failures or (as I like to call them) opportunities for improvement. You get extra points for reminding the rest of us.

Also, LOTS of guys don't think they need the constant training to stay proficient. The fact is we do. Weapon manipulation is a perishable skill.

 

[SmokeRolls]

Re: Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BookHound</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Most guys aren't big enough to admit their mistakes, failures or (as I like to call them) opportunities for improvement. You get extra points for reminding the rest of us.

Also, LOTS of guys don't think they need the constant training to stay proficient. The fact is we do. Weapon manipulation is a perishable skill.</div></div>
Thanks Mark, I appreciate the kind words. This kinda awestruck me that this even happened. I consider myself to be a fairly seasoned shooter (30 plus years of shooting and more grey hairs than I can count) and others have looked up to me in certain situations so for this to happen is just a wakeup call.
Shoot,train, practice,refine your methods,train enough so that muscle memory takes over and it's second nature.
The rest is up to you. (Those that read this.)
..........SmokeRolls

 

[Downrange1x]

Re: Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

It takes a big man to admit his mistakes, to bad some never learn from theirs. It is usually someone else that winds up paying for their stupidity. Way to man up!!!A BIG PLUS 1. Train like you live, hard fast and seriously!!

 

[Big_Daddy]

Re: Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

Wow, that sucks. Sounds like it got you pretty good. As long as you (and us since you shared) learn from it then it's all good. Glad it wasn't any more serious.

As a somewhat related story, I would just like to add for anyone here that shoots the S&W X-Frame revolvers in either .500 or .460 PLEASE keep your off hand and fingers AWAY FROM THE CYLINDER GAP!!! It wasn't me but there is a guy who posted on another forum the story and pictures of what happened to his support hand thumb from having it next to the cylinder gap on his .460 XVR. The flash from the cylinder gap essentially flame cut the top of his thumb to where it looked like a split lobster tail. Pretty serious injury and definitely some gnarly photos of it.

It takes a real man to not only admit to a mistake but share with others so we can all learn from it. Kudos to you and once again, glad it wasn't any more serious.

 

[Doc Holiday13]

Re: Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

Wow good weapon control, good lesson learned for you, good reminder for us. Now I gotta go start doing left hand drills again, cuz I got qualifications coming up too.

 

[bible7]

Re: Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

nobody knows about the little HK4 380 i was trying to get a comfortable grip on when it took off the top of my thumb too.i just pretended i had to go to the bathroom

 

[Downzero]

Re: Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

This is why I am critical of people who say USPSA doesn't teach real-world skills. I might hate it, but I have to shoot weak hand all the time.

 

[DirtyRod]

Re: Ever had a day that you did something stupid?

Good lesson. Thanx for sharing. I saw that same bite last year in a CRG glass. The instructor did tell us that we should be shooting off hand (both 1 and 2 handed) about 30% of the time. Took me a minute to figure out how to just hold the damn thing two handed off-hand. A little better with a rifle these days but still suck at things like racking and reloading left handed.