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Gunsmithing You'll Shoot Your Eye Out. . . .

LRI

LRI

Lance Criminal
Full Member
Minuteman
    • Mar 14, 2010
    6,314
    7,416
    52
    Sturgis, S. Dakota
    www.longriflesinc.com
    Ok, the phone is blowing up with folks thinking I'm clinging to life.

    I'm not.

    We had a bit of a boomer of a different sort last week.

    Cartridge was a 6mm Comp Match. A cartridge I've chambered a great deal as its one that I campaign frequently.

    Action, don't ask. I'm not telling, it's been handled. Nuff said.

    So, rifle is finished (full build) and I gas up a round to test. Chambers fine, and I pull the trigger into the test cell. 47.5 grains of H1000 with a 105 La Poo Poo bullet. Done it hundreds of times. NO it wasn't H110. I don't even have any in the building thanks to the moocher known as James O'Neill. (kidding, he's a friend)

    Big flash, no smile, no candid camera.

    The thing blew apart and I got belted pretty good in the orbital socket of my right eye. I tell everyone that I forgot to do the dishes and Kalli now has to go to anger management classes... :)

    I tore my retina slightly and had some internal bleeding of the eye. Again, not a big deal. Doc gave me some steroids and atropine so I'm walking around with a good case of stink eye for a week.

    Sux. Feels like I have mag light shoved in my eye socket.

    Getting better day by day.

    Bottom line is, shit happens. I'm FINE. You do this stuff long enough and shit will happen. Goes with the job.

    I don't have an explanation as to what caused it. My gut says Lynn had a jag come off the cleaning rod when he prepped it for test firing. I neglected to check prior to chambering and firing.

    Complacency will bite your ass. The lesson reinforced that no matter what, check the bore for obstructions when someone other than you has handled a rifle/barreled action in the shop.

    I'm lucky. If my face had been on the stock I'd be dead. No question. Keep your face off a stock when doing a first fire gents. It'll save your life someday.

    That is all. Thanks for the phone calls and supportive comments.


    "Ralphie"


    hqdefault.jpg
     
    Dammit man......hate to hear that. Glad your recovering well and didn't loose a eye.
     
    Dang. Glad you are ( for the most part ) all right. Glad no one else was injured, too. Take time getting back to work. You deserve a little rest.
     
    Glad to hear a good man is on the mend. I have a habit (one of few good ones) of checking the bore after running a patch through it even if I see the patch come out the end. Makes me feel better. Also run a dry patch before a range session. Who knows, but I might have left some solvent/oil in the bore after last session.
     
    Chad, sorry to hear about this. Sent you a text. All the best, glad it's not worse (says he with a piece of brass under his right eye)

    Doc
     
    I feel for you. I had an epoxy pump blow up on me in the shop a few years ago and shot west system epoxy hardner into my eyes. It is a burn that is indescribeable. I was in agony for days. luckily it all worked out ok. The er doc after flushing it says just use this creme and you may loose your vision. you should know in a few days???? WTF. He said it like it was no big deal. I went to a specialist the next day and he was pissed the er doctor would tell me that.
     
    Do you want to borrow Ronnie's patch? It'll make you look tough!

    Glad you're OK.
     
    oh man!!! thanks for sharing your misfortunes with us so we can be reminded to stay ever vigilant. - Todd
     
    Thanks for the important reminder to us all, who face these same issues every time we shoot. I'll pray for your full recovery. Were you wearing you safety glasses? Another good reminder to us all!!!
     
    Hey "Ralphie" I am so glad your OK...really...sorry to hear about your KABOOM...never had one...will take your advise to heart...head will never snuggle up to a stock on a test fire again...might even run 5 or so thru it until I do...if it can happen to you....
     
    RJBGuns00 said:
    I'll give Chad credit for admitting he was complacent. However, there is no excuse for not checking the bore since he wasn't the only participant in the build.
    Click to expand...

    Aren't you the same one that said you don't even test fire a rifle?

    Good to hear you are ok Chad and hopefully this saves someone else from going through something similar.
     
    Kalli said if step out of line again she is gonna blackin both of them......

    Glad to hear that you'll be ok.
     
    i echo the sentiment that im glad this was not any worse than it was. I also applaud you for posting this as a cautionary tale for the rest of us to learn from. very sobering.

    -Paulus
     
    Bradu said:
    Aren't you the same one that said you don't even test fire a rifle?
    Click to expand...

    I can think of at least one gunsmith and one customer who would be alot better off if Chad didn't either...
     
    Good to hear you're on the mend, Chad. I learned to check behind other people a few months ago working on our air supply at the shop. I was PMCS'ing the chiller, dryer, and compressors and decided to clean the cooler on the big compressor as it had powder stuck to it. That thing gets hot and the small amount of powdercoating that floats around in the shop sticks to it like glue.

    I decided to pull it so I could get to both sides and told one of the guys to drain the air lines and close all the valves, he came back a few minutes later and said it was done. I busted the nuts on the 1" lines loose from the core and, as usual, they didn't want to budge. A couple whacks from a rubber mallet and I was rewarded with 125psi of hot air right to the face. Turns out the guy closed the main feed valve before he drained the lines, leaving the tank pressurized. All I had to do was look at the gauge less than a foot from where I was working, but complacency got the best of me. It gets us all sooner or later.
     
    LongRifles said:
    Ok, the phone is blowing up with folks thinking I'm clinging to life.

    I'm not.

    We had a bit of a boomer of a different sort last week.

    Cartridge was a 6mm Comp Match. A cartridge I've chambered a great deal as its one that I campaign frequently.

    Action, don't ask. I'm not telling, it's been handled. Nuff said.

    So, rifle is finished (full build) and I gas up a round to test. Chambers fine, and I pull the trigger into the test cell. 47.5 grains of H1000 with a 105 La Poo Poo bullet. Done it hundreds of times. NO it wasn't H110. I don't even have any in the building thanks to the moocher known as James O'Neill. (kidding, he's a friend)

    Big flash, no smile, no candid camera.

    The thing blew apart and I got belted pretty good in the orbital socket of my right eye. I tell everyone that I forgot to do the dishes and Kalli now has to go to anger management classes... :)

    I tore my retina slightly and had some internal bleeding of the eye. Again, not a big deal. Doc gave me some steroids and atropine so I'm walking around with a good case of stink eye for a week.

    Sux. Feels like I have mag light shoved in my eye socket.

    Getting better day by day.

    Bottom line is, shit happens. I'm FINE. You do this stuff long enough and shit will happen. Goes with the job.

    I don't have an explanation as to what caused it. My gut says Lynn had a jag come off the cleaning rod when he prepped it for test firing. I neglected to check prior to chambering and firing.

    Complacency will bite your ass. The lesson reinforced that no matter what, check the bore for obstructions when someone other than you has handled a rifle/barreled action in the shop.

    I'm lucky. If my face had been on the stock I'd be dead. No question. Keep your face off a stock when doing a first fire gents. It'll save your life someday.

    That is all. Thanks for the phone calls and supportive comments.
    Click to expand...

    Chad,

    I heard about your story from my friend, whose's rifle you were testing firing. I am glad to hear that you are okay and already on the mend. I also appreciate how humble you are about all of this. It is clear you are a man of integrity since you admit you made a mistake. It takes a real man to (get online even) admit his fault in front of others. I also heard that you have already begun to fix the rifle and it should be fixed soon.

    Thank you for building the rifle for my friend. He and I are planning on attending the next Sniper's Hide Cup and your work is going to make his match really successful, while he kicks my butt with his .243 Ackley Improved over my wimpy .308 Winchester.

    Cheers and I am glad you are going to be 100% again. Keep up the good work and making awesome toys for us guys.
     
    LongRifles said:
    Keep your face off a stock when doing a first fire gents. It'll save your life someday.
    Click to expand...

    or if you don't like your wife/girlfriend just "give her the honor of the first shot".

    When I was just getting into working on firearms I used to use a pickup truck tire, some sandbags, and a long piece of bailing wire for "Proofing".
     
    Glad to hear your ok. With fragments flying around, you're fortunate that you didn't get the sharp end of something stuck in your head! Thanks for the reminder. We take a lot for granted in our lives.
     
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