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Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

You’ve heard of the magic bullet that passed through President Kennedy’s neck and Governor Connelly’s chest and wrist and embedded itself in the Governor’s thigh, well I have the magic pellet that entered the side of my thumb travelled round past the joint and excited at the base of the pad, then buried it’s self in the pad on my forefinger.
At first I didn’t realise that I had three holes in my hand, blood was everywhere and when I managed to wrap a cloth around the entry hole in my thumb and stop the bleeding there and noticed the exit hole and thought thank god the pellet not still in there, so I wrapped the cloth around that hole as well, at that point I saw something shiny stuck in the pad of my fore finger so with a pair of tweezers I pulled the pellet out.
It may sound a bit flippant when I describe it but it could have been more serious. I am normally very safety conscious but this time something went wrong, at the time I was using a crony on the end of the barrel of the gun and shooting in to a bucket of sand on the floor in front of me, the sand was covered with a piece of card and this had come loose so I lent forward to straighten it up and bang! The gun did not go off on its own I actually pulled the trigger, god knows why but there you go.

I have been shot three times in my life the first time when I was a kid and was hunting in the woods with some friends and got shot in the arm with a Webley rifle, the second time was when I was in the Sea Cadets and got hit in the leg by a ricochet on the range from a .22 rim fire, and now this.

I think the morale of this story is take care you never know from where the bullet is coming. Smile

Al

cw · Banned

Wow! When did all this happen?

Thanks for sharing. Maybe it will be a heads up for someone
to be more careful and you'll end up saving someone from
a like mistake.

Slavia · Moderator

It takes a good man to advertise their mistakes so that others might learn. I hope you heal quickly.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

I guess Al's wife isn't lying when she says he shoots too quick! Mr. Green

j/k

Didn't you booger up your hand last year as well, Al?

Slavia · Moderator

Is this just an annual (albeit extreme) ploy to go visit "Open All Hours" nurse Gladys Emmanuel (whose, er, "attributes" are a national treasure)?

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

It happened last Thursday CW but luckily I heal up quick, I may frame the pellet as a warning. Embarassed

Your right Eric, I got a splinter through one of my fingers last year, and that had to be cut out at the Hospital, could this be the onset of masochism Question

The wife's comment "That was a stupid thing to do"
“Nurse Gladys Emmanuel”? Hmmm! You could get lost in there, you sure like the UK oldies Slavia, but I think my predicament would be more in tune with a “Carry on Film”. Laughing

Al

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

Well Al, I'll go ahead and say it since no one has said it yet. DO NOT PUT YOUR FINGER ON THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO SHOOT!!!

The same thing happened to my friend when he touched off my dad's shotgun in our living room. You should keep your index finger pointed straight, and OVER the trigger guard, not in it.

I know this was an accident and you paid the price for your own mistake, but I just wanted to reiterate that for everyone here. My experience is that accidents like this almost never happen throughout the course of normal shooting. There is always some added element which deviates from the norm we are accustomed to which creates the dangerous situation. In your case it was the card in the sand falling over. Normally it would be up, or not there at all, and wouldn't be something you'd ever have to concern yourself with while shooting. But this time it was different.

My infamous shot to the face (which wasn't really a shot) was due to A) a new gun I was unfamiliar with B) an incredibly poor and dangerous design in the gun itself, and C) me attempting to fix what was already a dangerous problem. I had no precedent for handling those situations altogether like that and therfore was caught off gaurd and injured as a result. Fortunately not serious, as was the case for you. So just count this up as a lesson and learn from it.

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

You have summed it up perfectly there Roger, the danger lies when you are doing something which is out of context with normal practice.

I know it was a stupid thing to do especially as I am very safety conscious. I just thought it would be a warning to others that you cannot be complacent with air guns.

I'm sure there are plenty of people on this site who have done something similar at sometime or other, even if it didn’t end in injury, as long as they learned from it then hopefully it won’t happen again.

Al

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

These things are good to have happen to you (us). As long as the wounds are minor. There's nothing better than learning something the hard way. It'll learns ya' good and you won't ever forget it.

It's one of those situations where life gives you the test first, and the lesson later.

yourdaddyjoe · Supporting Member

Al...

I still say you get the Barney Fife award...

Thank God you were not playing with the big toys...

cw · Banned

The Barney Fife award. Does that mean that Al is alowed to be
in posession of only one pellet at a time, to be kept in his front
pocket, for use only in an emergency?

yourdaddyjoe · Supporting Member

That's the one... Laughing

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

Hey Al, good thing you weren't using a rimfire, or god forbid, centerfire rifle. You would've managed to blow off TWO fingers.

What did you tell the doctors happened to you?

When I had my airgun injury, I just said I hit myself in the face with a hammer accidentally. The doc didn't really press the issue. But the cop who just randomly walked in really gave me a good looking over with an accusatory eye. Considering the wound was on my eye, it probably looked like I was in a fight or something. But he didn't say anything, and I was not in the mood for it.

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

cw · Banned