(6/3/00 Some lucky S.O.B. named Dave)

Everyone knows that ear and eye protection are a necessary part of shooting.   Because of discomfort, most people are religious about hearing protection, but eye protection is commonly overlooked.   I live in Texas.   Come summer, it's dreadfully hot and humid.  A pair of safety glasses are quite uncomfortable on a sweaty face in full sunlight.  

Today was humid as hell, so I had no intention of wearing my eye protection while out comparison testing some ammo for my M44 (1952 Polish Mosin Nagant).  I have been having trouble with this rifle's action and the groups we terrible.   Cannoneer (BillC) suggested the ammo I was using was to blame, and as usual, he was right on the money.   I actually got something I'd call a respectable group!  Have you ever heard the expression, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye?"  Well, the last pull of the trigger blinded me as scalding hot pressurized gasses and debris vented around the bolt assembly right into my face.   It surprised me, in that unpleasant way, and stung like hell.   No, I wasn't wearing glasses.  Stupid me.   

After rubbing my eyes and taking inventory of my facial features, I tried to figure out what the heck just happened.   Turns out that the casing on the last round split open in 6 places and blew burning propellant backward.   I blessed God for my good fortune in not losing an eye, then brought the rifle to the on-site gunsmith to check out my head spacing.   I was absolutely positive it was the head spacing and I swore I'd make sure nobody ever never fired this rifle again.

It turns out it wasn't my head spacing at all, but the old ammo I had bought.   It looked good enough, but appearances can be deceiving.   He claims it was metal fatigue in the brass and asked if I reloaded my own ammo.   I told him I didn't, so we then looked at he base for any clues where it came from.   There was a little star indicating it was Russian surplus ammo.   He said the casing wasn't bulged out enough to indicate bad spacing and that the brass split when it should have stretched if it were healthy.  Who knows how old this ammo was.  They were shooting this very ammo in WWII and that was 50 years ago...

I value my health enough not to risk injury with crap ammo, so next week I'm going for a second opinion about the health of my Mosin.   If everything checks out, I will NEVER again buy potentially ancient surplus ammo.

Whether it was or wasn't my M44, the prevailing point of the story is that I would have avoided a lot of pain and potential blindness if I'd had been wearing my eye protection.   I have to admit that I don't own the nicest pair of shooting glasses, so perhaps a new, high quality pair would make wearing them livable.   

Please folks, think about what genuinely happened to me and protect yourself.   It could have been you who purchased this defective round.

Lightening Strikes Twice

(1/8/05)

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of heading out to the firing range for a little target practice.  A buddy gave me a boatload of 9mm reloads he was no longer going to use as he rid himself of his Beretta.  These reloads come from a very reputable local company, so I had no compunction about using them at all.  Again, I had hundreds of rounds, completely free of charge, so I hunkered down for some serious shooting. 

Thirty minutes into my practice, it happened again.  I pull the trigger and it felt like somebody hit my hand with a sledgehammer.  Little shards of metal blasted into my face again.  It hurt like hell, but this time I was wearing my glasses.  I calmly put down the Glock, count my fingers, and check for blood.  Again, I'm intact but left wondering what in the world just happened. 

It turns out that the back half of the shell casing blew out on me.  The damage to casing doesn't add up to how the casing blew out, so it is off to the gunsmith for a checkup.  As put out as I am about having to take a trip to the gun doctor, I am grateful that I don't also need to visit the eye doctor.  Wear the glasses.

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