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The Story Behind Ian's Shrapnel Kaboom (ad-free)
🕑 Added 2023-04-19 12:00:03 +0000 UTCDon't have medical gear or training? Code "IAN" gets you 10% off med kits and training classes:
About 6 years ago, I had an accident at the range. We talked about it at the time, but didn't say what the gun involved was, in order to keep the discussion focused on safety and first aid issues. Well, I think it's been long enough now that there's no reason to keep it obfuscated.
The rifle I was using was a reproduction 1860 Henry in .45 Colt. I loaded the magazine tube about half way to get a few shots on camera for b-roll, and just dropped the follower instead of gently lowering it down onto the top cartridge. When it hit the rounds in the tube, the top two detonated, spraying powder and some brass shrapnel out the open slot in the magazine tube. I got a bunch of powder sparkling up my face, but my shooting glasses protected me from any eye injury. One piece of cartridge case about a centimeter long hit me right about at the top of the sternum, and embedded itself in the flesh. We weren't filming at the moment, so there is no video of this happening.
We had a first aid kit on hand, and knew how to use it. Fortunately, the injury was actually pretty minor, although we didn't know that at the time. I was fully conscious and responsive, and I held pressure on a bandage over the injury while Karl drove us to the nearest hospital.
One hears unpleasant stories about hours-long waits in emergency rooms, but if you walk in with a trail of blood down your chest, someone tends to take a look at you right quick! After an x-ray and a CT scan, they determined that the shrapnel was not in a position to do any real damage, although it would cause more tissue damage to remove than to just leave it alone. So I got a couple stitches, and was sent on my way. It's a small enough piece (and non-ferrous) that no, I don't set off metal detectors. :)
While my experience here is simply a single anecdote, it does bring some significance to the periodic trials reports of tube-magazine detonations in trials or in service. The ammunition that exploded here on me had flush-seated primers, and flat-faced bullets. This was not a pointy bullet lined up with a proud primer. "Not only can malfunctions be stranger than we think, they can be stranger than we can think." (Werner Heisenberg, probably)
Comments
Guido Schriewer
just did 1st aid course again but little as advanced courses REAL injuries like such here. man. beats my impact history on ranges. knock on wood, huh.
Hey Ian, thanks for sharing. Glad you're okay through that harrowing incident. Range safety, appropriate kit, and training is essential. I'm a Radiologist with a lot of experience in penetrating trauma. If you have the CT from your ER visit and want more detailed images for your video (re: the shrapnel location), I can help with that. Thanks for all you do.
Kenneth Crips
There is a YouTube of someone being an idiot with a 50 Cal rifle he was shooting at some heavy iron plating at less than a 100 yards. He was very lucky he was blown off of his shooting stand by a ricochet from a shot he took. A fragment of the .50 cal bullet grazed his skull making a bloody furrow in his scalp. His partner thought he was dead. To his credit the person posted this on Youtube as a warning not to do this. trying to put holes in twisted heavy iron plating is not safe.
Sara & Loïc
The fun of being my reenacting units medic. I didn't have a choice I'm a paramedic. Training goes a long way. Compared to Ian's kit my med trauma bag (17#) probably seams like over kill
Steve Cushman
Unless the primers were the non-toxic type there is lead in them. The standard non corrosive primers use lead styphnate. It isn't handling the lead bullets that reloaders get lead poisoning from.
Wayne S.
Weirdest KB I've heard of happened at .50 cal match out west some years ago. A participant noticed a primer partially out of the case. He suffered substantial hand injuries when he pushed the primer in with a finger and the round detonated, There were multiple witnesses and gory photos. Primers can be sensitive.
Nicholas White
Can we have a (safely executed) slowmo filmed experiment to recreate the conditions? Please?
GigaDan
Metal doesn't have to be ferrous to set off metal detectors. The titanium plate in my forearm sets them off if the sensitivity is set high enough. So glad you're okay though, Ian.
Forgotten Weapons
There wasn't any damage to the gun at all - the open slot let all the pressure vent out.
OldFrenchy
Glad your injuries were minor (stitches nonetheless). So how much damage did the gun receive, and was Henry responsive to the needed repairs?
Christoph Sonder
I had to apply first aid to two bicycle drivers over the last year. So yes, first aid training is good, but also the appropriate protection gear (both didn’t use helmets and hid their heads).
Thomas M Dunne
Ian, thank you for the info. Looks like a perfect example of " Murphy's Law, If something can go wrong, it will go wrong " , If an Incident Can Happey, It Will Happen ! And Murphy's relates advice's, " Murphy was an Optimistic " & " It it Impossible to make Anything Fool Proof, Since Fools are So In-Genesis " !
Brian Jay
Dang, you would be extra-valuable to have on the team in a future Zombie Apocalypse scenario! Thanks for sharing. As a frequent reloader, I'll begin paying extra special attention to the priming step.
Rodford E. Smith
Not quite Tony Stark... :-)
Martin Morehouse
In my case, I tried to double prime a 5.56mm case through inattention. Suddenly the RCBS reloading press had a ball of flame in it, and the primer tube detonated. Since I was working the handle, the primer tube shotgunned my shoulder, and I still have three primers in there. Just like Ian, there's no point to digging them out. The scars are cool though, looks like I was shot by the Predator with his 3-spot laser. I managed to convince the responding deputy that I had a 'home industrial accident', and no, my wife did not shoot me.
Pat Patterson
Former Army medic (1972-75) here. In all the old Western movies where somebody gets shot, SOMEBODY says 'we've got to get that bullet out!' Well, no, you don't. As you say, digging the brass out of your chest would have caused more damage. Glad you aren't dead yet. Peace be on your household.
Ian, you know better than to use "shrapnel" when you mean "fragment".
