Why we should always wear safety glass at the range...

I worked as an electrician and contractor for 15 years in the GTA and I can tell you that people cannot really understand probability when it comes to safety. I have been present at a number of serious injuries that could have been avoided very easily but nobody believes it can happen to them. I supplied all of my employees on the jobsite with complete safety equipment but still had to employ an inspector to get them to comply and wear the glasses, hardhats and safety harnesses. We often used gunpowder actuated tools and chipping hammers that regularly fired stuff into the face area of the user but they would just squint their eyes rather than wear a face shield! I would point out that the tool they were using will fire a steel pin into a solid steel beam so the thin layer of eyelid skin probably wont stop it from entering your eye and head but if no one made the guys use the equipment they would not wear it...

Very frustrating... Darwin was right!

Jeff
 
sigarms226 said:
This hits home, I've had this happen except it was a complete bullet that came back and struck me in the center of my rib cage... I always wear a heavy vest and safety glasses now. A person knows they should but it is surprising how many don't do the small things that can end up saving your alot of pain and suffering....
Click to expand...

A week ago I took some friends out shooting, one thought it would be fun to hit a rock with his 30-06 right after the boom I was hit with a pretty big chunk of the bullet in the ribs, lucky for me I had a sweater on that it stuck into.
If I just had a t-shirt on it would have went into me.
It's better to be safe than sorry.
 
As you drive up the Coquihalla Hwy you will see an exit called Porsha or something like that you will see a very large yellow gate blocking a side road.

In the gate pipe you will see a hole made by a 300 Win Mag from what I understand from Terasan Gas a fellow shot the pipe the bullet came straight back to him and penetrated his leg.
 
Wow, good thread! I really did not know that a bullet could richocet straight back at me. I figured the forward momentum would glance it off to the side. I wear eye protection 'sometimes' but I think that will change to always now.

6Gun
 
Many, many years ago, I took a potshot at a squirrel in a pine tree in our back yard with my 22 rimfire. He had been trying to build in the attic of our house and was not welcome. When I pulled the trigger, the squirrel dropped like a sack, and a microsecond later the mangled 22 slug hit me in the jacket and dropped to the ground. Still have that slug somewhere. After hitting the squirrel, and opening up, it hit the pine tree trunk and bounced straight back at me. Surprised the crap out of me. Good lesson. Regards, Eagleye.
 
I've too been hit twice by ricochet of .45ACP jacketed bullets at an indoor range. One time in the chest area and the other on the cheek. As for eye protection, i wear eyeglasses because of my myopia, so i am always safe.
 
Thats a real eye opener......

:eek:

If you watch the dirt, you can actually see the fragments hitting the dirt on either side of the barricade.... not just once either,,,, its over and over.

Gord.
 
I had been looking for a particular animal on my property (let's call it a groundhog to keep the cat lovers at bay) and had my lightweight commander out when I entered my old pole barn, saw something moving at the back and fired. The bullet, 200gr swc, missed its' target, off the floor, off something at the back wall, off the roof and landed in my right shirt pocket, and it was hot!

I had taken my sunglasses off going into the dark barn so no eye protection.

Live and learn, eh?

I finally learned the lesson later that year when my primer magazine on the 1050 detonated in front of my face without eye protection. I was very lucky, no damage except a slight cut to the cornerr of my right (shooting) eye and going into shock.

I now wear eye protection always when doing anything shooting or gun related.
 
I've been hit numerous times with everything from rebounding lead, rocks, propellant gasses, to rear sights! Sometimes I've been hit hard enough to draw blood. It's never been a problem though as I ALWAYS wear eye and ear protection and require the same of anyone who shoots my guns.
 
Its not just ricocheting bullets that are a hazard. I once had a .308 case come spinning out of the M14 I was shooting and take a nice crescent shaped chip out of my glasses. I have no doubt that would have taken my eye out if I had not been wearing glasses. The hazards of being a lefty.

A friend had a 300 year old Brown Bess blow up on him. His face was peppered with bits of shrapnel and burning powder. His safety glasses were completely trashed but his eyes were not injured.

His son experienced a pierced primer on and old 98K and took a nice shot of burning powder in the face. Luckily he only suffered a small injury to the side of his cornea with no permanent damage. THAT was a huge learning experience.

Always wear safety glasses when shooting cause #### happens sometimes.
 
This thread is a good reminder. I know too many people making do with only one eye.

I don't know anyone who shoots any amount that hasn't had something similar happen. There are dozens of things that present a hazard and not enough people take it as seriously as they should.

I have safety rated eyglasses with side shields and even they don't work as well as I would like. The small gaps around the sides will sometimes allow deris with a surprising amount of power to enter bouncing off either the skin or the inside of the glasses.
 
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