PSA for eye protection

[HamburgBoy84]

I normally wear eye protection at the range. Today I was working in the area of the Burma range so I threw my 39a and Mosin in the trunk in case I had a few minutes between appointments. I figured with 2 manually operated guns that I would be ok with just my ear protection. This will be the last time I make that decision. I set up next to an older man shooting a black powder musket. He asked me if I would like to try a shot, and always looking to expand my shooting horizons I jumped at the opportunity.

Pulled the trigger and WHAM! took a piece of the percussion cap to the face. Luckily I flinched and moved my head an inch or it could have been much worse. I actually had to pull the metal out of my head. It bled for a few minutes but I count myself very lucky, and will not be shooting without the glasses again.

[lp1062]

Ouch! Glad you're ok. Yor story is a good reminder to us.

[mchaley]

Yikes. Good to know

[Pa. Patriot]

Glad you're OK.... This type of reminder should not be needed... Sadly it is.

Seriously, folks. This stuff DOES HAPPEN. I've seen it with my own eyes. Eye an dear protection is MANDATORY. As well as the 4 basic safety rules

[eXceLon]

I regularly attend the PAFOA group shoots we have here in Western PA. At the very first one I attended there was a Texas Star and some other shooting steel, and during the morning safety briefing they explained the risk of "back splatter" and the importance of eye protection. I was a relatively new shooter at the time, and had never shot steel before.

I head over to the area where the steel is setup, and stand with the small crowd gathered a few feet behind the shooter on the line. Sure enough on the very first shot, I feel a small sting on my chest. I look down and see a thin piece of lead stuck to my shirt that looks exactly like a flattened bullet. It didn't really hurt, it didn't even have enough energy to damage the shirt, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have done some serious damage if it had hit someone in the eye.

Although I'm pretty paranoid regarding safety and would never shoot without proper protection, I did think that served as a pretty good reminder of the importance of always wearing proper eye protection. I even wear my safety glasses just mowing the lawn, which gets me some funny looks sometimes but I don't really care.