robocop10mm
07-16-2008, 02:59 PM
It is with much embarassment that I start this post. I feel it important to share this with you so hopefully no one has to go through what I have gone through.
Let me start with some background. I have been loading ammo for about 30 years. I really got serious about 24 years ago. I have been casting bullets for those same 24 years. I study ballistics, both internal, external and terminal. I am a firearms instructor and armorer.
Saturday was a day like many other weekend days for me, spend a little time in the shop working with ammo or guns. I was given about a dozen rounds of OFV 7.62 X 51 (yes the dreaded Indian ammo). I decided the ammo would not be fired through any of my guns as is. I got out the RCBS collet bullet puller out and pulled the FMJ's and dumped the powder. To insure I would not mistake this ammo for bad Indian ammo, I decided the primers had to go too. That way a silver colored primer would be a dead giveaway the ammo had been rebuilt.
I have always heard you should not attempt to decap live primers but I have never had problems. I got out the universal decapping die and proceeded to gingerly press out the live primers. This worked just fine on all but one particularily stubborn primer. The decapping pin went through the primer with out pushing it out. Upon closer inspection I could see that the primer crimp was especially firm on this case.
Well, with a hole through the primer, it had to be dead, right? This is when I got really stupid. With the price and availablity of 7.62 X 51 brass, I wanted to salvage all I could.
I got the brilliant idea to put a small, eyeglass type screwdriver down the neck of the case, feel it into the flash hole and see if I could get the primer out. Of course it did not budge so I took a small hammer and tapped a few times on the end of the screwdriver. Yeah, that was ill advised but the primer already had a hole in it so it must be dead.
After a couple of taps, I heard "BANG" and my left hand went numb. I dropped what I was doing and went in the house. There was a bit of blood and a lot of black soot. I scrubbed me numb bleeding hand for several minutes with anti bacterial soap and went to find the significant other.
I had to admit that I had screwed up as the feeling slowly returned to my hand. Still no real pain so I was good to go. I poured some hydrogen peroxide over the wound.
We had errands to run so I put some gauze on it and went to the store. About 3 hours later we returned and I went to the shop to investigate further. I found the OFV case and found it to no longer have a primer in it. As I had recently cleaned up around the shop I should have been able to locate the primer if it was there.
I now had to admit there was a good possibility the primer was in my hand. I bit the bullet (so to speak) and told the significant other it was time to go to the ER. She gladly agreed and I drove the 10 minutes to the nearby hospital ER.
I knew the uneducated medical staff would have a hard time grasping the concept of a primer vs a bullet so I took the now primerless case with me. True to form I was asked about an exit wound, who had the gun, me or someone else, how this gunshot happened etc. I showed them the case and explained the situation and they seemed to understand.
X-rays confirmed the primer had indeed entered at the base of the left ring finger (4th metacarpal) and lodged in the meaty portion near the 5th metacarpal. It had travelled about an inch through my hand. My pinky finger is numb so nerve damage is a real possibility.
The ER Doc spoke to a surgeon over the phone and they agreed it did not need to come out right away. I was given a script for an anti-biotic and pain killer and told to call the hand specialist on Monday.
Monday rolled around and I called and got an appointment. She reviewed the X-rays and gave me the option of removing it or leaving it in. I chose to have it removed so now I am scheduled for surgery on Friday. The feeling comes and goes in the pinky so I am hopeful the nerve is not severed, just traumatized. Perhaps the primer is resting against the nerve causing the part-time numbness.
At any rate the surgeon will remove the primer and evaluate the nerve status. If necessary, she will repair the damaged nerve.
I did not ever think I would get that stupid but I did. Maybe we should change the "Don't shoot Indian ammo" to "Dont' even mess around with Indian ammo".
Let me start with some background. I have been loading ammo for about 30 years. I really got serious about 24 years ago. I have been casting bullets for those same 24 years. I study ballistics, both internal, external and terminal. I am a firearms instructor and armorer.
Saturday was a day like many other weekend days for me, spend a little time in the shop working with ammo or guns. I was given about a dozen rounds of OFV 7.62 X 51 (yes the dreaded Indian ammo). I decided the ammo would not be fired through any of my guns as is. I got out the RCBS collet bullet puller out and pulled the FMJ's and dumped the powder. To insure I would not mistake this ammo for bad Indian ammo, I decided the primers had to go too. That way a silver colored primer would be a dead giveaway the ammo had been rebuilt.
I have always heard you should not attempt to decap live primers but I have never had problems. I got out the universal decapping die and proceeded to gingerly press out the live primers. This worked just fine on all but one particularily stubborn primer. The decapping pin went through the primer with out pushing it out. Upon closer inspection I could see that the primer crimp was especially firm on this case.
Well, with a hole through the primer, it had to be dead, right? This is when I got really stupid. With the price and availablity of 7.62 X 51 brass, I wanted to salvage all I could.
I got the brilliant idea to put a small, eyeglass type screwdriver down the neck of the case, feel it into the flash hole and see if I could get the primer out. Of course it did not budge so I took a small hammer and tapped a few times on the end of the screwdriver. Yeah, that was ill advised but the primer already had a hole in it so it must be dead.
After a couple of taps, I heard "BANG" and my left hand went numb. I dropped what I was doing and went in the house. There was a bit of blood and a lot of black soot. I scrubbed me numb bleeding hand for several minutes with anti bacterial soap and went to find the significant other.
I had to admit that I had screwed up as the feeling slowly returned to my hand. Still no real pain so I was good to go. I poured some hydrogen peroxide over the wound.
We had errands to run so I put some gauze on it and went to the store. About 3 hours later we returned and I went to the shop to investigate further. I found the OFV case and found it to no longer have a primer in it. As I had recently cleaned up around the shop I should have been able to locate the primer if it was there.
I now had to admit there was a good possibility the primer was in my hand. I bit the bullet (so to speak) and told the significant other it was time to go to the ER. She gladly agreed and I drove the 10 minutes to the nearby hospital ER.
I knew the uneducated medical staff would have a hard time grasping the concept of a primer vs a bullet so I took the now primerless case with me. True to form I was asked about an exit wound, who had the gun, me or someone else, how this gunshot happened etc. I showed them the case and explained the situation and they seemed to understand.
X-rays confirmed the primer had indeed entered at the base of the left ring finger (4th metacarpal) and lodged in the meaty portion near the 5th metacarpal. It had travelled about an inch through my hand. My pinky finger is numb so nerve damage is a real possibility.
The ER Doc spoke to a surgeon over the phone and they agreed it did not need to come out right away. I was given a script for an anti-biotic and pain killer and told to call the hand specialist on Monday.
Monday rolled around and I called and got an appointment. She reviewed the X-rays and gave me the option of removing it or leaving it in. I chose to have it removed so now I am scheduled for surgery on Friday. The feeling comes and goes in the pinky so I am hopeful the nerve is not severed, just traumatized. Perhaps the primer is resting against the nerve causing the part-time numbness.
At any rate the surgeon will remove the primer and evaluate the nerve status. If necessary, she will repair the damaged nerve.
I did not ever think I would get that stupid but I did. Maybe we should change the "Don't shoot Indian ammo" to "Dont' even mess around with Indian ammo".