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7/11/2013

Injury at the range: Slide Bite

By Gabby

One of the most important items in my range bag, is a first aid kit. Now, you might be thinking, Gabby!!! Don't bring that up, you'll scare people!!!
crossing one's thumbs when gripping a pistol can be a painful experience
But if you're thinking that, then you might still be of the thinking that I shouldn't handle guns because one might go off and hurt me. And we all know that's silly, because guns don't just, go off and when handled safely and with respect, they can be lots of fun.
But yes, I do keep a first aid kit in my range bag, and I do so for the same reason I keep a jack in my car, a mint in my purse, or a gun on my hip... You never know what might happen.

Further, when you're handling dirty metal parts and greasy stuff, bumps and cuts can be even more hazardous and quick attention may be required. That being said, I only needed my first aid kit for this first time, last week... But it happened to be a doozy!

(Warning: The following contains pictures of an injury sustained at the range by a friend of mine. I have made them small, and placed them at the bottom, so that if you prefer to avoid looking at them, you may still read this article. To enlarge each photo simply click it.)

Not long ago, I went shooting with a group of girls. Some of the ladies were new shooters, some were nervous, but scattered among us, were some range regulars. The hostess pulled out her two small firearms, a pistol, like the one pictured below, and a revolver, and began to instruct a small group of girls with her Ruger .380. Personally, I find it hard to show a new shooter a proper grip, on a gun this size, (and I generally like to stat them off with something more fun) but they were already deep in it...

bad pistol grip
I knew our hostess had been shooting many times, but wasn't sure of her level of knowledge. Still, in an attempt not to hover, I kept my distance from the demo. But then I saw something troubling. (See picture above) She had already pulled the trigger by the time I got to the line, and seeing red, I dipped straight into my range bag for a band aid.
I have gotten a slide bite before, from gripping too high, but what happens when one crosses their thumbs on a semi automatic pistol is a whole different problem.[tweet]
Her cut was not awful, though probably painful, but our hostess-with-the-mostest held up like a champ; Unfortunately, her students decided to proceed on their own.

Here is the problem, as I have depicted in the image at the top of this post. Crossed thumbs will get in the way of the slide of a semi automatic pistol. The steel will win against flesh, and because these parts are usually rough, they will do some damage. Further, they have oil, carbon, lead, brass and powder residue all along those sharp edges. So please, remember to keep your thumbs on the SAME SIDE, with ALL handguns, and you should be fine. (*Look for a follow up post on Grip, following this one.)

Sadly the next girl to pull the trigger was in far worse shape than our hostess. The slice was deep, and it was immediately apparent to me that I had nothing in my kit that would help. She impressed us all, however, by staying a shooting a few other guns, before heading to get stitches.



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3 comments:

RLDraluck said...

Great gun!

Dann in Ohio said...

Old rhyme from my youth... "Both thumbs on the same side, that way one doesn't catch the slide."...

Dann in Ohio

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