Guy Blows His Thumb Off by Holding His Revolver Improperly - Graphic Images

Notoriously Conservative ^ | 08 11 09 | Notoriously Conservative

[Notoriously Conservative]

I came across this the other day, it isn't my account, but the account of an unfortunate gun owner. You can point to snopes, and say this isn't true, but in an episode of MythBusters, they proved it was plausible:

460XVR blew my thumb off today!

No joke, about 1/2 of my left thumb is gone ... what's left is a friggin mess.

It's pretty hard to type, and I'm only posting because you never know, it might save somebody else a thumb. I was using a 2-handed grip, fired off a Cor-Bon DPX .460 and the blast came violently out the side of the gun.

At first my thumb was so covered in blood that I couldn't see how bad it was ... and I was full of adrenaline and felt no pain. And honestly it looked really bad, my whole hand was covered in blood and it was kinda gushing.

The blown-off thumb was on my support hand. I'll re-create the grip tomorrow to see where my thumb was, but it's not like I didn't already know not to get any body part near the cylinder gap. And even if I totally screwed up and did, taking my thumb clean off seems a bit excessive?

Just be careful with those 460's. That case operates at such high pressure, it's just asking for trouble.

BTW, I bought my 460 new and had exactly 12 rounds through it. Info about the gun, it's a full-size 460 with the 8 3/4' barrel and factory installed compensator. It's one of the Whitetails Unlimited models. Ammo was 200gr Cor-Bon DPX.

The gun only had 12 or 13 rounds of the Cor-Bon through it, and 10 ..45 Long Colt rounds through it. So it was essentially still brand new.

Saw a hand specialist while there today. Lots of ways to try and save what's left, but first I just have to hope it doesn't get infected in the next few days ... then surgery early next week.

The hand specialist I spent a few hours with last night said that in gunshot wounds there is always a lot more damage than is first visible ... same with things like fireworks going off in your hand. A lot more flesh around the wound is dead, and will rot and fall off over the next couple days. That's why it's so important to keep clean, and that's also why they can't do surgery now. If they wrapped new skin over dead skin it would just puss out, possibly turn gang-green, and they'd have to start all over again.

This is an example of how he was holding his revolver. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

This is what's left of his thumb.

More photos on Notoriously Conservative

[sockmonkey]

Oh yuk. But what kind of hold was he using? That just looks ridiculously wrong.

I don't think I could hold a revolver like that even if I tried to, and I am majorly a wuss.

[jboot]

It looks like a stuck firing pin or a headspace problem. Either one would cause the cartridge to ignite out of battery, which it sure looks like it did. Then again, it could just be gremlins. They've gotten a couple of my cars, I don't want them going after my guns.

Did Springfield replace it?

[jboot]

Owwwwie! (Actually, that strip of meat out of your arm looked plenty bad enough already!)

[hiredhand]

Yeah...THAT’S the one that makes my hands sting! What was the verdict? ...ammo?

[hiredhand]

Yeah...THAT’S the one that makes my hands sting! What was the verdict? ...ammo?

[Eaker]

See post# 56.

No definitive cause determined except factory defect.

[Eaker]

Didn’t want a replacement but they did refund the purchase price.

[Eaker]

Did the rifle “return to service”?

No it was destroyed in the explosion.

[Eaker]

No it was factory ammo. It looks like an internal problem possibly head spacing. I racked the round and it waited about three seconds then blew up.

[Jewbacca]

It’s not a matter of limitations, it’s a matter of what weapons most consistently kill your enemy.

A pocket cannon is not manly; it’s compensation.

I’ve actually been in close combat in a civilian and a volunteer reserve/police situation (Israel). I utilized a shot gun (reserve checkpoint weapon of choice; clears a vehicle nicely) in one situtation and GLOCK 9MM (circuitously imported, as the Austrians don’t like us) in another.

A cannon like this would have let me have one shot at best, probably innaccurate.

[jboot]

Can’t say I blame you for not wanting a replacement.

[Deaf Smith]

You are correct that a large bore revolver wouldn't be the choice for a duty weapon.

My big bore is a tool for hogs & yotes and has been so for many years. I have had no problems bringing it back into play for multiple targets.

It has only been unholstered once due to hostile actors, but the threat quickly removed themselves from the scene when the front site came up to my eyes.

[TexasRepublic]

I used to load up some "monster" loads in my .44Mag, where I pretty much filled the case with WW296 and put the bullet on, giving me a 180gr JHP load, moving at about 1800fps. The muzzle blast was ENORMOUS, as was the blast coming out of the cylinder gap.

Those ball powders can produce a wicked fireball. I tried some Hodgdon H110 powder in a .44 Magnum with spectacular visual effects. I hope you worked up your loads SLOWLY from the low end of the scale -- ball powder pressures can rise unpredictably when working up toward maximum loads. I started with Hodgdon's minimum load and was flattening primers! That was enough powder for me. I have no doubt that the gap flash from a large magnum could flame-cut off a thumb.

[hiredhand]

No it was factory ammo. It looks like an internal problem possibly head spacing. I racked the round and it waited about three seconds then blew up.

I have Squantos to thank for saving my sorry hide from similar grief! At the time (a couple of years ago), I did NOT have a lot of experience loading center fire rifle ammunition for semi-autos. I was having a problem with the loads we created...and I had about a thousand of them (7.62x51 NATO). I was swapping e-mail with him about it, and not quite "understanding" what he was telling me. The last thing I said via e-mail was that we were going to go outside to fire some of these rounds and I had just about gotten out the back door when my cell phone rang. I looked down, and there was "Squantos" in CID on the screen! :-)

I picked up the phone and he said, "You didn't really understand what I was trying to tell you did you? I said that I thought I did, but perhaps not? He asked if I was headed out to shoot the ammo, and I said "YES". He said, "Stop RIGHT now and listen to me before you blow your ass up!" THAT got my attention! So I sat down on the back porch and he educated me on the importance of headspacing on semi-auto rifles, particularly with respect to FIRING OUT OF BATTERY. He scared the crap out of me! I carried everything right back inside the house...ordered a headspace gage from Dillon, and we pulled 1000 rounds of ammo...resized it CORRECTLY this time ...recharged it all...reseated bullets. It didn't take long because we used a progressive reloader (a Dillon RL-550B) and I've got GOOD HELP. :-)

Anyway... so far...knock on wood.... nobody here has *KB*'d anything. I showed my youngsters here your photos though!...and reminded them to STOP being slack when it comes to wearing eye protection when shooting! My 19 yr old was particularly dismayed at the condition of that M1...and was HAPPY to hear that your hand and arm healed up just fine! :-)

The photos STILL make my hand sting!

[MarkL]

Those ball powders can produce a wicked fireball. I tried some Hodgdon H110 powder in a .44 Magnum with spectacular visual effects. I hope you worked up your loads SLOWLY from the low end of the scale -- ball powder pressures can rise unpredictably when working up toward maximum loads. I started with Hodgdon's minimum load and was flattening primers! That was enough powder for me. I have no doubt that the gap flash from a large magnum could flame-cut off a thumb.

Hodgdon H110 and Winchester 296 are nearly interchangeable... And they are a bit tricky to work with. First off, reduced loads are NOT recommended, because they can lead to the high pressures you mentioned. IIRC, Winchester recommends starting out at 10% less than their max load... It's been years, so I don't remember for sure. There's very little leaway, but the slow burning powder is really spectacular in short barrels and revolvers, isn't it?

Actually, I stopped using 296 and went to H110, for the simple reason that I also used WW231 for my .45 loads, and the packaging looked too similar. Imagine the disaster of loading up a .44Mag load with 29gr of 231, rather than 296! Can you say "KABOOM?"

Mark

[Eaker]

Even though I would never say it to his face Squantos knows his stuff!

[hiredhand]

Here's the rifle that he saved from me blowin up real good! :-) It's a conglomeration of STG-58 and FN/FAL parts. But it shoots good!

[Eaker]

Very cool rifle!

Your daughter looks a few years younger than mine but actually a lot like her.

[hiredhand]

It's a great rifle! When the kids were all under 10 yrs, they used to shoot it. As you know, it's a bit "heavy" when loaded, so they had to lie down and shoot prone from a bipod. I would put one of the Harris bipods on the front sling swivel and they'd knock targets over at 300 yards. :-) They thought that was FUN! I loved watching them do it! I had a scope on it then though.

Now she's got one those sooper-dooper flat topped accurate A-4s that CRIES for a scope!... but she doesn't want one! She says a marksman should be able to strike a visible target with his/her weapon with NO scope! Talking about a purist! She out-shoots me with the flat topped monster she has now. I have a carbine, and I just can't keep up. I've shot her rifle recently though and I believe it's simply a more accurate rifle! She's got a set of YHM pop-up peeps on it and a C-More Railway with a 2MOA diode module in it. She's fixing to get a whole new experience though in the next couple of days with her AR. I'm going to show her how to put rounds on target at 500 to 600 yards. She's done well at 300 yards, but 500 and 600 "look" a lot farther! It can be mentally intimidating. But she's DIFFICULT to intimidate and I think she'll do fine. :-)

From what I remember of us talking about "kids" before, she's within a year of your daughter. I'm thoroughly enjoying them at this age. We have a lot of fun. You KNOW that you're friends with your youngsters when you all get in trouble with the WIFE for having TOO MUCH fun! :-)

[Shooter 2.5]

And someone else just like you will ask you why you need more than one gun.