Finger in Front of Touchhole

[Trench]

I did one of those stupid things today, that if I should ever do again, would just make me stupider.

I attended my clubs BP shoot yesterday. I was shooting my .58 Virginia, standing. I had my left elbow tucked in to my ribs for stability which moves your hand under the lock. Well, ol' ring finger must have gone wondering in front of the vent, because it felt like a hammer hit him after I squeezed the trigger.

I ended up with just a few powder burn fleks and a throbbing thumb. Count myself lucky. Afterwoods, one of the more senior club members asked, "Do you think you'll do that again?" I replied, "No. No, I don't think I will." :shake:

 

[MSW]

thanks for sharing... it takes an ego hit to admit that you 'messed up,' and i appreciate the heads up on a near miss.

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
(Nietsche)

 

[MikeChapin]

Ow! I've got a nice tattoo at the end of my little finger from that. I didn't have the finger under the touch hole but had my hand flat on the underside closer to the lock than I usually do. Caught a chunk of burning powder right on the tip of the little finger. It had enough poop at that distance to cut into the finger and embed the burning powder.

 

[shootemup]

Exactly how I got my moniker... :haha:

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I have a tattoo on the tip of my pinkie from a similar accident, it fired when I snapped the frizzen shut.

 

[rafterob]

:redface: Yep, pretty much only have to do that once to learn your lesson.

 

[sniper68]

You'll not hear me makin any rude comments about yer intelligence. :redface: :idunno:

 

[shootemup]

:shocked2: Shoot left-handed, do ya? :grin:

Looks like you use 4f for prime, too. :wink:

My experience was pretty much the same as yours - same finger, except on the other hand.

Given the finger involved, I had to wonder if my persnickety (at that time) flintlock wasn't trying to tell me something... :hmm:

:hatsoff:
Spot

 

[mr.flintlock]

A few years ago I was at the range with my longtime B.P.shooting buddy. I was shooting my new flintlock which had a 5/64 vent hole. I had sighted the rifle in at 25 yards and decided to try it @ 50 yards. It was a little after noon and quite a few people were using the range by now. There was an unused target at the 50 yard line so I decided to use it instead of calling the range cold and stopping everyone from shooting while I posted a new target.

I was in the far right shooting lane and so was the target. I placed the palm of my left hand flat against the wall and laid my rile across my left forearm. When I fired, my hand felt like someone had hit it with a red hot sledge hammer. The back of my hand was burned black and was bleeding it looked like someone had shot it with a load of # 6 shot. I showed it to my buddy and he started laughing. I told him that it really wasn't that funny. He continued laughing and pointed to the wall and said"Look at that wall" There was a larg black spot on the wall with a hand print in the middle of it. We all got a laugh out of that. I washed my hand with cold water and went back to shooting.

Half of my hand it permently tatooed with black powder as a reminder of my stupid mistake.

One thing about it though, It's like what my dad told a man at the gas station where I was applying for a part time job after school. He told the man,"My boy ain't got much education but he catches on quick." I don't make the same mistakes twice.

Oh, and the black spot on the wall with the hand print is still barly visable, even to this day.

 

[rdlange]

Years ago I added a pan shield to my Siler lock just for this reason. It also makes your flinter neighbor friendly.

 

[ozark57]

You'll not hear me makin any rude comments about yer intelligence. :redface: :idunno:

Do you call that "flinters monkey finger"? :rotf:

 

[tg]

Just do not ever tilt the lock faceward and try to see if there is any spark with a loaded gun, one spark can bounce around what seems to be an eternity before it finds the hole....and the main charge.

 

[sniper68]

What tg said !! You can't imagine how much force comes out of the vent. I thought for a milisecond that I blew the tip of my finger off!
Better now. :grin:

 

[rr11]

Wow that would get your attention. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[roundball]

Similar caution is when you decide to shoot your Flintlock while holding it upside down to see if it works that way...pay attention to the direction the vent is facing

 

[Flint311]

Yup! Tattooed myself one time. Just checked and it's still there, a little. I now warn people that want to "watch a flintlock go off" not to stand on the lock side :thumbsup:

 

[rr11]

Have not tryed any of my flinters up side down yet. Would not have thought to that issue.

 

[Trench]

Have not tryed any of my flinters up side down yet. Would not have thought to that issue.

Sometimes Roundball has to hang from a branch upside down by his knees to get those great turkey and deer shots of his. :rotf:

 

[tg]

"Sometimes Roundball has to hang from a branch upside down by his knees to get those great turkey and deer shots of his.'

I hear he had to shorten his loin cloth to keep it from interfering with his line of sight when taking those shots :shocked2:

 

[Emet Huntsman]

I was helping a friend teach a hunter education course -- he had asked me to do a segment on BP. To help the kids understand how flintlocks work I invited them to touch off a blank round from mine. The first young girl stepped forward and I handed her the rifle explaining how to cock it, set the trigger, etc.
Just as she squeezed off the round I realized I was staring right into the flash pan! :shocked2:
I never knew my reflexes to be so quick, but I ducked and turned just in time to catch the blow to the side of my head and not full in the face! Even though this was a blank charge, there was still sufficient force to give me a "tattoo."
That's when I learned we can never be so smart we can't still do stupid things.