i messed up big (WARNING - GRAPHIC IMAGES)

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Sorry bout the hand. Great wife, though. Let her know you appreciate her.

 

[tharlow514]

Man, sorry to hear about your incident. It is a good reminder that it could happen to any of us. Hopefully we can see some follow up pics of a healed up-ready to shoot hand. By the way, is that your dominant hand or off hand? I assume your off hand since you were pulling the trigger with shooting hand.

 

[Shay]

As I teach my students; the person most likely to shoot you is YOU.

The 4 cardinal firearm safety rules must be followed without exception. Make exceptions and you end up shooting things that shouldn't be shot.

 

[dubsac]

Looks like he shot himself to me.

 

[vwfred69]

well i was holding the slide when i pulled the trigger but who knows. i know the new splint sucks. did u put the sign on my desk?

 

[haldir]

Dang, sorry about the hand. That doesn't look like much fun.

 

[Woodsman]

Here's the way I was taught.

1. Drop the magazine out of the firearm.
2. Rack the slide three times
3. Lock back the slide
4. Use your pinky finger to feel if a round is chambered
5. Then visually inspect the chamber
6. With your trigger finger in register the whole time.

Might be redundant, but it seems to work well...

Hope your hand gets better soon. That looks like it would hurt like "he" double toothpicks.

 

[sporter]

well i was holding the slide when i pulled the trigger but who knows. i know the new splint sucks. did u put the sign on my desk?

Once again. Sorry to hear about your accident.

However judging by the photos you took a .40 through the hand. You can pretty much see where the bullet entered, traveled and exited your hand.

I did a little photo essay to show you how I think you did it (sorry could not have right hand in picture as it was holding camera)

1. Gripping slide with left hand to assist in disassembly:

2. Part of hand removed to show area affected:

3. Trigger is pulled, pistol fires. You can clearly see which part of the hand the pistols barrel is pointed at:

 

[Paco Bedejo]

However judging by the photos you took a .40 through the hand. You can pretty much see where the bullet entered, traveled and exited your hand.

Ah, that makes more sense. A buddy & I were trying to figure out how the ejection port would be able to bite enough to do that much damage. We both had our XDm's out, scratching our heads.

We both came to the opinion that someone was watching over the OP on this one to have no functional damage done. My buddy also almost got sick after looking at the pics after about 20 seconds

I hope it's healing up as well as can be expected & I hope that the plastic surgeon is a talented one.

 

[vwfred69]

I'm not saying i didn't shoot myself but this was my approximate hand placement on the gun. It is the tactical so lots of room to grab, my thought is when i pulled the trigger thinking it was unloaded there was probably a big jerk involved. This is as close as i can get with my hand the way it is. I usually don't push on the end of the barrel with this gun, i did with my old Taurus but this has a lighter pull.

This is suppposed to be a DON'T repeat the dumb@ss thing i did! Follow all safety steps no matter how redundant and always drop your mag and clear your gun!

 

[Hornett]

So, possibly the sight made one of the wounds and the ejected brass made the other?

I'm really sorry for your misfortune.

 

[ezdubbin97]

would the escaping gases be enough to do that much damage (in combination with bite)? I remember Mythbusters doing an episode about a thumb being blown off by escaping gases on a large caliber handgun...they confirmed it. Just wondering if that would make sense (I'm no expert).

Hope you have a quick recovery...from one VW guy to another (judging from your S/N)...

 

[sporter]

There is little to no blast from the ejection port. However if you cover the muzzle with your hand and almost seal off the muzzle the bullet and the exploding gases will turn part of your hand into hamburger which is what I think happened.

Here are some examples:

YouTube - Glock 18 Full Auto Slow Mo
YouTube - Colt 1911 Slow Motion

 

[Passive101]

I'm sorry you had an ND. I hope your hand heels up. I always double check. I always check after I set a firearm down as well.

It takes balls to admit this to the world. You will be more careful from now on I'm sure.

 

[finity]

would the escaping gases be enough to do that much damage (in combination with bite)? I remember Mythbusters doing an episode about a thumb being blown off by escaping gases on a large caliber handgun...they confirmed it. Just wondering if that would make sense (I'm no expert).

Hope you have a quick recovery...from one VW guy to another (judging from your S/N)...

A revolver has a different design than a sem-auto (obviously).

A revolver has a gap between the cylinder & the forcing cone to allow for cylinder clearance on closure. On Mythbusters they used a high powered round (I think it was a .44 mag). Lower powered rounds hurt but not that kind of damage.

 

[qualitytym]

Live (hopefully), and learn.

 

[ezdubbin97]

A revolver has a different design than a sem-auto (obviously).

A revolver has a gap between the cylinder & the forcing cone to allow for cylinder clearance on closure. On Mythbusters they used a high powered round (I think it was a .44 mag). Lower powered rounds hurt but not that kind of damage.

yeah, I knew we weren't comparing apples to apples, and I assumed it was a bit out there in the way of theories, but, threw it out there in case. Still a scary proposition, and I'm glad he posted, it will be in the back of my mind as a reminder to follow the rules of redundancy.

 

[oldfb]

When mine happened with my xdsc I actually must have brain faded and put the loaded mag back in after I locked it open to check clear. All the tripple checking in the world doesn't mean diddly when you brain fart.
It is all the other rules that hopefully will keep yourself from getting shot or killed.

Plain and simple pulling the trigger on a closed chamber for disassembly is another chance for murphy to pop up and ruin your day.

Obviously SA felt strongly enough to make sure the xdm did adress that design fluke.

Ultimately it was my fault "but" that design contributed to the chain of events.

Unfortunately I think by dryfiring and excessive handling I caused myself to become complacent while developing a bad muscle memory of allowing my palm to cover part of the muzzle to keep the slide from springing off the frame during takedown.

If I had to guess I would think that was how you got bit.

My indoor kept beagle debrided my wound everyday before I used sterile water or tapwater to flush mine while healing.
I believe it helped my scar and healing.

Chinese medicine has used canines for burn and wound care for centuries.

This is not medical advice and I am not a doctor. Nor am I suggesting this folk remedy for anyone. I am only relaying my personal experience.
Neither I nor INGO suggest you do this. Doing so you assume all risk and liability.

YMMV

Goodluck and Mend quickly.

Remember it could happen to anyone so be careful when you say "never me".

 

[vwfred69]

how bad was your damage oldfb?

 

[Chefcook]

at therapy

I am sorry for your injury. You were very very lucky, that doesn't look too bad. It could have been so much worse. Heal well and heal fast...