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Always wear those safety glasses

Man, that eye would have been muffed up for sure! I'd say 50% or better don't use safety glasses. I'm guilty of it a lot of the time. This is a good reminder EYES and ears!!
 
Ouch! Many years ago, when I first got out of the Corps and didn't have much money, I worked at Hot Shots on Austell Rd. On Wednesday evenings, after work, I would head over to another local gun shop/range and shooting bowling pins. Well, the week before I had won a set of Wilson Combat eye pro and was super-psyched. They retailed at around $45 at the time and were too much for me to spend, so I finally had a set of cool-guy eye pro.

The very next week, I'm wearing my new eye pro for the first time and I'm in the on-deck circle waiting to shoot. The guy on the line was shooting a Beretta 84, and why they were letting someone shoot .380 at a bowling pin match is beyond me. One of his first rounds hit that solid bowling pin with a 90grn FMJ, bounced back, and struck me dead center in the right lens. Part of me was happy that I had good eye pro on and the other part was superpissed that my brand new eye pro was RUINED.
 
Learned the hard way that good eye protection is important.

I used to use some cheap stuff that was pretty open at the top. One day I was shooting my Mini-14 at an indoor range and had the ejected case do a perfect bank-shot off the wall of the shooting lane and down through the open top of the glasses.

The round landed vertically across my eyebrow and my cheekbone, and by the time I put down the gun, took the glasses off and pulled off the hot round, it had basically melted the skin in that area. I could literally feel the burned flesh pulling away with the case when I removed it. I had that scar across my right eye socket for six months or so before it finally healed up enough not to notice. I just thank God it didn't also touch my eyeball when it did it's nosedive between the glasses and my face.

After that I bought some real shooting glasses (ESS) and have never worried about that type of thing again...
 
Learned the hard way that good eye protection is important.

I used to use some cheap stuff that was pretty open at the top. One day I was shooting my Mini-14 at an indoor range and had the ejected case do a perfect bank-shot off the wall of the shooting lane and down through the open top of the glasses.

The round landed vertically across my eyebrow and my cheekbone, and by the time I put down the gun, took the glasses off and pulled off the hot round, it had basically melted the skin in that area. I could literally feel the burned flesh pulling away with the case when I removed it. I had that scar across my right eye socket for six months or so before it finally healed up enough not to notice. I just thank God it didn't also touch my eyeball when it did it's nosedive between the glasses and my face.

After that I bought some real shooting glasses (ESS) and have never worried about that type of thing again...

That's why I always wear a ballcap when shooting. Helps keep trash from coming in the top, and gives a little added protection to the noggin. I require a hat with a front brim in all my live-fire classes.
 
Damn. I've had 9mm casings bounce off my lane wall and land in my shirt collar and burn my neck before. But that right there is crazy...
 
I had a 7.62x39 shell casing bounce off the wall at an indoor range and hit me in the ear. Must have been impressive because they were trying to give me first aid for my wet feeling ear. I had a nice clean cut from the case mouth.
 
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