I'm gimped...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I’m currently typing with only my right hand due to finished (1 hour) surgery on the left at 7PM (EST), I had a piece of shrapnel embedded in the tendon of my index finger, and sever lacerations on my index and ring fingers, with embedded powder throughout my left hand, on the top of the fingers and bottom side of my thumb (if you made a fist, it would be one side of the fist). I also had slight shrapnel penetration on my face and neck, with quite a bit of embedded gunpowder, which was (mostly/all, we’ll see after my face heals a bit) removed while I was under General Anesthesia for surgery. My left hand will likely be in a cast for 4+ weeks, with a fractured proximal phalange (I believe) on my left index finger. I’m on percocet, and was given a drug that starts with a D and ends with me on my ass, and is apparently 7 times stronger than morphine – Delatta maybe. And I’m on antibiotics.

My father, standing over my shoulder, was hit with a single piece of shrapnel, in the forehead, which buried itself in his forehead, under the skin above the scalp. This was removed under Local Anesthesia. He’s also on antibiotics.

What happened: I was closing the bolt on the hex receiver 91/30 Mosin-Nagant, after 4 shots, chambering (or, attempting to) the last round, when it went off, over 1/2 open breach. Unknown cause. This was not a Negligent Discharge, this was not from unsafe handling of the gun. This was, so far as we can tell, a freak accident.

We are having the gun looked at by the resident gunsmith, and will be having the other looked at as well (round receiver) to determine if it was the round or the gun that caused this. We may have the magazine pinned, if we decide to fire them anymore, or we may just end up mounting them on a wall, because they sure do look nice. A friend says it’s from a broken firing pin, which isn’t entirely uncommon with these rifles. I might just stick to new rifles from now on, get a savage or tikka, but that’s a topic for another thread.

The 4 shots I did take with it, though, were all within 2 inches at 75 yards.

My first injury of any sort firearm related, in over a decade of frequent shooting. I’ve known people who play Saturday/Sunday afternoon softball/football and get worse injuries on a regular basis. The new gun has a fun story to go with it, at least…

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Yikes! Glad you can still count to ten without taking off your shoes . . .

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Ouch! That sucks dude. Hope the healing process is quick.

I actually have a 91/30, round receiver, that I am cleaning up. Makes me hesitant to go fire it. Guess I better double and triple check everything before I take it to the range.

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Ow! Ow. Owowowowowowow. cringe

I broke my right wrist last year, and that was enough pain and cringey-ness for me then; I always looked with amazement at those in physical therapy who had surgery scars and all of that. (I suspect you’ll need PT as well, after having the hand immobilized that long. That’s going to be its own pain but at least you’ll be on the upswing from that point.)

Oh, and do tell the doctors if something doesn’t seem right. My doctor said he didn’t think I’d need anything more than Aleve at a week after the break, but it really hurt - I was allowed to use my fingers for typing and writing only, and my wrist would just throb at the end of the work day. I figured I was being a wuss. Nope, the break wasn’t showing clearly on the two initial sets of x-rays - it actually ran up through the top “end” of the arm bone, such that the broken ends of the bone were being rubbed on by the little bones in the hand/wrist when I’d use my fingers. :eek: This was caught on the 3-week x-rays - the doctor walked in the room after seeing the x-rays (but not talking to me) and said, “That’s still bothering you.” When I surprisedly said it was, he explained the break configuration - fortunately it was healing up well so nothing extra had to be done.

Best wishes for quick healing.

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I’m hoping that my appointment on Tuesday with an orthopedist will yield positive results and have me in only a finger cast/splint thing, but at this point there’s no way for me to know for sure, and its only wishful thinking.

Double and triple check you firing pin. So far, that’s what this looks like. I’ll know more tomorrow when I get the report from the gunsmith. I’ll forward you a copy on the forums, best as many people as possible learn from my mistakes.

I’ve got a few pictures of mine, here, here and here. That’s not the one that the shell blow up on me, although other than the hex / round there are no obvious differences (from the outside, there are minor milling changes to the interior). Care to share pictures of yours? :smiley:

I’d recommend wearing a mask of some sort, and gloves for the first two full strippers – minimum.

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The only way I know of for that to happen is if the firing pin were jammed in the forward position at the time. Congrats on your non-permanent injuries. I figure if it’s 100 years old, it should be hanging over the fireplace.

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Wow. Here’s wishing you a speedy recovery.

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Here are some pictures of me unpacking mine when it first arrived. It appears to be an Ishevsk and the year of manufacture is 1943.