Ouch

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Stew0576

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I always chuckled when I read the stories on here about people getting finger's stuck in a press, well not anymore I was sizing .270 cases today and didn't move my hand for some stupid reason and fully buried the decapping pin through my finger nail, the worst part was my finger was stuck on the pin, had to use my other hand to free my finger from the press, will never laugh again ouch
 
Yes I haven't got stuck like that but 2X's I have picked up extra presses laying around just to rearrange the junk piles
here & the lever drops & slams shut on my hand, I even looked at the last one that did it just before I picked it up &
in my mind I did this common self made pat on the back like I am so CLEVER to look at how to do it safely.
I ended up kneeling on the floor while working the handle back off my hand with my knee.
At first my hand looked anatomically INCORRECT but after flexing it a time or tow it straightened back to ALMOST
normal enough.
About DECAPPING, I haven't resized & decapping at the same time for about 12 years now.
After I had to replace the rod & ball in a 30-06 that got bent & just knock them out with an OLD LEE universal decapping die
that came with a kit I bought from a WISE MAN I -never met- personally but I bought all his reloading supplies & tools with
notes & extra stuff I had no idea what they were at the time, just from his supplies I see a genius that was far ahead of
where I am even now.
Sorry for the babbling, just sharing a story, because the first time I had the lever fall & catch me was way back then on
the first day, getting them out of his wife's garage, he had passed away a month before.
 
Yep, OOPS! do happen, BTDT. I was sizing some 38 Special cases and was on a roll. On one case I didn't get my finger out of the way quick enough (right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing?). The decapping pin missed but the thin mouth of the case cut a nice semi-circle of flesh/skin out of my left index finger. Major ouch!
 
Hi..
I have managed to avoid those type of injuries so far.
Came close a couple of times when resizing/decapping revolver cases but so far nothing more than a close call.
I can see how it could happen...you are doing a repetitive task and eventually the right hand gets ahead of the left and instant wakeup call with the added bonus of pain and blood loss.
Something I do not wish to experience.
 
Funny you should mention that. I was trying my hand at reloading .223 for the first time last weekend and shut the press on my finger. Luckily I stopped in time before it broke skin, but I certainly noticed it and sat and wondered for a second how much damage could be done if I had been in a groove and had really slammed the ram home.
 
Belling cases in a single stage press gets to running pretty fast as both hands are a blur of activity. So far so good but you guys missed the most painful oops..... biting your tongue while eating a scrumptious steak or whatever. Sheesh dat URTS!
 
When I was 9 I was helping dad size 7mm cast bullets , like most reloading benches he had a stool. I was to short to reach the foot bar, so my legs would just swing. After a few hundred bullets I tried to shimmy my body rack up on the stool. I slipped and my reflex was to grab the sizing plug, the other hand grabbed the handle. You can still see the scar from the 7mm plug that was cut out from the webbing between my thumb and index finger.

If possible I run the press tight so the handle won't fall from gravity. Sucks getting pinched.
 
Never a good time to make a mistake but there are a lot of machines you could blink at the wrong time and it kills you or rips an arm or leg off and beats you with it as you bleed out. Lucky to be a “lesson learned”, heal and go forward with more knowledge and respect. Everyone is human, until they cease to be human, you are still in good company.
 
As bad as the primer explosion accidents.....

I've only pinched my finger good placing a bullet too slow.....but that made me buy my Hornady bullet feeder.

As for other machines...What I have done was not reloading....it was framing a house....holding a stud to be nailed to the plate too close to its end. Nail guns go through knuckles just as easy as wood. I was lucky.....it separated the knuckle parts and went between them....hurt like hell but it healed without a trace. My brother-in-law nailed his foot to the floor.....we cracked up....nailing to the cross made easier. He healed fine too. At least we could get a crow bar under the head (thanks to his heavy boot leather).

A shop teacher in Texas demonstrated a table saw while wearing a "required" neck tie......he didn't survive....and I doubt any of his students became wood workers. The neck tie rule disappeared too.

Be careful....slow down...is always good advice.
 
Mr. Morris, are all those your OOPS!? Looks like my early inability to learn from experience, not reloading., but I've been married 5 times... :(
 
Mr. Morris, are all those your OOPS!? Looks like my early inability to learn from experience, not reloading., but I've been married 5 times... :(

No, I saved the photos from other posts over the years.

A shop teacher in Texas demonstrated a table saw while wearing a "required" neck tie......he didn't survive..

I have some photos from a lathe accident I show folks before they use any of mine. They get the point across better than any words can. In one photo you can make out an eyeball but that’s about it, the rest is mush.
 
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