Scope bite!

[xxjumbojimboxx]

http://www.outdoorhub.com/stories/2015/10/14/10-painful-videos-remind-scope-bite/


I figured I'd share this with y'all to remind you that this can happen to the best of us. Even Les Stroud has been bit. Personally this hasn't happened to me yet. Anyone brave enough to give us a good laugh?

 

[stoky]

My intro to high power rifles with the neighbor's Weatherby 300 mag, two score and change ago. I guess he figured I'd remember it better if I experienced it, as opposed to being warned about it.
still got the scar

 

[gamestalker]

Almost 35 years ago my wife and I both got seriously injured, it was no laughing matter though, I can say that much. My wife got her eye brow split wide open, and suffered a pretty serious brain concussion with total amnesia. To this day, she still doesn't remember what happened. I didn't experience as serious a brain injury, but I still got stitches and a minor concussion. The major contributing factor, was cheap optics, with short eye relief.

We were sighting in our .270's for deer season, and she was shooting a super nice Winchester Feather Weight with a Bushnell Banner 3x9x40. She got knocked out cold, and was covered in blood by the time I got her to the ER. The very next day I did the same thing, same scope model and power, but with a Rem 700 also chambered in .270 win..

As soon as I got home from the hospital, I removed both of those scopes and literally through them on the trash. A week or so later we received our nice new Leupold 3x9's in the mail, haven't experienced a repeat event in almost 35 yrs. since.

GS

 

[MEHavey]

Was the eye relief difference between the
Bushnell and the Leupold really that much?

 

[herrwalther]

My first time shooting a bolt action rifle in a hunting caliber was a Remington 770 in 7mm-08 was just a few years ago. My only shooting experience with rifles up to that time had been with military weapons. So I took up a good kneeling position and fired my first shot at an improvised target about 50 yards away. Eye was too close and I got some scope bite. Not enough to bruise or bleed, just enough to let me know where to hold my head thankfully.

 

[homatok]

Picture this if you will. It was a beautiful clear sunny (early) October morning. The air was crisp and sweet. I had left the other guys sleeping in the cabin and had driven 3 miles or so to where I would enter the woods. After hiking about a mile, I reached my favorite spot, a place where five ravines come together. There is a 10 or 15 foot hump of grass and rock covered gravel almost right where the ravines intersect. I climbed up and sat on a flat-topped rock facing the intersecting ravines. I lit up a smoke and relaxed. Some time later, I heard a grouse take off from the ravine to my left and I thought perhaps a coyote, bear or deer might be coming down, so I adjusted my seating arrangement so I could cover the more left hand ravine entrances. After a short wait I heard a sort of snort, but it seemed to come from behind me. I slowly turned my head and sure enough, there was a big 4 point (eight if you count both sides) buck, not more than maybe 15 yards away. SO----I slipped the safety off my 300 Weatherby and started to inch my way around on the rock. Slowly I raised the rifle and the buck stomped his foot and began to shift nervously. I was only partly turned toward him but I just knew he was about to take off (and I am the world’s worst running shot) so I twisted/leaned over until I got him in the cross hairs and touched of my shot! The scope hit me over my left eyebrow (I am right handed), the recoil knocked me off the rock, blood flowed freely into my eyes and I was franticly trying to get up, while the big buck bounced merrily off into the jack-pine thicket. On investigation, there was about a 3 inch wide, 2 foot long furrow in the gravel-top of the hump. While the scope was above the ground level the muzzle was not! I was left to hike back to my truck to see how bad the injury was because I could not tell by feel, even when I got the bleeding stopped. All that was left for me to do was drive back to the cabin and take the ribbing from the other guys. The cut was small but there was lots of blood and I still have a small, faint scar. Moral??---Don’t try “trick shots” with a 300 Weatherby!

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

Picture this if you will. It was a beautiful clear sunny (early) October morning. The air was crisp and sweet. I had left the other guys sleeping in the cabin and had driven 3 miles or so to where I would enter the woods. After hiking about a mile, I reached my favorite spot, a place where five ravines come together. There is a 10 or 15 foot hump of grass and rock covered gravel almost right where the ravines intersect. I climbed up and sat on a flat-topped rock facing the intersecting ravines. I lit up a smoke and relaxed. Some time later, I heard a grouse take off from the ravine to my left and I thought perhaps a coyote, bear or deer might be coming down, so I adjusted my seating arrangement so I could cover the more left hand ravine entrances. After a short wait I heard a sort of snort, but it seemed to come from behind me. I slowly turned my head and sure enough, there was a big 4 point (eight if you count both sides) buck, not more than maybe 15 yards away. SO----I slipped the safety off my 300 Weatherby and started to inch my way around on the rock. Slowly I raised the rifle and the buck stomped his foot and began to shift nervously. I was only partly turned toward him but I just knew he was about to take off (and I am the world’s worst running shot) so I twisted/leaned over until I got him in the cross hairs and touched of my shot! The scope hit me over my left eyebrow (I am right handed), the recoil knocked me off the rock, blood flowed freely into my eyes and I was franticly trying to get up, while the big buck bounced merrily off into the jack-pine thicket. On investigation, there was about a 3 inch wide, 2 foot long furrow in the gravel-top of the hump. While the scope was above the ground level the muzzle was not! I was left to hike back to my truck to see how bad the injury was because I could not tell by feel, even when I got the bleeding stopped. All that was left for me to do was drive back to the cabin and take the ribbing from the other guys. The cut was small but there was lots of blood and I still have a small, faint scar. Moral??---Don’t try “trick shots” with a 300 Weatherby!

Thanks for sharing this one! I'm reminded of a video i saw where a kid was hunting and shooting over the cab of his pickup. Turns out the view through the scope was fine but the muzzle was pointing through the cab!

 

[SeanSw]

I used to loiter in a university lobby with a young woman. Flawless snow white skin and platinum blonde hair. Not a mark on her. No freckles, pimples, pits or scars. She looked like a China doll. One fall morning she showed up with a bandage around her head. Her boyfriend took her out to sight in his deer rifle and handed it to her without proper instruction. When the bandage came off you could see where the scope nearly cut a perfect circle out of her forehead. With my freckled and acne scarred complexion the scope bite might be considered an improvement but I felt pretty bad for her.

 

[Chuck357]

I see a lot of people in the videos shooting without eye protection. Shooting glasses may reduce eye relief slightly, but they can prevent a lot of damage to the face.

 

[jmr40]

Was the eye relief difference between the
Bushnell and the Leupold really that much?

It depends on the individual scope, but most Bushnells are around 3", most Leupolds are just under 5". Yea, it makes a huge difference. I won't own a scope with less than 4".

And it has less to do with getting hit with the scope than being able to locate the target quickly through the glass. Longer eye relief is much faster and more forgiving regardless of how much or little clothing you are wearing.

It is easy to make a short eye relief scope work at the range, much harder in the field.

 

[Paul7]

I see a lot of people in the videos shooting without eye protection. Shooting glasses may reduce eye relief slightly, but they can prevent a lot of damage to the face.

And the guy with just empty casings stuck in his ears.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

The very first bolt action rifle I ever shot was my buddy's 300 Short Mag. The first time I pulled the trigger, I felt it just touch my eyebrow. It didn't hit me, but that was the one warning I needed. I basically got really lucky.

My buddy had a habit of doing that. He just didn't explain much. The first handgun I ever fired was his SRH in 44 mag. All he said was "Hang on to it."

 

[acdodd]

I came back to camp one day and my BIL was skinning a deer.
I asked him why he had to shoot the second time.
He asked me how I knew he shot twice.
I pointed to his eye and said there are 2 scope bites.
One slightly above the other.
His excuse was he was shooting up a very steep hill.

Navy guy next door was quick drawing his .44 mag super black hawk.
Fanned the hammer and the gun jumped up and hit him square between the eyes.
Lucky he didn't blow his foot off.

 

[200Apples]

.
My wife was wondering whose lipstick was on my cheek when I returned home from the range, yesterday. Hahaha... I shot a friend's .308 AR that had a collapsible stock and no butt pad. Guess my cheek weld was at the intersection of the two different diameters of the stock? Either way... yea.

I did ring the 200 yd steel, though, using the rifle's ghost ring irons! Better than I can say about trying to dial in my Model 94.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

.
My wife was wondering whose lipstick was on my cheek when I returned home from the range, yesterday. Hahaha... I shot a friend's .308 AR that had a collapsible stock and no butt pad. Guess my cheek weld was at the intersection of the two different diameters of the stock? Either way... yea.

I did ring the 200 yd steel, though, using the rifle's ghost ring irons! Better than I can say about trying to dial in my Model 94.

That must have been a good little pinch . I have a collapseable stock on my new AR, it has a locking mechanism to lock it in place aside from the lever you use to adjust it... I got some skin wedged in there the first time I played with it. It was not pleasant for my hand

 

[PCCUSNRET]

First time I shot a high power rifle was close to 45 years ago while stationed at Argentia Newfoundland. I was fortunate to draw a moose tag my 1st year and had never hunted with a rifle bigger than a 22. I ended up ordering a .270 Ruger through the Navy Exchange and a Bushnell Scopechief scope. To qualify for the tag you had to shoot 3 rounds into a 8" target at 50 yds. I wasn't able to find any 270 ammo locally so a buddy offered to load some for me and sight in the gun. I didn't get a chance to shoot the gun prior to qualifying so I had no idea how the gun was going to kick. The first shot broke my "safety" glasses into and put 8-stitch cut Above my right eye. The fellow conducting the shoot came over and asked if I was going to be able to finish. I told him if I could stop the bleeding I would like to finish as the 1st shot had hit the target. I managed to get off the last 2 shots and get my license. I ended up getting 3 bull moose during the 4 years I was stationed yhere. I could have gotten a 4th but was due to transfer the following month and it takes at least 3 months to eat a moose.

 

[orionengnr]

Yep, BTDT

(copied from a post I made in August of 2015....)

My third rifle (first was a Glenfield Model 60, second was a Colt AR) about 32 years ago. Remington 700BDL in 30-06, bought used.

I figured that a rifle of that power deserved a scope, so I bought a Bushnell or something of that ilk. Then a set of "See-Through" rings. See where this is going? I sure didn't...

I "bore-sighted" it by removing the bolt, setting the rifle on sandbags, looking at something 100 yards away through the barrel and then looking through the scope...and adjusting the scope to align with the barrel.

Hey, don't laugh...it actually works.

Took it to the range, and I'm chasing it all over the paper...what??? Finally realize that the scope is turning in the rings. I don't have the right Allen wrenches, so I'll just look under the scope and see if I can't get a decent group using the iron sights...gotta love those see-through rings, eh?

Now do you see where this is going? I still didn't...

Anyway, I snuggled in on those iron sights, lined up on the target, and caressed that trigger...BAM!

Seeing stars...and bleeding from a crescent shaped gash just above my right eye. Now I know what a good punch from Manny Pacquiao feels like.

I learned a few valuable lessons that day...

 

[rcmodel]

I got scope cut twice with one trigger pull once!!

How, you might ask??

A guy at the range had just bought a CETME with a huge Tasco target scope on it at a little gun show the day before, and he ask me to check the zero for him.

The scope was mounted Way Too Far back, and I told him we needed to move it before shooting it.
He insisted it was perfect for him.
MmmmmKyyyyy?

I sat down behind it and squeezed off the first shot.
And got bumped on the eye once, and bit hard two more times!!!!

He failed to tell me, or didn't know it had a three-shot burst trigger kit in it!!!

That was enough happy switch fun for me that day!!

Rc

 

[Walkalong]

Just about everybody who’s ever shot a rifle will experience scope bite at least once in their lifetime.

Not true.

A couple of those videos made me cringe before anything happened, as it was obvious there would be failure.

The author obviously isn't aware that most folks have more sense than that.

 

[EIB0879]

Shooting at a Doe a few years back with a 30-06. I had to turn almost completely around without standing up . Not a good solid buttplate to shoulder contact. One side of the eyepiece caught me right between the eyes almost broke my glasses and left a nasty cut on the bridge of my nose.

But I got the Doe.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

About 8 years ago I had a foreman at work who needed a new deer rifle. His ex-wife either sold them before the divorce was final or they were stolen from her house, I can't remember now. But anyways, we get off work and he wants me to check out a pawn and gun shop with him. I don't need much convincing to go to a gun shop. After about 20-30min he decided on Savage chambered in .270Win, with a pretty cheap scope mounted on it and laser bore-sighted from the factory. The next day we head out to another guy's property to sight it in. He fires about 10 shots out of it and with his eye-sight not being the best he wants me to see if it's the scope or his eyes giving him trouble. So I shoulder it, get a natural cheek weld, and think to myself "man this scope is mounted too far back." So I move my head back on the stock a little, take aim, and squeeze the trigger. BAM!! First and only time to date that I've been scope-bit. The top of the eye piece got me right on my right eye brow. I didn't even bother to check where my shot hit on the target. I just knew I wasn't shooting that rifle again with that scope unless he'd allow me to move the scope. "But it's already bore-sighted" he said. "Well then, I hope you can figure out on your own if it's the scope or your eyes making your shots wonder" I said.

 

[230RN]

We used to call it "The Crescent Club."

Member since about 1957 or 8.

First time I ever fired a scoped rifle, .243 Win. Scrooched around trying to find the proper image. Very light trigger. Instant Membership. Never had another scope cut. No real damage, just bled a lot. Scar is now gone. Memory is still there.

(Frankly, I'm glad I wasn't wearing glasses.)

This clip showing Gene Hackman firing a scoped rifle amused me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gqnKwJ5ohD4

Terry

 

[Driftertank]

I like the fat, rubber eye-cups on my Vortexes. Got one on a .308 Semi, one on a 7mm RM. If it weren't for those, I'm sure I'd have something to contribute.

Amazing how easy it can be to get in the wrong spot when shooting from a
compromised position, isn't it?

 

[MachIVshooter]

I've been kissed by NVRS a couple times shooting in awkward positions with my 673 in .350 Rem mag. Can be difficult to avoid sometimes with night vision, since eye relief is seldom much over an inch.

Aside from that, though, no, I've never actually been bitten. Not even by my 8mm Mag or .375 RUM, nor other folks' big boomers.

 

[bandur60]

First centerfire I shot was a '94 .25-35, in 1952-53; I have yet to get bitten. But 25-30 years ago I took my back-east brother-in-law to the range after a family get-together, short story ... 338 Win, milk jug at 100 yds, one round left and he hadn't shot yet. "Go for it!" ... BAM ... cloud of water and he whips around looking at me and I thought, he's gonna crow 'cause I missed and he didn't. A fraction of a second later the blood starts to flow ... sorry, but it's one of those "tragedies" that still bring a chuckle when I think about it. I'm sure it smarted,to say the least, but the combination of me missing and him connecting, then looking around so surprised and I thought, proud..... well I just can't help it.