Yes, I have had them.

Twice, they ended up being real injuries.

Both my mistake. Both while on safari.

.375

The first time, we were riding back to camp in the southern Selous, late in the evening, after I had shot a leopard.

As is the custom, the entire staff met us on the road just outside of camp (having been radioed beforehand by the PH).

They surrounded the truck, all of them festooned with plants and branches as headgear, and swathed in a variety of cloths and blankets, which were tied around their necks to serve as capes. The whole crew were banging pots and pans together and singing and dancing the kabube (at least, I think that's what it's called). It goes something like this:

“Na Kunywa, Kunywa, Chui!” They repeat it again and again at an ear-splitting pitch. (They do the same for lion and elephant - they just substitute the name of the animal, simba or tembo. Oddly, they don't do it for buffalo.)

My PH, the great Luís Pedro de Sá e Mello, shouldered his 12 gauge Benelli shotgun, fired it into the air and yelled out to me, “Mike, they want you to shoot your rifle!”

Like a fool, carried away by the moment, I raised my .375 H&H Magnum over my head with one hand and fired it straight up into the air.

Damn, that hurt! Pretty much sprained my wrist.

I didn't realize it then, but that's what I did. The next day, my wrist was stiff and sore as hell. I had to baby that wrist for the rest of the safari. It took a week or so before it was back to full strength.

John Wayne may have fired his Winchester with one hand, but it was NOT a .375!

.500

The second time, a few years later, I was sighting in my .500 A-Square prior to an elephant hunt in Namibia's Caprivi Strip.

I had mistakenly put the sling from another rifle on it. It was a shorter sling, and when I wrapped it around my left forearm and pulled the .500 into my shoulder, it didn't feel right.

But I ignored my misgivings, rested the rifle over the hood of the truck, and fired.

100+ ft.-lbs. of recoil energy slammed the buttstock too low into my shoulder pocket.

Damn, that hurt! Pretty much dislocated my shoulder.

I didn't realize it then, but that's what I did. The bullet struck the bullseye at about 75 yards, so I didn't fire a second shot.

The shoulder hurt me constantly for the next several days. It wasn't bruised, but it ached and throbbed all the way up until a week later, when I shot a bull elephant with the rifle at about 20 yards distance. It was a frontal brain shot and the bull dropped where he stood, so I didn't have to fire a second shot.

With great trepidation, I flexed my shoulder, and found that it didn't hurt at all! In fact, it felt 100% better!

Man, was I relieved. I realized that I had dislocated my shoulder with the first, sight-in shot, and relocated it with the second one that killed the elephant!

Who needs a doctor, right?!

* * * * * * *

I was so embarrassed both times that I didn't tell a soul I was in pain.

Knucklehead moves, but at least the knucklehead learned his lessons!

500 A-Square, one of my favorites!

When the brain is dead, the body suffers

Great stories Mike! The 500s have great curative powers lol.

In my considerable years of hunting I have felt quite proud of myself for mot getting a "scope eyebrow". Well! I gOt one but it really wasn't all my fault.

I was at the range with a friend who is a also a gun guy. HE asked if I could get his rifle on the paper while he loaded up some rounds to try for accuracy. This was a brand new 375 Dakota with a new 2.5x8 Leupold my friend had just mounted. My friend and I are about the same height so LOP was perfect. I fired one shot at 25 yards, made an adjustment and moved the target to 100. I fired one shot, made an adjustment, fired a second shot and the scope came flying off the rifle like a missile which slammed into my forehead. I was dazed at first then noticed the blood on the front of my shirt that was dripping off my nose.Long story short my friend had not mounted the scope correctly and a few shots broke it loose letting it fly into my head.

I guess the moral of the story is to look closely at any rifle you are going to shoot. If I had looked over the Dakota I would have noticed the rings were not attached to the bases correctly.

Mark

The only time I have been ringed by a scope was while the female videographer was filming me sighting in one of my doubles on one of my hunts in the BVC. Shooting my 450-400 I somehow got too close to the scope. It's all there in its glory, with blood and a red face, for posterity's sake on the hunting DVD.

Checking zeros at the beginning of a hunt in the Selous in 2008, I had a .375 as a light rifle. As per usual, the PH was having me shoot leaned over the hood of the ghari. The .416 was perfect, but when I shot the .375, which was a bit short for me, the scope cut me. the shot was fine, but about 3/4 of an inch out of the center ring. Because of the cut, I insisted on shooting a second, which was perfect and didn't cut me again. Only time I've been cut.

I load my 577 T. Rex with two loads.

186 grains of Reloader 19 or 45 grains of Unique.

The Reloader 19 load is maximum for it with a 750 grain bullet - it is the one that makes the rifle fly out of people's hands.

The Unique load is what I shoot to show them how easy it is it

A friend came over with a friend of his, who normally shoots only shotguns.

He said he will try the T.Rex.

I got two rounds out, one of each of the above loads and put them on the shooting table.

Our new guest picked one and held it in his hands.

I was supposed to fire one before him, to show him that it was not too bad.

Trouble was, he had the load with Unique!

I realized that as soon as I picked the round to load in the rifle to shoot. - I mark them, so I know which is which!

Well, I fired it, got quite a kick, but no trouble as I have developed the loads for it.

Our guest fired the reduced load, and was very happy as he said it kicked just like a magnum shotgun load.

I was thinking of a way to make him shoot a real 577 T.Rex load.

So I asked him to pick the rifle up, and shoulder it.

I told him to do it again, and again.

I said he was not putting the rifle correctly on his shoulders, and can prove to him that if he fired another shot, while placing teh rifle just as he showed me, he will feel a harder kick.

I said he must have had a one in a million chance of putting teh rifle right the first time he fired.

The whole secret of avoiding recoil pain is to place the rifle in teh correct position.

He was game.

I gave him a full load, and he fired it.

The rifle flew out of his hands, he cut his lips by crowding the stock and his hand whacked him in the face.

He was a believer that correct placement of the stock is the secret to avoiding a hard kick!

And YOU think that bullshit stunts funny???

George

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
And YOU think that bullshit stunts funny???

George

Absolutely hilarious!

I had shot a big bore, limited to 458 Win Mag, countless times without the slightest concern. One day, I got this bright idea to buy a Heym 500 NE. Off to the range I go.

I get all set up at the range. When I fired the gun, I got the shock of my life . The gun slammed my trigger hand so badly , it dislocated a finger . My right forearm turned black & blue.

Ultimately, I had to get rid of that gun. I could not handle it . How bad was it? I had a 470 NE that developed a habit of doubling. I’d far rather double that 470 than fire the Heym 500 NE a single time .

Since then, I have had some other doubles. Some have been bad at hitting my middle finger with that trigger guard . It can be quite painful. It looks awful. My wife is a hand surgeon. I don’t care for the look on her face she examines the injured hand . She has devised something to go around my middle finger to protect it . We have named the device “the wedding ring.”

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I had shot a big bore, limited to 458 Win Mag, countless times without the slightest concern. One day, I got this bright idea to buy a Heym 500 NE. Off to the range I go.

I get all set up at the range. When I fired the gun, I got the shock of my life . The gun slammed my trigger hand so badly , it dislocated a finger . My right forearm turned black & blue.

Ultimately, I had to get rid of that gun. I could not handle it . How bad was it? I had a 470 NE that developed a habit of doubling. I’d far rather double that 470 than fire the Heym 500 NE a single time .

Since then, I have had some other doubles. Some have been bad at hitting my middle finger with that trigger guard . It can be quite painful. It looks awful. My wife is a hand surgeon. I don’t care for the look on her face she examines the injured hand . She has devised something to go around my middle finger to protect it . We have named the device “the wedding ring.”

Hi Larry,

Did you purchase the Heym used or new? The reason I ask is that there are some individuals who will shorten a stock, change the pitch in the stock. The gun feels good when you pick up the gun, however when you shoot the gun it is not a pleasant thing to do (you get hammered hard). I know few individuals who are always buying guns modifying them and then reselling them. I have learned to never purchase a gun from them or form someone who has one of there guns. if you do you will need to restock the gun for proper fit.

I have had my Perazzi shotgun double a few times, however that recoil is not as sever as the recoil from a rifle with the pitch changed and a shortened stock.

In 2019, I was hunting in Namibia with Jan du Plessis, my usual PH of 5 previous hunts. We had agreed to shoot Leopard baits for one of Jan’s PH friends, and a Zebra stallion hobbled by us limping badly from a poachers snare. The Zebra was directly above us on a steep Koppi and Jan shot offhand with his Ruger .375. He dropped from a single shot, but Jan got we scoped badly right between his eyes. He bled almost as much as the Zebra. I wisely congratulated Jan on the shot but decided not to bust his chops about the scope injury. Luckily Jan has a complete first aid kit on his truck and he applied a bandage that stopped the bleeding.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana338:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I had shot a big bore, limited to 458 Win Mag, countless times without the slightest concern. One day, I got this bright idea to buy a Heym 500 NE. Off to the range I go.

I get all set up at the range. When I fired the gun, I got the shock of my life . The gun slammed my trigger hand so badly , it dislocated a finger . My right forearm turned black & blue.

Ultimately, I had to get rid of that gun. I could not handle it . How bad was it? I had a 470 NE that developed a habit of doubling. I’d far rather double that 470 than fire the Heym 500 NE a single time .

Since then, I have had some other doubles. Some have been bad at hitting my middle finger with that trigger guard . It can be quite painful. It looks awful. My wife is a hand surgeon. I don’t care for the look on her face she examines the injured hand . She has devised something to go around my middle finger to protect it . We have named the device “the wedding ring.”

Hi Larry,

Did you purchase the Heym used or new? The reason I ask is that there are some individuals who will shorten a stock, change the pitch in the stock. The gun feels good when you pick up the gun, however when you shoot the gun it is not a pleasant thing to do (you get hammered hard). I know few individuals who are always buying guns modifying them and then reselling them. I have learned to never purchase a gun from them or form someone who has one of there guns. if you do you will need to restock the gun for proper fit.

I have had my Perazzi shotgun double a few times, however that recoil is not as sever as the recoil from a rifle with the pitch changed and a shortened stock.

It was brand new.

No one has been able to shoot that rifle.

quote:

She has devised something to go around my middle finger to protect it . We have named the device “the wedding ring.”

Larry: Can you share a pic of it? I have the habit when shooting my 470 NE of getting cut on my trigger finger from the trigger guard. I would like to see if I can design or make something similar for my finger.

therefore Id name the rifle the "WITCH DOCTOR"

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:

quote:

She has devised something to go around my middle finger to protect it . We have named the device “the wedding ring.”

Larry: Can you share a pic of it? I have the habit when shooting my 470 NE of getting cut on my trigger finger from the trigger guard. I would like to see if I can design or make something similar for my finger.

There’s this too: https://www.newenglandcustomgu...detail.php?prod=4186

Larry,

That device could be useful to a lot of us as well. I have a Manlicher Schoenauer in .458 (the model Richard Harlan wrote about in The Hunting Imperative). Love the rifle but it raps my knuckles like Sister Anna Theresa did with her ruler in grade school. Doesn't hurt too bad the first time, but after two or three, it sure does.

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Larry,

That device could be useful to a lot of us as well. I have a Manlicher Schoenauer in .458 (the model Richard Harlan wrote about in The Hunting Imperative). Love the rifle but it raps my knuckles like Sister Anna Theresa did with her ruler in grade school. Doesn't hurt too bad the first time, but after two or three, it sure does.

The device is quite simple and disposable . I’ll describe it below .

We went to Walgreen’s and purchased a tubular toe pad. I cut a section approximately 3/4’s of an inch long . Next I took some fairly thick mole skin. I cut a small piece that was about 1/3 to 1/2 the circumference of the ring from above . I attached this on the inside of the ring using the adhesive on the mole skin. Obviously putting the mole skin side on the side of the finger getting hammered .

Works wonders.

We jokingly called it my wedding ring . I have been absolutely forbidden by my wife to wear my wedding ring while hunting due to the risk of ring avulsion injuries.

Just thought of something.

I have problems with open leather shoes that we wear.

They are not comfortable and cause scratches on my feet.

So, I but those jelly blister preventers, cut them to the right size, and stick them parts that hurt my feet.

I think these would work very well, and they stick by themselves.

Larry and Saeed,

Thanks for the ideas. Both good. I'm going to try them.

Larry,

Agree with your wife on rings. I've been married nearly 40 years and never owned a wedding ring. Never wore a ring of any kind. I grew up blue collar and saw some serious injuries due to rings, ranging from an arc to the ring, to one getting caught. As a lawyer, I've seen much worse. No rings for me.

Too tight a curve in the grip will force the middle finger into close or even hard contact with the back of the trigger guard bow.

I’ve been wounded by a couple of big bore double rifles in the same way. Actually drew blood. One was a Chapuis Brousse, the other a Heym 88B.

I think it’s a real problem with Continental doubles. I’ve never fired a Markel, but they seem too tight as well.

The Heym 89B seems better in that regard, i.e., more open. I am going to buy one.

The 89B seems to have a more open and gradual arc in the grip profile, which is a great help. Like those on the classic English doubles.

But I do like the idea of using that rubber pad from NECG. It’s sure a lot less expensive than restocking!

Thanks for the ideas Larry and Saeed. I'll look into both. By the way, and speaking of wedding rings, during my early married days, I worked full time at U.S. Steel's Geneva Works and went to school full time at BYU while getting my bachelor's and master's degrees. Even though I had a nice wedding ring, I was prohibited from wearing it at work for numerous safety reasons. It was just too much of a pain in the butt to remember to put it on and take it off all of the time. So, I put it in my wife's jewelry case and by the time I went off to law school it was too small.

First safari in Zimbabwe in ‘94, I used a camp gun with a LOP for a child and a scope pushed back too far.

Every single shot opened up the cut on my nose.

Shooting a Leopard takes some willpower when you know you will shed blood too.

I wound up making a 2” recoil pad extension with cardboard and duck tape, but couldn’t overcome the scope eye relief.

Damn, Wendell! That hurts just reading it!

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Too tight a curve in the grip will force the middle finger into close or even hard contact with the back of the trigger guard bow.

I’ve been wounded by a couple of big bore double rifles in the same way. Actually drew blood. One was a Chapuis Brousse, the other a Heym 88B.

I think it’s a real problem with Continental doubles. I’ve never fired a Markel, but they seem too tight as well.

The Heym 89B seems better in that regard, i.e., more open. I am going to buy one.

The 89B seems to have a more open and gradual arc in the grip profile, which is a great help. Like those on the classic English doubles.

But I do like the idea of using that rubber pad from NECG. It’s sure a lot less expensive than restocking!

I was in Pakistan in January shooting amongst other things , driven partridges. They had four high dollar English doubles. H&H, Westley Richards, etc. I shot them all. Every single one beat the hell out of my middle finger on my trigger hand. I could not hit a damn thing with them. I suck at plenty of things in life but shooting a shotgun ain't on of them.

Finally, the pain was so bad I quit. They asked if I wanted a single trigger gun. Of course I did. A Beretta semi auto appeared. I wore the partridges out then.

Side by side were designed to beat the single shot.

They failed.

They are the most horrible firearms to shoot.

The angle of the rear of the trigger guard is critical. I shoot a lot of double trigger straight grip shotguns with no problems, but the Parker reproductions tear me up. If you eyeball one you can see the potential problem.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Too tight a curve in the grip will force the middle finger into close or even hard contact with the back of the trigger guard bow.

I’ve been wounded by a couple of big bore double rifles in the same way. Actually drew blood. One was a Chapuis Brousse, the other a Heym 88B.

I think it’s a real problem with Continental doubles. I’ve never fired a Markel, but they seem too tight as well.

The Heym 89B seems better in that regard, i.e., more open. I am going to buy one.

The 89B seems to have a more open and gradual arc in the grip profile, which is a great help. Like those on the classic English doubles.

But I do like the idea of using that rubber pad from NECG. It’s sure a lot less expensive than restocking!

I was in Pakistan in January shooting amongst other things , driven partridges. They had four high dollar English doubles. H&H, Westley Richards, etc. I shot them all. Every single one beat the hell out of my middle finger on my trigger hand. I could not hit a damn thing with them. I suck at plenty of things in life but shooting a shotgun ain't on of them.

Finally, the pain was so bad I quit. They asked if I wanted a single trigger gun. Of course I did. A Beretta semi auto appeared. I wore the partridges out then.

Larry, I did not mean to oversimplify. There is no doubt that more than a tight grip angle is involved.

I use my 12 gauge Beretta 687 EELL O/U on doves in Argentina. It has a single trigger. Thousands of rounds every day. No problems.

A double trigger side-by-side, and thousands of rounds, now that's a different story. One gets tired, and one's grip may not be what it should be. Blood flows.

Double triggers, and hand size, and fatigue, in and of themselves, are likely significant sources of the problem.

Not to mention a .470 or .500 N.E. chambering.

Still, I'll take an open grip angle over a tight one, every time.

Grew up with double barrel side by sides, so I've got no problem with that. But need enough relief not to take a rap on the knuckles.

My advise is when it hurts to do that, DON'T DO THAT !!!

Ray is old and he knows a lot of s..t, so pay attention.

Good advice!

But if everyone followed it, there would be no such thing as football!

A guide in Alaska called my scope-eye the "Weatherby mark of excellence." Makes me smile to this day when I think about it.

When I was coaching my 9 year old son's baseball team years ago, one of his teammates was loosening up and took a mighty swing with his aluminum bat.

He was outside the on-deck circle, and needless to say, he was therefore swinging away 100% contrary to my clear teaching on the subject!

It guess it was kind of an Alec Baldwin moment for him.

I happened to have just bent down to pick up another bat from the ground.

As I was straightening up, the little slugger clipped me square in the forehead, just right of the bridge of my nose, slightly above my right eyebrow.

Forty two stitches and a few weeks later, I had a crooked scar just above my right eye, exactly in the scope cut area.

Now, other hunters and shooters often ask me if it's a scope cut.

I tell them, "No. Baseball bat."

I still have not (yet?) been cut by a scope.

Knock on wood.

Shoot enough big kicking guns and sooner or later you will become a son of the half moon!!

I trashed my right hand in a dally roping steers (team roping), case for 8 weeks, reconstruction..For almost two years I couldn't shoot most big bores from the 06 on up..I used a glove, but that second (the birdie) took a wack and I would go to my knees to the joy and laughter of my boys and grand kids..I taped it and that didn't work, I cut the fingers out of the glove, but nothing work, about the time I was going to give up, it quit hurting!

Today the only left over problem is all the skin on top of my hand has turned a bluish purpleis black..and the skin is thin as kleenex...

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:


I trashed my right hand in a dally roping steers (team roping), case for 8 weeks, reconstruction..For almost two years I couldn't shoot most big bores from the 06 on up..I used a glove, but that second (the birdie) took a wack and I would go to my knees to the joy and laughter of my boys and grand kids..I taped it and that didn't work, I cut the fingers out of the glove, but nothing work, about the time I was going to give up, it quit hurting!

Today the only left over problem is all the skin on top of my hand has turned a bluish purpleis black..and the skin is thin as kleenex...

Cowboys are crazy! A neighbor was sporting a championship Bullrider belt buckle. So I asked him about it. He won it in the circuit. He also had about every bone in his body broken. Once on the ground, after getting thrown, he could have licked the hoof of the bull who had tossed him. And he saw several cowboys whose heads were crushed by the hoof of a bucking bull.

I am glad I never got into that. I hurt bad enough racking leaves now, don't need all those broken bones that never mended straight.