Friday, October 16, 2009

KaBoom part 2

If anyone every asks you why you should wear eye protection while you are shooting

If you ever start thinking that you do not need eye protection while you are shooting.

Just remember this picture.

safety glasses

This is the safety glasses I was wearing when the two hot loads went off in my M1911A1. The smudge the arrow is pointing to is not a smudge. It is a chip in the polycarbonate lenses of the safety glasses I was wearing when small shards of brass came flying out of the chamber of my gun.

In addition to the chip in my safety glasses, I also had two very small holes in my cheek and chin. But they were actually smaller than most of my shaving accidents and healed up in about a day. The glasses won't heal. My left eye, the one I aim with by the way, would probably not have faired too well if I hadn't been wearing those sacrificial lenses.

My safety glasses now have a new task. Tomorrow they will go up B Mountain with my daughter. She is going to wear them while her senior class paints the B on B mountain. I can't wear them for shooting anymore. The chip is right in my line of sight when I shoot left handed only (I blade my body and tend to not get my head turned to be square to the target. It doesn't really interfere with my vision when I'm shooting two handed because I use an isosceles stance, except that I slide my right foot just a little back from square. But it is annoying. Besides, a standard set of safety glasses aren't so expensive that I can't afford to replace this pair

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've also seen glasses like those survive a blast from a blasting cap placed next to them. There were fragments embedded in the lenses, but they survived.

Sherry Lebrun said...

Ammo is to guns as protective gear is to us. I just have started with this target shooting hobby late last year, and my uncle gave me a pair of cool-looking Wiley safety glasses. I've been thankful to my glasses every time they save me from trouble.

So what's your preferred eyewear nowadays?