So..... who's been shot?

[Handsome Rob]

I mean, it's a gun forum, right? 

Everyone's had a boo boo....I know there's ex military & police dudes here so come on, fess up. Who's been shot? 

Where, how, why & please explain to the uninitiated what it felt like. 

 

I'll go first. All of these were accidents (the last was entirely my fault & the shame hurt FAR more than the injury) 

First:  I was 17. Recruited to the British Army long range shooting team & training for the Queens trophy at Bisley. I took a 7.62 ricochet thru my right knee. It bounced off 2 brick walls before it hit me & I honestly don't remember a thing. I heard a bang (I was working targets in the range butts) then woke up in a hospital. Wheel chair for 3 weeks, crutches for another 6, then physio for a couple of months. I remember that it felt like..... well, like I'd been freaking shot. 

Second was the week after I quit the physio.... my best bud & I were rabbit hunting (we're both 17...) with .22s. We were having a great day, probably had 35 bunnies in the bag. I shot a really good hare & my 'buddy' (foreshadowing...) decided it'd be funny as all get out to make its head explode, just as I'm picking it up. Well, he missed. Put a .22 short through my hand. Literally just got the all clear from the army, medical discharge & all that & my bestest best friend in the world shattered my right hand pinky knuckle, 3 metatarsal bones & my right index finger knuckle. 

I passed out at the impact, but came to 30 seconds later feeling like a red hot soldering iron had been shoved thru my hand. Stupid thing, the really stupid thing.... is that I didn't tell anyone for 5 days. I was more worried about getting him in trouble than anything else. My hand was black & the size of a cantaloupe when my mum took me to the hospital (I lied & told her I'd hit it on a rusty nail.) The doctors fixed my hand & dug the slug out from next to my thumb. He's just finished serving a 25 year sentence for killing 2 people back in the UK, by the way. Got out in August last year, apparently. Kinda wish I'd known what he was like in '91.......

The third (yeah, I know.....) was entirely my own stupid fault. I won't go into details because, well......no. Nothing bad, nothing cagey, I'm frankly just ashamed because this was totally on me. Ar10 (not mine) with which I was very unfamiliar. I had it muzzle up in a truck & decided (because I'm a tit) that muzzle down would be safer (hahahahaaaaaa!) In my infinite wisdom, I decided to invert the rifle & this bit I don't remember. The safety was off. Not a doubt in my mind, I screwed up. 110% my own doing, not an excuse in the world is going to change that. Now...I don't know if my finger was on the trigger, in the trigger guard or not. Maybe the seat organizer of the driver I was sat behind got in there, maybe fate, God, karma....I honestly do not know. But; something hit the trigger. And the recoil made it a double tap. I, frankly, shat myself. Everyone in the vehicle shat themselves. I have never experienced a moment of shame like it & I pray I never do again. To this day, the thought of what happened & more importantly what COULD'VE happened keeps me awake. It's a feeling I cannot shake. Having been shot twice at this point (and shot AT quite a bit. Now that ####'s scary), this instance was hands down THE most terrifying.

Because it was me. It was my fault. I screwed up. Royally. Nothing that occurred can be attributed to anything. Anything, but my negligence. So, I drilled 2 (TWO), 150gn .308 soft points BETWEEN MY BIG TOE & THE TOE NEXT TO THE BIG TOE I DONT KNOW WHAT IT'S CALLED DAMMIT DON'T JUDGE ME! 

An inch in literally 3 out of 4 directions & if have lost, at best, a toe. At worst, literally my entire f'king foot! (Srsly, not exaggerating) Best I can describe the feeling, physically, was like having an anvil dropped on my foot from about 20 feet. However. The pain IMMEDIATELY disappeared once I realized what'd happened and that it was me that'd screwed up. The physical shock, however; the realization of the situation etc.... knocked the ever living tar out of me. I cried. I panicked. I profusely apologized to everyone. I hyperventilated. I tried to make jokes because that's my default "oh....####" setting. I cried a bit more. I finally realized that the only person physically hurt was me & honestly, I might kinda oughtta think about maybe doing something about that. 

Took off my boot, nothing odd looking.

Took off my sock: bloody, but not weirdly shaped.

Looked at my hoof.......

RIGHT BANG SLAP between the little piggies. I almost. Almost took up religion, sobriety & veganism at that point. There have, been zero negative effects (other than the continuing sleepless nights, guilt & shame) & the skin came back very nicely. 

Anyone else here as unlucky, foolish or clumsy as me? 

 

TL,DR; Robbie's been shot 3 times. 

It really, really f'king hurts.

Edited July 19, 2021 by Handsome Rob

[mikegideon]

I'm pretty sure nobody is gonna top this!

[Chucktshoes]

2 hours ago, mikegideon said:

I'm pretty sure nobody is gonna top this!

[RED333]

We were at a "friends" house, being young and dumb. The "friend" came around the corner and fired a 22 with rat shot at point blank, less than 2 feet, into my right arm and right side. I was sitting on a couch and went to the floor from the pain. Felt like my arm was on fire, 20 to 30 blood trails from all the holes. He tried to axplain that the night before he shot one at a wall 20 feet away and did not leave a mark on the wall, so he thought the round was a blank. Did not call him "friend" again, just stayed clear on him.

[gregintenn]

Wow!

I’ve been shot at a time or two, but never hit. I did help a friend dig a shotgun primer out of his crotch when a dumbazz thought it would he funny to throw a shotgun shell into the campfire.

[TGO David]

[Randall53]

Wow..... I don’t even personally know anybody that’s been shot. If they have, they ain’t talk’n!!! I’m with mikegideon on this one!

[KahrMan]

You know how when you are dove hunting they say don’t shoot at low birds. There is a reason for that. A kid close to me tracked a low bird, swung and fired. He never even thought about people down the line. Took 12 gauge bird shot to my face. 
Dropped me to my knees but luckily he was just far enough away that the pellets didn’t break the skin. Left 11 red welts on my face and neck. 

[Alleycat72]

I shot a guy at 1000 yards once. Hit a spindle on a spotter. The bullet was deflected I believe more than once and hit the guy. He picked the bullet up off the ground at his feet and it gave him a nice burn. He brought me the spotter and the bullet. Luckily no skin was broken. I still have them both. 180 7mm @ 3050. 1830ish at 1k. 

[Omega]

I've been shot at, and once had a plate hit, but except for a minor eye injury, never had anything break the skin.  Many a close call, two UXOs, that I know of, a ventilated Toyota and a few mortars that landed within my AO which only peppered my hooch but no, not been actually shot.  

[Chucktshoes]

2 hours ago, KahrMan said:

You know how when you are dove hunting they say don’t shoot at low birds. There is a reason for that. A kid close to me tracked a low bird, swung and fired. He never even thought about people down the line. Took 12 gauge bird shot to my face. 
Dropped me to my knees but luckily he was just far enough away that the pellets didn’t break the skin. Left 11 red welts on my face and neck. 

You didn’t tell us you knew Dick Cheney!

[MacGyver]

While it's nothing more than luck and being a few inches this way instead of that way - I'm to be in the camp of "shot at and missed." The only way I can describe it is that it's a liberating feeling and an utterly terrifying one at exactly the same time.

[GlockSpock]

13 hours ago, Handsome Rob said:

I mean, it's a gun forum, right? 

Everyone's had a boo boo....I know there's ex military & police dudes here so come on, fess up. Who's been shot? 

Where, how, why & please explain to the uninitiated what it felt like. 

 

I'll go first. All of these were accidents (the last was entirely my fault & the shame hurt FAR more than the injury) 

First:  I was 17. Recruited to the British Army long range shooting team & training for the Queens trophy at Bisley. I took a 7.62 ricochet thru my right knee. It bounced off 2 brick walls before it hit me & I honestly don't remember a thing. I heard a bang (I was working targets in the range butts) then woke up in a hospital. Wheel chair for 3 weeks, crutches for another 6, then physio for a couple of months. I remember that it felt like..... well, like I'd been freaking shot. 

Second was the week after I quit the physio.... my best bud & I were rabbit hunting (we're both 17...) with .22s. We were having a great day, probably had 35 bunnies in the bag. I shot a really good hare & my 'buddy' (foreshadowing...) decided it'd be funny as all get out to make its head explode, just as I'm picking it up. Well, he missed. Put a .22 short through my hand. Literally just got the all clear from the army, medical discharge & all that & my bestest best friend in the world shattered my right hand pinky knuckle, 3 metatarsal bones & my right index finger knuckle. 

I passed out at the impact, but came to 30 seconds later feeling like a red hot soldering iron had been shoved thru my hand. Stupid thing, the really stupid thing.... is that I didn't tell anyone for 5 days. I was more worried about getting him in trouble than anything else. My hand was black & the size of a cantaloupe when my mum took me to the hospital (I lied & told her I'd hit it on a rusty nail.) The doctors fixed my hand & dug the slug out from next to my thumb. He's just finished serving a 25 year sentence for killing 2 people back in the UK, by the way. Got out in August last year, apparently. Kinda wish I'd known what he was like in '91.......

The third (yeah, I know.....) was entirely my own stupid fault. I won't go into details because, well......no. Nothing bad, nothing cagey, I'm frankly just ashamed because this was totally on me. Ar10 (not mine) with which I was very unfamiliar. I had it muzzle up in a truck & decided (because I'm a tit) that muzzle down would be safer (hahahahaaaaaa!) In my infinite wisdom, I decided to invert the rifle & this bit I don't remember. The safety was off. Not a doubt in my mind, I screwed up. 110% my own doing, not an excuse in the world is going to change that. Now...I don't know if my finger was on the trigger, in the trigger guard or not. Maybe the seat organizer of the driver I was sat behind got in there, maybe fate, God, karma....I honestly do not know. But; something hit the trigger. And the recoil made it a double tap. I, frankly, shat myself. Everyone in the vehicle shat themselves. I have never experienced a moment of shame like it & I pray I never do again. To this day, the thought of what happened & more importantly what COULD'VE happened keeps me awake. It's a feeling I cannot shake. Having been shot twice at this point (and shot AT quite a bit. Now that ####'s scary), this instance was hands down THE most terrifying.

Because it was me. It was my fault. I screwed up. Royally. Nothing that occurred can be attributed to anything. Anything, but my negligence. So, I drilled 2 (TWO), 150gn .308 soft points BETWEEN MY BIG TOE & THE TOE NEXT TO THE BIG TOE I DONT KNOW WHAT IT'S CALLED DAMMIT DON'T JUDGE ME! 

An inch in literally 3 out of 4 directions & if have lost, at best, a toe. At worst, literally my entire f'king foot! (Srsly, not exaggerating) Best I can describe the feeling, physically, was like having an anvil dropped on my foot from about 20 feet. However. The pain IMMEDIATELY disappeared once I realized what'd happened and that it was me that'd screwed up. The physical shock, however; the realization of the situation etc.... knocked the ever living tar out of me. I cried. I panicked. I profusely apologized to everyone. I hyperventilated. I tried to make jokes because that's my default "oh....####" setting. I cried a bit more. I finally realized that the only person physically hurt was me & honestly, I might kinda oughtta think about maybe doing something about that. 

Took off my boot, nothing odd looking.

Took off my sock: bloody, but not weirdly shaped.

Looked at my hoof.......

RIGHT BANG SLAP between the little piggies. I almost. Almost took up religion, sobriety & veganism at that point. There have, been zero negative effects (other than the continuing sleepless nights, guilt & shame) & the skin came back very nicely. 

Anyone else here as unlucky, foolish or clumsy as me? 

 

TL,DR; Robbie's been shot 3 times. 

It really, really f'king hurts.

I think your buddy, the one that shot you in the hand, would have seized being my buddy at that point in time. Was it he or the doctor (your original post wasn't 100% clear) that killed the two people in the UK?

Me personally, I caught some pretty good shrapnel in the arm at the shooting range one day. It's still in there.

[TGO David]

Twice.

Once when I was a young teenager, out squirrel hunting with a childhood buddy.  He had a negligent discharge as we were walking and we both looked around to see where it went in the ground, as he was carrying muzzle-down.  We then realized he'd shot me right above the ankle with his .22LR.

The next time I was in my early 20's.  My brother had a negligent discharge in my parents house on New Years Eve.  The 22LR round hit a wall and ricocheted, striking me in the eyebrow above my right eye.  The projectile glanced down, went through the top (white) of the eye and stopped in the optic nerve.  I lost sight in my right eye because of that one.

When people notice that I shoot handguns right handed and rifles left handed, this is the "Why?" behind it.

 

Despite these occurrences, I still love guns and love shooting.  What I don't love is shooting with other people - if I am not familiar with them or their gun-handling abilities.   It takes gigantic leaps of faith, huge doses of fatalism and a desire for something significant for me to attend any sort firearms training classes.  I generally pick out people have their #### together, and partner up with or shoot near them.

 

[No_0ne]

Both knees and my lower back are shot, but thus far I have yet to be struck by any projectiles, other than errantly thrown footballs over the years ...

[Erik88]

1 hour ago, TGO David said:

I lost sight in my right eye because of that one.

So sorry to hear this David. I have an odd fear of eye injuries and wear safety glasses a lot more than most people. I've had a few people crack jokes about it but I don't care. 

[TGO David]

6 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

So sorry to hear this David. I have an odd fear of eye injuries and wear safety glasses a lot more than most people. I've had a few people crack jokes about it but I don't care. 

Yeah man.... safety glasses are a must have for me. 

 

[E4 No More]

I dunno. I take "shot" literally, and don't really consider taking shrapnel or ricochets as being "shot" - although in some cases like David's there isn't much difference between the two. One of my COs in the Marine Corps got hit by shrapnel above the right eye that came from a LAW rocket shot on a target on the range in 29 Palms. There was a considerable distance from the firing line to the target that you'd think that you were safe from such things, but he got cut pretty good. But you wouldn't hear him say that he survived being "shot" by a LAW rocket.

I've taken shrapnel from a couple of bullets that either hit a rock or off of a metal target, but the worst injury that I got from shooting was an over-pressured 20 Ga shot shell in my grandpa's double-barrel. The case split at the base of the head and shot flake gunpowder and brass out between the standing breech and the fence into my left forearm lodging in the skin. I went to the ER where they scrubbed my skin raw with Betadine and a scrubbing pad to get the powder out. I don't know if they were worried about leaving the powder in to come out naturally, or just wanted to torture an 18-year old who liked guns.

[TGO David]

1 minute ago, E4 No More said:

I dunno. I take "shot" literally, and don't really consider taking shrapnel or ricochets as being "shot" - although in some cases like David's there isn't much difference between the two.

I'm almost positive that my medical records list me as having been shot.  The path the bullet took to get inside my head feels fairly academic other than that fact that the wall bled off enough of its momentum to keep it from killing me. 

 

[E4 No More]

52 minutes ago, TGO David said:

I'm almost positive that my medical records list me as having been shot.  The path the bullet took to get inside my head feels fairly academic other than that fact that the wall bled off enough of its momentum to keep it from killing me. 

 

I would imagine so. You were lucky, (albeit to an extent), that the wall bled-off some of that energy which is why I alluded to what you might consider semantics. 22 can do some surprising damage for a little sucker. When I was in college I knew a rabid anti-2A fellow student. He was afraid of guns because his best friend was shot with a 22 in the pelvis, (hip bone). The bullet glanced off the bone and traveled up through the abdomen and chest into the left shoulder killing him.

[TGO David]

1 hour ago, E4 No More said:

I would imagine so. You were lucky, (albeit to an extent), that the wall bled-off some of that energy which is why I alluded to what you might consider semantics. 22 can do some surprising damage for a little sucker. When I was in college I knew a rabid anti-2A fellow student. He was afraid of guns because his best friend was shot with a 22 in the pelvis, (hip bone). The bullet glanced off the bone and traveled up through the abdomen and chest into the left shoulder killing him.

Yikes.  I forget what the actual statement was by the doctor at the time, but I want to say my dad relayed that I was 4mm away from what would have been a fatal hit.  If it had impacted just slightly lower it would have gone through the optical cavity and that'd would have been that.

 

[Handsome Rob]

5 hours ago, GlockSpock said:

I think your buddy, the one that shot you in the hand, would have seized being my buddy at that point in time. Was it he or the doctor (your original post wasn't 100% clear) that killed the two people in the UK?

Me personally, I caught some pretty good shrapnel in the arm at the shooting range one day. It's still in there.

Yeah, I didn't really speak to him after the incident. It was him that killed the 2 guys. I don't know any details of it, other than it was 2 Indian guys. 

[Snaveba]

Well, I’m guessing BB’s and bottle rockets don’t really count, but when you are young and dumb, friends tend to shoot stupid things at each other. Been hit by both and had to dig a BB out of my knuckle once. 

[Alleycat72]

I caught a 7.62x39 once. I have the groove in my skull to prove it. It hurts from time to time.  Went between my skin and skull. I've always looked at an AK with suspension after that. 

[DWARREN123]

Not shot but have had some fragments pieces pulled out of my body. Didn't notice them going in too much but they hurt coming out!