went to the range yesterday , shot 9mm and various 22lr weapons. At some point I felt stinging pain on my neck just under the lower jaw. Did't pay attention to it and continued shooting. When I came home my wife asked me why am I bleeding from the neck. I looked in the mirror and saw a small (still bleeding ) wound. Being just on the surface of the skin, not a big deal. But if I had no shooting glasses, and it hit me several inches higher, it would be a trip to ER with unknown outcome
glad that I was wearing shooting glasses
- Thread starter dekibg
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sauer1911
Member
I hear ya! I was shooting in a match and someone came up and said my nose was bleeding.
I had a little tiny nick on the outside edge of my nose and a few drops of blood on my shirt. A little fleck of some shrapnel nicked my nose!
I have been hit on the foot several times, and seen ricochets hit the ground from the berm behind the targets. They'll sometimes hit the 45 degree angle and come back from a gravity fueled trip to the air.
be safe.
I had a little tiny nick on the outside edge of my nose and a few drops of blood on my shirt. A little fleck of some shrapnel nicked my nose!
I have been hit on the foot several times, and seen ricochets hit the ground from the berm behind the targets. They'll sometimes hit the 45 degree angle and come back from a gravity fueled trip to the air.
be safe.
TomJ
Contributing Member
I picked up a XDS 4.0 45 last week and had it at the range Saturday. I had a number of shells eject directly into my glasses and forehead. I changed guns after the third half moon shaped cut in my forehead that was deep enough to bleed. It's at Springfield being looked at, as it did it with 3 different types of ammo.
g.willikers
Member
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- Aug 25, 2007
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- 1,027
Yessir,
Anyone who doesn't use eye protection while shooting (and lots of other places) is nuts.
True for airguns, archery and any other activity involving flying objects.
A piece of a bullet jacket hit the edge of my glasses and imbeded in the side of my nose.
Had to pull it out with some effort.
Don't even want to think about what would have happened I I hadn't been wearing a good pair of glasses.
And yet, you see folks shooting without them.
Anyone who doesn't use eye protection while shooting (and lots of other places) is nuts.
True for airguns, archery and any other activity involving flying objects.
A piece of a bullet jacket hit the edge of my glasses and imbeded in the side of my nose.
Had to pull it out with some effort.
Don't even want to think about what would have happened I I hadn't been wearing a good pair of glasses.
And yet, you see folks shooting without them.
Sheepdog1968
Member
I've been hit with enough splash back over the years to always wear eye protection. I even do so when mowing and edging the law. Heck even wear ear pro for that as well as when vacuuming in the house.
Schwing
Member
I am a believer. A few years back. The guy next to me fired a revolver that had some kind of issue and the resulting shrapnel smacked me directly in the right eye and forehead. It hit hard enough to crack my safety glasses.
I have very little doubt that I would be shooting with one eye today if I had not been wearing them.
I have very little doubt that I would be shooting with one eye today if I had not been wearing them.
HankB
Member
Shooting, yard work, using power tools - I have NO doubt that I would have suffered serious eye injury sometime during all of these activities had I not been wearing appropriate protective eyewear. (Yes, I'm one of those who got scratched on the nose by some splashback - I'm assuming bullet jacket material - which came back, hit my nose, and then bounced up off my glasses.)
When a couple of us took another buddy shooting for the first time, I provided the new guy with safety glasses, and insisted he wear them.
On the VERY FIRST SHOT, a glob of something came back and spattered him in the face.
He thanked me.
When a couple of us took another buddy shooting for the first time, I provided the new guy with safety glasses, and insisted he wear them.
On the VERY FIRST SHOT, a glob of something came back and spattered him in the face.
He thanked me.
Phaedrus/69
Member
Back when I was a kid- maybe 8 years old- my dad lost an eye due to not wearing eye protection. So it was drummed into me at a very early age to protect my GD eyes! I probably look like a total wussy but I don't do anything remotely dangerous without safety glasses. I always wear them when I sharpen on belts, when I cut or split wood while camping, etc. You can lose an eye in a split second and of course once gone they don't grow back.
Glad you were wearing your eye protection!
Glad you were wearing your eye protection!
henschman
Member
The only time I intentionally don't wear them is when hunting.
Phaedrus/69
Member
Just to be clear cheap sunglasses aren't suitable eye protection unless they're rated as safety glasses. You can get good ones for $7 or so.
entropy
Member
As a former optical lab tech, I have a couple things to add:
In conclusion, poly lenses are better than nothing, and for hunting, I recommend poly lenses with anti-reflective coating, preferably in a fuller lens style (aviator or 80's style). This does not mean the $5 Aviator Mirrored sunglasses at Wal-Mart.
As for personal experience, I've not been hit in the eye area with shrapnel thus far, but glasses have prevented damage from gases from Flint and percussion guns, as well as a few KB's.
- Polycarbonate lenses will stop .22LR at 10 yards, even if not Z87 rated.
- (this is from personal testing on junked lenses; the bullet lodged in the lenses, depth determined by lens thickness. All were hit at the OC (optical Center, the thinnest part; all test lenses were minus Rx's) with Federal Bulk .22LR ammo.
- That being said, with the current styles of lenses being very short top to bottom, I still recommend safety glasses over them.
- Regular (CR-39), and Hi-Index Plastic (HIP) lenses are not as bullet resistant as poly lenses.
In conclusion, poly lenses are better than nothing, and for hunting, I recommend poly lenses with anti-reflective coating, preferably in a fuller lens style (aviator or 80's style). This does not mean the $5 Aviator Mirrored sunglasses at Wal-Mart.
As for personal experience, I've not been hit in the eye area with shrapnel thus far, but glasses have prevented damage from gases from Flint and percussion guns, as well as a few KB's.
armedaccountant
Member
My wife is a life long shooter and taught me how to shoot. The first time we shot together she insisted I wear safety glasses. I didn't see the point but wore them to humor her. A hot spent case from the second magazine of the day bounced off my glasses and right down my shirt. Can't imagine if it had hit my eye. Since then I will not shoot without eye protection .
I will echo post #14 re: polycarb. prescription lenses. I asked both my spectacles doctor and opthamologist (sp.), both stated as far as prescriptions go, polyC are ''shatter resistant'' better then other materials.
FURTHER....starting last fall, I've seen a lot of bounced back FMJ bullets of various calibers at the ranges I frequent. 9mm and 45acp mostly but others. At a standard pistol distance 7-10 yards...bounced back almost to firing line.
Thats quite a bit more then a speck of this or that coming back at the unsuspecting shooter!
FURTHER....starting last fall, I've seen a lot of bounced back FMJ bullets of various calibers at the ranges I frequent. 9mm and 45acp mostly but others. At a standard pistol distance 7-10 yards...bounced back almost to firing line.
Thats quite a bit more then a speck of this or that coming back at the unsuspecting shooter!
Deltaboy1984
Member
I been wearing them more doing other things besides shooting the past 10 years.
Coltdriver
Member
Great point and can't be repeated enough.
There are two things I do religiously.
One is I always wear seat belts.
The other is to wear eye protection, serious eye protection, while shooting. Any shooting from range to plinking in the woods.
I have been stung by bullet pieces at the range and in the woods. It always happens when you least suspect it.
There are two things I do religiously.
One is I always wear seat belts.
The other is to wear eye protection, serious eye protection, while shooting. Any shooting from range to plinking in the woods.
I have been stung by bullet pieces at the range and in the woods. It always happens when you least suspect it.
Seanpcola
Member
I'm a huge fan of safety glasses and in fact I pretty much wear them all day every day.
My father is a retired chemist and a huge safety hound. He had real world experience in the lab with faulty glass lab ware shattering and the safety glasses saving his sight. To add to that he was very active in woodworking. So, at a very early age I was sporting eye protection.
I got lax for a few years until the day I was modifying my car and drilling through a floor pan while lying upside down. Of course, the result was metal chips landing in my eyes, a trip to the ER and the resultant week lying around the house blindfolded.
Next situation was a few years later: I went from an office worker to full time maintenence and ground keeping, a job that involved everything from power tools to lawn equipment to heavy equipment operation. I was never one for wearing sunglasses always considering them more of a fashion statement than a necessity. After the first Summer my eyesight had deteriorated to the point of needing those over the counter reading glasses for close in work. At 57 years old I still don't need prescription glasses but that Summer I was 37 and almost legally blind. A visit to the eye doctor revealed I actually had, for lack of a more technical term, sunburned my eyes. So, the search was on for outdoor eye wear. Of all the brands and styles I tried the only sunglasses I felt comfortable with happened to be sold under the Smith & Wesson brand name. They also happen to be highly rated safety glasses. I like the fit and feel so much I order by the dozen, mixing tinted, dark lenses and clear.
I can't even remember every save to my eyes that I've experienced in two decades. I've run a brush cutter through the woods and been stabbed with tree branches, flying debris, batteries exploded on equipment, blown high pressure hot hydraulic lines, dropped overhead tools on to my face, had a bird fly right in to me in the middle of a field, a power planer threw a cutting head at me, miss by inches and shatter the windshield on my truck 30' away, grinding slag, sparks, I just don't remember all of the times. This past weekend I was building a new fireplace mantle for my house. Of all the "safe" tools I own I was using an electric Dewalt DA sander, which doesn't run at a very high RPM and the brushes came apart on the motor. Yep, pieces went straight for my eyes and messed up yet another pair of glasses.
I never shoot without safety glasses. I have yet to experience a need for them but just about the time I started getting sloppy with my eye wear I saw an incident that I thought would be a one in a million occurence. A friend and I went to an indoor range, my first and only time at one. We took up stations side by side. About 10 minutes into the session I heard him yelp a little bit, followed by a "Holy crap!". I checked on him and he was standing there with a forehead gash right above his left eye. Ricochet.
Long winded post but I just want to help drive home the serious nature and potential life altering injuries that the average person might experience. You just never know.
I've been accused of being a Bono wannabe because I'm never seen outside my house without either clear, amber or dark tinted safety glasses on.
Wear them, get used to them, make them a part of your every day attire like your whitey tighties.
My father is a retired chemist and a huge safety hound. He had real world experience in the lab with faulty glass lab ware shattering and the safety glasses saving his sight. To add to that he was very active in woodworking. So, at a very early age I was sporting eye protection.
I got lax for a few years until the day I was modifying my car and drilling through a floor pan while lying upside down. Of course, the result was metal chips landing in my eyes, a trip to the ER and the resultant week lying around the house blindfolded.
Next situation was a few years later: I went from an office worker to full time maintenence and ground keeping, a job that involved everything from power tools to lawn equipment to heavy equipment operation. I was never one for wearing sunglasses always considering them more of a fashion statement than a necessity. After the first Summer my eyesight had deteriorated to the point of needing those over the counter reading glasses for close in work. At 57 years old I still don't need prescription glasses but that Summer I was 37 and almost legally blind. A visit to the eye doctor revealed I actually had, for lack of a more technical term, sunburned my eyes. So, the search was on for outdoor eye wear. Of all the brands and styles I tried the only sunglasses I felt comfortable with happened to be sold under the Smith & Wesson brand name. They also happen to be highly rated safety glasses. I like the fit and feel so much I order by the dozen, mixing tinted, dark lenses and clear.
I can't even remember every save to my eyes that I've experienced in two decades. I've run a brush cutter through the woods and been stabbed with tree branches, flying debris, batteries exploded on equipment, blown high pressure hot hydraulic lines, dropped overhead tools on to my face, had a bird fly right in to me in the middle of a field, a power planer threw a cutting head at me, miss by inches and shatter the windshield on my truck 30' away, grinding slag, sparks, I just don't remember all of the times. This past weekend I was building a new fireplace mantle for my house. Of all the "safe" tools I own I was using an electric Dewalt DA sander, which doesn't run at a very high RPM and the brushes came apart on the motor. Yep, pieces went straight for my eyes and messed up yet another pair of glasses.
I never shoot without safety glasses. I have yet to experience a need for them but just about the time I started getting sloppy with my eye wear I saw an incident that I thought would be a one in a million occurence. A friend and I went to an indoor range, my first and only time at one. We took up stations side by side. About 10 minutes into the session I heard him yelp a little bit, followed by a "Holy crap!". I checked on him and he was standing there with a forehead gash right above his left eye. Ricochet.
Long winded post but I just want to help drive home the serious nature and potential life altering injuries that the average person might experience. You just never know.
I've been accused of being a Bono wannabe because I'm never seen outside my house without either clear, amber or dark tinted safety glasses on.
Wear them, get used to them, make them a part of your every day attire like your whitey tighties.
loose noose
Member
My range bag always has at least 2 extra pair of safety glasses, as I generally take new shooters out to the range quite frequently.
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