Brass ejection can have lethal outcome.

[Trent]

If any firearms ejected brass could be lethal they'd be the AK-74 and the Astra blowback 9mm Largo Model 400.

You've obviously never shot an H&K G3, or CETME.

The range brass flies on those is well over 50 feet. I dented my truck fender with one from over 25 feet once.

They eject with AUTHORITY.

And they eject (generally) in the 3-4 o'clock position which is REAL unfortunate for the guy next to you.

Also, Russian PKM. Good grief you learn to tuck in your support arm FAST with those belt fed general purpose machineguns.

Not only will they burn the snot out of you, but they take a pound of flesh with them.

(This happened using the conventional "left hand on top of the rear of the buttstock" position shooting off of the Russian light tripod, as you would use with an M249 or M240 bravo. You can't use the standard US posture with the Russian machinegun if you are right handed, as the PKM feeds on the right side, and ejects on the left side. You have to drop your supporting arm elbow down uncomfortably low, which makes it somewhat less intuitive to traverse.)

 

[Hummer70]

Art Eatman, thanks for the reload.

After I left the Proving Ground and several years later when I was with another agency I asked a GM15 Gov't attorney along the following:

If there was a warning and recommendation warning of deaths on record written in a Aberdeen Report and the report was altered after the author signed off on it (without his knowledge) and the system was fielded with the same problem the warning and change recommendation covered

and

people were killed/wounded as a direct result of the design flaw would the gov't be he accountable for allowing it to go forward?

His answer was the gov't could be held accountable for fielding a unsafe weapon after the warning was issued and he said if I could find a family member of a soldier killed or someone that was shot as a result of the hot brass, he would retire immediately and take the case and fund it himself as the gov't would be found negligent.

 

[Gordon]

I was taught to "suck it up" if an errant piece of brass burns you.
The worst I saw, and she "sucked it up" in regard to hand and body movement , but did scream out, was a lady who got a 9mm casing from a BHP down her bra. She said "it burnt my nipple"

 

[Hummer70]

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=19011.0

Case in point of how to safely direct brass. The link above will direct the reader to a thread on the Dover Devel 50cal MG developed by the Army Small Cal Lab back in late 70s.

On Ser No 1 when it was being remote fired in order to get a safety statement. This is done for about 5,000 rounds in a room designed to retain all pieces of the weapon should there be a catastrophic failure.

In the back of the room directly behind the gun was a 1" thick Lexan viewing port and on first firing the Lexan was struck violently by the 50 cal brass and the Lexan was damaged as the ejection path was about 5:00 to 5:30 which would have placed the gunner and assistant gunners in jeopardy of being hit by their own brass.

You can see the brass in the above picture is directed to 1:00/2:00 position and this was done in the first design. The test was immediately stopped and the high speed camera was brought in and a few more rounds were fired to determine exactly where the case was contacting. He quickly made up a drawing of what he thought would work it did.

I asked the chief designer how he came up with the angle and he basically said very confidently, "a good designer can design a weapon to put the brass anywhere he wants it"

The gun in this picture is ser no 2,3,4 or 5 as four prototypes were built at Picatinny at a cost of 450K each. (1.8 million project budget, got four guns built).

The bottom line within the first 50 rounds it was determined the brass ejection angle was a personnel hazard and as soon as he saw it he stopped the remote firing and designed a deflector to change it to a safe direction.

 

[geo57]

I've been shooting semi autos for over 50 years and the one that " takes the cake " for me on fired brass distance to date is my late '50's Chinese SKS ( some cases will fly 30 + feet ) with a Mak 90 a close 2nd.

 

[WardenWolf]

My AKs all eject forwards at a 45-degree angle. I've been pelted by brass from AR-15s at the range, though. Don't be "That guy" at the range. If you're going to shoot a rifle with an overzealous ejector that will bean other people, get a brass deflector or a screen. Don't be a range jerk.

Note: NSFW, uses one very minor swear word
Hot Bullet Casing Down the Neck

 

[MachIVshooter]

the best training i have found is welding without sleeved shirts while wearing short pants.

I don't mean to be insulting, but welding without PPE is just plain stupid. Ever heard of melanoma? Welding for 30 minutes without covering is equivalent to baking in the bright sun for several hours. Forget the slag burns; it's the "sunburn" you need to worry about.

I do agree, though, that hot slag from welding makes hot brass burns look like nothing. Frequently when welding vehicle exhaust, I am unable to use the heavy welding gloves do to space constraints. I've had many a piece of molten metal burn through my nitrile glove with not quite enough heat to get back out, but more than enough to scorch my skin. As well, the odd positions one will find themselves in trying to work underneath the vehicle tends to create gaps in the covering of the leathers, and that slag has no trouble going through regular work clothing. Welding slag creates very small but instant 3rd degree burns.

 

[Nighteyes]

Why you need a brimmed hat when shooting...

I had a hot case from a pistol drop between the frame of my protective eyewear and my forehead. I was fortunate that it came to rest below my eye socket and not on my eyeball.

I was proud that I maintained muzzle direction discipline under the circumstances.

I had a similar experience. The hot brass - M-1 carbine - got between my shooting glasses and my eyelid just below the eyebrow. No permanent damage, but I do wear at least a baseball cap now.

 

[henschman]

What a bunch of pansy BS. A firing line wouldn't be a firing line without the experience of hot brass.

If some idjit jumps up and shoots someone because brass goes down his shirt, he is negligent, pure and simple; and the fault for the injury to the other person is his alone.

Blame the gov't for the design of the rifle? What a crock. Typical modern American BS.

 

[RIATAC45]

I agree its probably not the smartest thing I have done. Most times it is just for tacking up a project I don't weld for any length of time without PPE.

 

[RustHunter87]

I had a similar experience. The hot brass - M-1 carbine - got between my shooting glasses and my eyelid just below the eyebrow. No permanent damage, but I do wear at least a baseball cap now.

Every one always says "Oh just put on a ball cap, any you'll be fine" but the only time Ive been burned on the face by brass it was after a piece of .45 hit the underside of the brim and slid neatly behind my glasses, and fused its self to the soft skin in the corner of my eye.