Blood, brass, and bullets

[tjhands]

It was just me and my single stage Lee press. I had a free hour in which to crank out enough rounds of .44 Special for a range session later on. Man, I was on a roll! Resized them all, and was halfway through expanding the mouths when CRUNCH! I was too slow in getting my index finger out of the way as the case went up into the die. Oh my. I didn't utter a word or a sound, but just looked up at the ceiling and waited for the pain to fully set in. I was afraid to look down at my finger. Blood was all over the place and was drip...drip...dripping off my mutilated digit.
It's now wrapped in band-aids and has been whacked and bumped waaaay too many times today. :barf:

The lesson: it doesn't pay to hurry when reloading, even with the simple, no-brainer steps before priming and charging.

 

[bikenjam]

I've never drew any blood yet, but i've smashed my fingers too many times. Those little mistakes make me realize what i'm dealing with, and to take my time.

hope your hand heals soon

 

[Mike Irwin]

Welcome to the club of one.

You're the ONLY person who has ever gotten his finger caught in a press...

"Hi, my name is Mike, and I got my finger caught in my reloading press..."

"HI MIKE!"

Reloading is a 12-step process.

 

[tjhands]

LOL Mike!

I took the band-aids off and looked at it. The cut is crescent-shaped, and remarkably enough, about the size of a .44

 

[Ruger4570]

Been there, done that...but the upside is that it is like jumping off a bridge, you're probably only gonna do it one time..

 

[tjhands]

Right on, Ruger!

I finished the batch last night. Veeeeeery slowly.

 

[Ruger4570]

See how fast ya learned. Hope you heal soon too.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I'm lucky in that I've never really cut myself.

I've trimmed my finger nail a time or two, but the worst was when I got my finger caught between the seating die and the cartridge was I was trying to realign a bullet for seating. I had to drill my fingernail that evening to relieve the blood blister.

 

[zeisloft]

I have had to learn to slow down twice, once the way you did, once by depriming my finger. The worst part was the ribbing I got from my buddy who was standing there watching me.

Him: "So let me get this straight, you trim the cases to length, run that little pin through your finger, then cuss out loud for a while, then prime, powder, and seat the bullet?...do you have to ram that pin through the same finger each time of can you switch fingers?"
Me: "Shutup!"
Him: "Cause I was just thinking, if you wanted to load alot of ammo, that finger would get kind of pulpy..."
Me: "No seriously, be quiet"
Him: "Just seems if yo changed fingers you could..."
Me: "Honestly, close your mouth"
Him: "I mean, your not realy going to be able to use that hand for a few days so why not just..."
Me: "OK lesson over, time for you to go home."

 

[dfaugh]

Hey..

just ask me about getting in a hurry, and inattentive when using a table saw...Just ask...

I now use my middle finger on the trigger....as my index finger is a bit too short to reach....

 

[MrGee]

God must love stupid people... He made so many. me included worst part was the first time i did that was i felt the pain but didn't know i was doing it,, so pushed a little harder .. thats when i found out it was me... Squirt...

 

[tjhands]

Wow, y'all are making me feel like I got off EASY!

 

[Russ5924]

Hurts doesn't it

 

[Swamp_Fox]

Quote from zeisloft:

Him: "So let me get this straight, you trim the cases to length, run that little pin through your finger, then cuss out loud for a while, then prime, powder, and seat the bullet?...do you have to ram that pin through the same finger each time of can you switch fingers?"
Me: "Shutup!"
Him: "Cause I was just thinking, if you wanted to load alot of ammo, that finger would get kind of pulpy..."
Me: "No seriously, be quiet"
Him: "Just seems if yo changed fingers you could..."
Me: "Honestly, close your mouth"
Him: "I mean, your not realy going to be able to use that hand for a few days so why not just..."
Me: "OK lesson over, time for you to go home."
*************************************************

 

[Barr]

I mashed a finger a few months ago last fall while resizing with my MEC 600 JR. Drew a little blood myself. In a week or two your finger should be ok if you did not mash it too hard.