Witnessed 'powder burn' at the range today

[chris in va]

Yikes. Gentleman was renting an M1 carbine from the range store and the 15th round of PMC blew off the base sending unburned powder into his face. He came into the store a bloody mess.

Fortunately he was wearing safety glasses and the 'freckles' were just superficial. Scary to witness though.

They figured the gun fired out of battery somehow. We saw the case head and it had broken off about 3/8".

 

[HeroHog]

Here is what I got when my Astra 400 discharged on me when I went to check the chamber! It had just missfired on the wife and I was inspecting it. My finger was nowhere near the trigger and the grip safety was NOT pressed but as soon as I put pressure on the slide, BLAM!

 

[FrankenMauser]

He came into the store a bloody mess.

Powder burns almost never cause bleeding. How was he a bloody mess? Hands? Arms? Face? The blood is generally from pieces of shrapnel (tiny pieces of brass, if no large pieces struck the shooter).

Being a reloader that sometimes works up unconventional loads, I have had my share of gas and powder in the face. It's not exactly a fun experience, but it doesn't get ugly until brass or steel shrapnel is involved. Cornbush, for example, was digging pieces of brass out of his hands and face for about 5 weeks, after his catastrophic failure. ...But he got lucky. The bolt shroud's gas shield did its job very well, and only the pieces of brass that went through the bolt release hit him in the face.

 

[Prof Young]

Powder burn tattoo

So I got just a touch sloppy with my 44 mag, and let my left hand creep forward. Got a freckle powder burn on palm and index finger. It's starting to look like one small pin point spot is going to be a permanent "tattoo." Which isn't a bad reminder to have about not getting sloppy when shooting.

Live well, be safe
Prof Young

 

[chris in va]

It was his face, tiny little dots all over that caused impressive bleeding. Nothing deep but enough to freak us out a little.