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Why we wear safety glasses with side shields behind the line illustrated (not gross)


Ron "Ironhead" Smith

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NOTE for Clarification! This was a random bit of spatter that can happen at any time on any range no matter how well set up the stage. With the shoot through the week before and the main match I worked 19 of 20 stages as Unloading Table Officer and caught minor spatter maybe twice per stage. This post is to illustrate what can happen at any time.

 

My Stoeger got a chunk of lead embedded in the leading edge of the comb this weekend. Likely spatter while at the unloading table. See first pic.

Second pic is after digging most of the lead out with a hook tool. There is still some lead in there.

Third pic shows how deep it went, your eye is a lot softer than wood.

Fourth pic is the lead I dug out, the hook tool and the dime.

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I've personally had a 1/2" x1/4" deep cut to my nose, directly between my eyes, from pistol splatter.  I was standing at my gun cart, well behind the loading table.  So now I wear wrap around PC safety glasses, regardless of their non-cowboy look.  

When spotters, TO or others are getting regular excessive splatter, it probably means a change is needed in the target hangers, target surfaces, target angles, or target distances.  

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If you don't have side shields, and a fragment comes from the side, you won't even blink as it plows a furrow across your cornea.  A welding supply store has clear side shields that fit on glasses with a rubber band.  Been using them for 12 yrs.

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Side shields are mandatory at our monthly matches after one of our shooters got pegged with splatter in the corner of his eye.  He was probably 15 to 20 feet behind the spotters at the time.

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For these splatter examples - what were the condition of the steel targets being used and their proper or improper placement?

Targets have a lot to do with causing no splatter or splatter flung distances behind the firing line

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2 hours ago, Dusty Devil Dale said:

I've personally had a 1/2" x1/4" deep cut to my nose, directly between my eyes, from pistol splatter.  I was standing at my gun cart, well behind the loading table.  So now I wear wrap around PC safety glasses, regardless of their non-cowboy look.  

When spotters, TO or others are getting regular excessive splatter, it probably means a change is needed in the target hangers, target surfaces, target angles, or target distances.  

 

25 minutes ago, John Boy said:

For these splatter examples - what were the condition of the steel targets being used and their proper or improper placement?

Targets have a lot to do with causing no splatter or splatter flung distances behind the firing line


See added note for clarification. Good targets, good placement. Do not assume otherwise.

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BUY GOOD QUALITY SHOOTING GLASSES! $80 is money well-spent when it counts.

 

About three years ago, I was spotting for another shooter and a nearly complete 200 grain .45 bullet came straight back off the target, over his shoulder, and hit the lower inside edge of my Wiley-X shooting glasses. It was enough to make me see stars for a second or two. The plastic deformed and absorbed the energy without shattering or penetration, but I had a black eye and the side of my face was swollen and slightly bruised for the next couple days.

Eye2.jpg

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I caught a fragment from 2 stages over. It came in just under the right corner of my shooting glasses and stuck in my cheekbone with enough force that it had to be pulled with needle nose pliers. Tweezers would not get it out. No amount of target change would have prevented this random  happening. It bled a lot, I got a really neat cowboy Bandaid out of it.

 

Imis

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This last weekend I caught a bit of lead just on my nose outside of my safety glasses. It broke the skin and stung like hell. Funny thing is, my posse was not shooting at the time. The splatter/ricochet came from the next bay over,  over a tall dirt berm. That's my best guess anyway but it did not come from our stage. 

 

 I know some safety glasses are impact rated while some are high velocity impact rated. You guys know how your glasses are rated? 

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30 minutes ago, Dantankerous said:

 

 

 I know some safety glasses are impact rated while some are high velocity impact rated. You guys know how your glasses are rated? 

 

ANSI Z87-2+ as they were specifically made for shooting with a custom hyperfocal distance 7" past my extended arm fist so I can see both pistol and rifle front sights with reasonable acuity. My optometrist even set up a try frames with lenses so we could test the script out back with both pistol and rifle in hand. She's a shotgunner so she knew exactly what I wanted.

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Regardless of target type or condition or bullet used or ANYTHING, splatter hitting you WILL happen at some point. PLEASE wear glasses with side protection!

I see folks wearing their prescription glasses with safety spec lenses and no side protection. Please get some side shields.

I've been hit by more lead than I can remember, several of those drawing blood. Your eye will not heal the way your skin will.

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We don't take chances. Even though the optometrist said our prescription lenses are shatter resistant and protect our eyes, we wear shooting glasses that fit OVER our regular glasses. I think we got them from Midway. We may look odd, but eyes are not known for healing well. Or quickly.

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I have a chunk of lead in my face...yeah...I can hear the jokes going right now...anyway, got it at a monthly. Thought I just got cut, moved on. 

When I got x-rayed during my broken neck excursion, I asked the Tech what that solid thing was in my face. I said he didn't know...I told him.

 

Lesson to be learned for all you folks that think Period Correct glasses are cool. Better use those side thingies at the very least.

 

Phantom...also known as Lead ass Face.

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Y'all do understand that if you sit back past 10 yards you can't get hit by splatter...yeah...splatter falls straight down after 10 yards. That's why folks put their targets out there.

 

:ph34r:

 

PS: This is a JOKE...

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2 hours ago, PowderMark said:

So does anybody sell “cowboy” looking safety glasses?  Maybe something like Bronson wore in White Buffalo?

 

I wear vintage cesco safety glasses circa 1930's... 

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It's kind of interesting how little attention we all pay to safety glasses. I shot an entire monthly with my glasses on top of my hat brim . This was not intentional and I only noticed afterwards when I was putting things away. My son videoed stage 2 and 4, so I looked later and sure enough there were glasses on the brim not on my face covering my eyes.  Not one TO or spotter noticed, I was lucky. 

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