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Just read string on another site about Ruger .44 Mag SBH discomfort. Guy did extensive modifications on frame because he disliked shooting gloves.
I'm gonna try bicycle gloves, the kind with pocket of GE/breast implant silicon gel in the palms.
Advice? [here come the smart aleck comments]
:>)
I got this as an email a few months ago. It would seem welding gloves may be a good idea! Can't get the pictures out of my email program, use your imagination
A St. Louis, Missouri guy on my AR-15 forum had a bad accident with his S&W 460XVR Magnum yesterday. He was shooting with a two handed hold and got his left thumb up near the lower front of the cylinder. The normal (powerful) gasses blowing out at the barrel/cylinder gap ripped the top of his left thumb off.
S&W 460XVR Magnum
460XVR blew my thumb off today!
No joke, about 1/2 of my left thumb is gone ... what's left is a friggin mess.
It's pretty hard to type, and I'm only posting because you never know, it might save somebody else a thumb. I was using a 2-handed grip, fired off a Cor-Bon DPX .460 and the blast came violently out the side of the gun.
At first my thumb was so covered in blood that I couldn't see how bad it was ... and I was full of adrenaline and felt no pain. And honestly it looked really bad, my whole hand was covered in blood and it was kinda gushing.
The blown-off thumb was on my support hand. I'll re-create the grip tomorrow to see where my thumb was, but it's not like I didn't already know not to get any body part near the cylinder gap. And even if I totally screwed up and did, taking my thumb clean off seems a bit excessive?
Just be careful with those 460's. That case operates at such high pressure, it's just asking for trouble.
BTW, I bought my 460 new and had exactly 12 rounds through it. Info about the gun, it's a full-size 460 with the 8 3/4' barrel and factory installed compensator. It's one of the Whitetails Unlimited models. Ammo was 200gr Cor-Bon DPX.
The gun only had 12 or 13 rounds of the Cor-Bon through it, and 10 .45 Long Colt rounds through it. So it was essentially still brand new.
Saw a hand specialist while there today. Lots of ways to try and save what's left, but first I just have to hope it doesn't get infected in the next few days ... then surgery early next week.
The hand specialist I spent a few hours with last night said that in gunshot wounds there is always a lot more damage than is first visible ... same with things like fireworks going off in your hand. A lot more flesh around the wound is dead, and will rot and fall off over the next couple days. That's why it's so important to keep clean, and that's also why they can't do surgery now. If they wrapped new skin over dead skin it would just puss out, possibly turn gang-green, and they'd have to start all over again.
Hope he's did ok with the surgery.
I use gel gloves for shooting anything bigger than 38 spl. Try the expensive ones from Pearl Izumi - nicely padded
I got/used Harley-Davidson fingerless gloves for the S&W 500. But to be honest, the Hogue grips on that beast worked wonders and I no longer use the gloves at all.
Ditto my .44Mag Mountain Gun and now my Model 19. Hogue 1-piece rubber grips get my vote for a quantum leap in practical shooting
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Now what kind of "two handed grip" do you use to get a thumb all the way up by the forcing cone? Sounds like he really needs to get some education on how to shoot.
Dan
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Probably one where (instead of resting the heel of the right hand in the palm of the left), he rested the trigger guard in the left palm..., in which case the left-hand tends to wrap around the cylinder.
Bad juju. :-(
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I shoot a lot of different guns, but the only one I have to wear gloves to shoot is my .380 Walther PPKS. That thing eats the back of my thumb under the web, after 50 rounds or so it'll raise a blister and draw blood after 100 rounds without gloves.
I use bicycle gloves.
I made some shooting gloves from an old leather winter glove. I cut off the fingers and added leather to the web on the back of the thumb. I only use it when shooting my Inglis HP, Sistema 1911A1, and Luger. They are my only "biting" pistols.