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Slow Motion: M1 Thumb (Ouch!) - YouTube
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It takes special talent to get your thumb caught. Also incorrect handling...will do it.
Yes I agree BAR, The bolt will not move forward until you let off pressure on the enblock clip so you would literally have to be very slow and leave your thumb lingering in the way for it to get caught. I have loaded my M1 too many times to count and have never even come close to getting my thumb caught
For an empty chamber the instruction was to use the knife edge of the right hand against the op rod handle...not your left hand balled up...Quote:
Originally Posted by jond41403
I have owned an M1 rifle since the age of 18 years old and never had an M1 thumb
Same here.Quote:
Originally Posted by RCS
Definitely a Darwin Award Nominee. Just sit back and think about it for a minute, someone made a video where they deliberately took their thumb and put into a M1 Garand to deliberately crush it for a video! LOL!! You cannot make this stuff up!!
Really in the end it all depends on the payoff. I'd gladly sacrifice a thumbnail to provide my family with hundreds of thousands of dollars.Quote:
Originally Posted by fjruple
I've had my Garand for around a year, have shot it almost weekly since I have it and no M1 thumb to date. Studied the tutorials on how not to do it practiced a few times at the range and learned. Made up a clip of dummy rounds so everyone I would be letting use it could practice avoidance as well. It would be bad enough with my own but I don't want to clean someone else's blood out of my rifle.
You guys who have never had M1 Thumb have never had your M1 inspected by the platoon leader. You are at Port Arms when he steps in front of you; you reach down and open the bolt, glance into the chamber to see that it is empty; he grabs it from you hard, inspects it all over, hands it back. That's when you close the bolt on an empty chamber. If you are careless or nervous, you can do it wrong and wham!... M1 Thumb. Have seen it many times.
A lesser known malady I suffered once at the range,
"The Lee Enfield Finger".
I was assisting a new shooter not only to the club but to shooting a Lee Enfield, I was his coach helping him onto target, sighting, cycling the action etc the usual stuff one does when coaching newbies.
So I put in a charger clip then another (We were not shooting against Mausers which is a 5 round mag limit) pushed the rounds down and noted I had a rim over so using my Rt index finger whilst squatting on the Rt side of the rifle I inserted the digit onto the 2nd (under) round to loosen the top round so I could clear the rim over.
What this did was 2 things A) placed the offending top round below the bolt race B) allowed the bolt to move freely forward due to the top round that was rimmed over stopping it.
I was not able to get the words out quick enough for the young chap (16 Y/O) not repeat not to slam the bolt closed whilst I cleared the stoppage.....!
As soon as he felt there was no resistance on the bolt he slammed the bolt closed right into my Rt index finger which did not fit very well into the chamber of that 303 rifle, to say it was painful and hurt like fux is a blithe understatement it was like a 4lb gimpy hammer with a sharp edge smashing my finger, the extractors on them really do get sharp.
My own fault I confess but bloody hell it really munted my trigger finger and heaps of claret poured out with rather instant agonising pain, the sad part about it was after I was patched up I had to shoot, I'm Rt handed my score reflected the condition I found my right index finger in.
I know the saying guys "Never put your finger in where you wouldn't put your Johnsen in."