shooterbenedetto Posted December 20, 2008 Share Posted December 20, 2008 Heads up!! I know a very dear friend of mine who has been in the shooting for many years, classified as GM!! have loaded a million times and had a tragic accident? He was loading the manual pick up tubes when it was 3/4 filled. Then a primer got stuck and kind of angled its way on the hole exposing the sharp edge to the bottom of the next primer(only explanation). When he tapped the tube on the table, BANG!!!! ALUMINUM BITS ALL OVER AND THE LEFT POINTING FINGER WAS CUT ON THE FIRST JOINT. Doctor could not save it and had to amputate the first joint.He is now trying to recover and it will be awhile before he can learn how to shoot again. This time he will have to learn Right hand shooting since he use to be left hand shooter. Any comment?? Lucky for me, I use RF100 primer filler and never have to use to fill up primer manually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSabbath Posted December 20, 2008 Share Posted December 20, 2008 Heads up!! I know a very dear friend of mine who has been in the shooting for manyyears, classified as GM!! have loaded a million times and had a tragic accident? He was loading the manual pick up tubes when it was 3/4 filled. Then a primer got stuck and kind of angled its way on the hole exposing the sharp edge to the bottom of the next primer(only explanation). When he tapped the tube on the table, BANG!!!! ALUMINUM BITS ALL OVER AND THE LEFT POINTING FINGER WAS CUT ON THE FIRST JOINT. Doctor could not save it and had to amputate the first joint.He is now trying to recover and it will be awhile before he can learn how to shoot again. This time he will have to learn Right hand shooting since he use to be left hand shooter. Any comment?? Lucky for me, I use RF100 primer filler and never have to use to fill up primer manually. Damn. I've been at it 20 years and that's a new one. Hope he'll be OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Holy $#it! .. that sucks huge... Hope he's back at it sooner than expected. Thank God he didn't suffer eye injuries of any kind. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronEqualizer Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Wow that's a new one. I have never thought about that happening. I always wear eye protection when loading and filling primer tubes but have never thought to watch the positioning of my fingers/hand when doing this. I hate that this happened and hope he has a speedy recovery both health wise and shooting career. I also hope that this keeps the same accident from happening to others. I will definitely be more careful with this knowledge and know I have been guilty of pressing a little too hard when they jam in the tube. AL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterbenedetto Posted December 21, 2008 Author Share Posted December 21, 2008 Holy $#it! .. that sucks huge... Hope he's back at it sooner than expected. Thank God he didn't suffer eye injuries of any kind. Jim He was wearing eye glass pretectors and the glasses saved his eye because there were aluminum bits on the plasting eye wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Never EVER tap the tube for any reason, if something is stuck or wrong with the tube in any way you throw it away. IIRC that is even in the safety precautions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boz1911 Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 That's tragic. I always load my primers with a VibraPrime but you can bet I'll be aware of the primer tub direction from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Wow, that IS strange. I'm so sorry to hear this. I guess I'll be even more cautious than usual. If that's possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atbarr Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Wow! That sucks! I hope his recovery is fast. Tell him Good Luck, A.T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itchy Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Ed, We heard about this last last week at Prado and were hoping it wasn't so. Be careful out there. Seiichi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 I had a similar incident and common sense got the better of me. I was about half through a primer tube and it got REALLY difficult to pick up the primers. I pressed hard on 2 and then the light went on. Stopped, got a new tube and finished up. Further proof that you never force anything and that we must respect primers. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Never EVER tap the tube for any reason, if something is stuck or wrong with the tube in any way you throw it away. I remember asking Dillon how to remove a stuck primer from a pickup tube years ago. They insisted that I should not even attempt to remove it, and sent out a new tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulm540 Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Thanks for the heads up. Hope he recovers soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38superman Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Note to self. Never force a primer. Never, ever force a primer. Never, never, ever, ever force a primer. Primers are cheap. Tubes are cheap. Pain hurts. Never, ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Losing your trigger finger in a reloading accident..... Words fail to convey how eff'ed up that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rather-B-Huntin Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Sorry to hear about this!! My best wishes and prayers to your friend for a speedy and proper recovery. If had a primer blow on me a few years ago. It was within the first week of owning my 650 and a single primer hung on me. Upon attempt to "help" it out of the tube, it blew and the cup was recovered 30 feet away at the end of my hallway. Taught me quickly to never try to dislodge a stuck primer!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kz45 Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Maybe he can still shoot right handed, I have my right thumb below the joint missing and the tip of my pointer(still have the joint but you cant tell) missing, cut off the same time. I'm left handed but I do pretty good weak hand, my hands are small too, I just hold the pistol a little diff, and put a short flat trigger. I'm sorry that happened but your buddy is going to be fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 I have heard of hand primers going off (mostly Lee). But never a primer tube when being loaded. But I suspect the warnings on the packet are there for a reason. Good luck to your buddy. One of the guys I work with has lost the first joint of his trigger finger. Only slowed him down for a little while. If he has enough finger left it may be easier to learn to shoot with what is left rather than change over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 RESPECT PRIMERS. FWIW - Merle Edington, a former US Champion, was missing most of or all of his trigger finger first joint. He used an ultra-short trigger on his guns, but was able to trigger using the normal trigger finger (for him, right index). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S. Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Out of curiosity, do you happen to know what brand the primers were? I only ask because of the reputation some have for being more 'touchy' than others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speculatorking Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 (edited) Wow, that's a shame. Hope this guy recovers fast. I'm glad this was posted. I just recently started reloading. I had the primer tubes jam on me. I think I'm going to wear gardening gloves when I load the tubes in the future just for an extra precaution. Edited December 21, 2008 by speculatorking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 I don't want to sound naive but this has nothing to do with Dillon does it? Pick up tubes are pick up tubes. I can't imagine my Hornady LNL tubes are any different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
double_pedro Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Thank you for passing this along so others might avoid a similar accident. I hope your friend recovers well and continues enjoying our sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 (edited) I don't want to sound naive but this has nothing to do with Dillon does it? Pick up tubes are pick up tubes. I can't imagine my Hornady LNL tubes are any different. You are not naive, all pickup tubes and all primers should be treated with caution. My kids fill my tubes and they are under explicit instructions to not force, twist, bend, push hard on anything. I have had problems with Hornady and Dillon tubes with stuck primers. It is always operator error (or is in my cases). Many years ago when I was shooting a lot of rifle and loading on a variety of single stage presses, some had primer feed and tubes. The Lyman was one I had, it would occaisionally jam a primer. With careful prodding and very little force I have always managed to dislodge it. IF I had to use more force than I was comfortable with I always got rid of that tube, stuck primer included. I soak the tube and primer in Kerosine and then see if I can again remove the stuck primer and if I can't do it easily the whole lot go in the trash at the shop. If I get a Dillon tube jam on me I now remove the two plastic ends and see if the offending primer will fall out. If not then back to the Kerosine etc. Edited December 21, 2008 by gm iprod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All-Gator Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Just a note of encouragement to your friend: Merle Eddington won the National Championship and the World Championship shooting without the last joint of his trigger finger. His only problem was RO's continually yelling "Finger, finger" because of the missing tip giving the appearance of his finger being in the guard. A-G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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