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I took my wife with me to the range to continue the break in of our new Taurus TCP 780. She had been to the range with me several times before. I had my .40 with me so I was firing that while she handled the pocket pistol. I had already given her a refresher on safety and we were off to a great start. As we were using the last of the rounds, I started to police the brass as she picked up the last full magazine for the Taurus. She put it in, released the slide and chambered a round. I looked away as she sighted in on her target and fired a shot down range. Then I heard her say "Ouch" and saw her hold the pistol out with one hand while bring her non dominant right hand to her chest.
That is when I saw the splatters of blood on the ground start to multiply rapidly, though I could not see where it was coming from exactly. A hundred thoughts raced through my mind within a second. Staying calm was important in order to keep her calm. I was finally able to see the wound and it was not as bad as I assumed, but it was very painful to her and bloody. She grabbed a gun cleaning rag from my range bag and stuck it on her thumb. She saw the blood and went into mild shock (slurred speech and mild confusion).
Realizing what had happened, I took the pistol from her and cleared it while talking to her calmly. She had crossed her thumbs over each other behind the slide action area and had a nasty gouge across the top of her first thumb knuckle. I wouldn't recommend using a gun cleaning rag to put pressure on a wound or stop bleeding, but...This where I learn my lesson. I did not have any first aid supplies in my range bag...An oversight that should not be allowed if possible. Secondly, I cherish my wife above all and should not have taken my eye off of her, given her lack of experience compared to mine.
The injury, although painful, did not require stitches or a trip to the hospital, but it did highlight to need to reevaluate our level of safety and preparedness when we go to the range. Moral of the story, be prepared and stay attentive when shooting with new equipment and new shooting partners. After this, I think she is considering a compact revolver for her personal defense pistol. Many ladies have a fearful respect for guns. I would like peace of mind, knowing that my wife is not more afraid of her own weapon than a potential assailant. That is why, after this event, I would recommend that people with a respectful fear of pistols, start learning with a revolver. I hope that people that read this gain from our experience.

Slide bite is very common. Every time we have a class I will have to coach two or three people on not crossing their thumb over the other. Some pistols you can get away with it, at least for awhile. Usually they get away with it because they don't have the butt of the pistol properly seated all the way down in their hand and they gain a little room for their thumb. However, as it slides down, even with a gun that has a fairly tall back strap, they eventually get bit if it is not corrected. Now, try it with a Glock and the shallow tailpiece and you are pretty well guaranteed to get a set of railroad tracks across your thumbs.

Anytime she shoots a semi-auto in the future, she will be very careful where her thumbs are placed.

A revolver can have serious issues also if not gripped correctly. Like they say, "Is not the arrow, is the Indian"
http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/inde ... 91097.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

MeMelYup wrote:Anytime she shoots a semi-auto in the future, she will be very careful where her thumbs are placed.

With most folks, it only takes one time to learn that life-long lesson!

Lost half of a thumb nail that way the first time I shot my baby Glock. I didn't know what to do with my thumb on that small grip and learned very quickly what not to do.

Very sorry for your wife's lesson and glad that's all it was. Hope she's not turned off on shooting.


Now, note for everyone. Please let us know up front if everyone involved is okay and then go about recounting the incident. Otherwise, ya'll get my heart rate up unnecessarily.

i did it once, only once.
sorry to hear about that

MeMelYup wrote:Anytime she shoots a semi-auto in the future, she will be very careful where her thumbs are placed.

Painful leasson! Man That hurts!
I hope that incident didnt turn her away from shooting? It's like riding a horse. If you fall off you get right back on & keep riding!

Sorry to hear that and I hope she jumps back on that horse.
It's not just small guns. I was shooting my Tokarev for the first time and was so caught up in the moment (ok I shot about 100 rounds) that I didn't notice that the hammer kept coming down on my hand between my pointer and thumb. Nice bloody scar that is still around after 4 months. I plan on wearing gloves next time...

Pyron27 wrote:I took my wife with me to the range to continue the break in of our new Taurus TCP 780. She had been to the range with me several times before. I had my .40 with me so I was firing that while she handled the pocket pistol. I had already given her a refresher on safety and we were off to a great start. As we were using the last of the rounds, I started to police the brass as she picked up the last full magazine for the Taurus. She put it in, released the slide and chambered a round. I looked away as she sighted in on her target and fired a shot down range. Then I heard her say "Ouch" and saw her hold the pistol out with one hand while bring her non dominant right hand to her chest.
That is when I saw the splatters of blood on the ground start to multiply rapidly, though I could not see where it was coming from exactly. A hundred thoughts raced through my mind within a second. Staying calm was important in order to keep her calm. I was finally able to see the wound and it was not as bad as I assumed, but it was very painful to her and bloody. She grabbed a gun cleaning rag from my range bag and stuck it on her thumb. She saw the blood and went into mild shock (slurred speech and mild confusion).
Realizing what had happened, I took the pistol from her and cleared it while talking to her calmly. She had crossed her thumbs over each other behind the slide action area and had a nasty gouge across the top of her first thumb knuckle. I wouldn't recommend using a gun cleaning rag to put pressure on a wound or stop bleeding, but...This where I learn my lesson. I did not have any first aid supplies in my range bag...An oversight that should not be allowed if possible. Secondly, I cherish my wife above all and should not have taken my eye off of her, given her lack of experience compared to mine.
The injury, although painful, did not require stitches or a trip to the hospital, but it did highlight to need to reevaluate our level of safety and preparedness when we go to the range. Moral of the story, be prepared and stay attentive when shooting with new equipment and new shooting partners. After this, I think she is considering a compact revolver for her personal defense pistol. Many ladies have a fearful respect for guns. I would like peace of mind, knowing that my wife is not more afraid of her own weapon than a potential assailant. That is why, after this event, I would recommend that people with a respectful fear of pistols, start learning with a revolver. I hope that people that read this gain from our experience.

Sorry about your wife's misfortune. Bad things can happen quickly.

I took a first aid course given by a medic who had worked with Special Forces units. He showed us an "IFAK"

http://www.rescue-essentials.com/nar-s- ... fak-black/

I just picked this one out of a group that I know makes them to show the concept. I ordered a pouch and all of the supplies to put in it separately. It can strap right around the handle of my range bag or onto a belt and it has enough stuff in it to deal with an emergency, even a fairly serious one. I have a bigger kit with more mundane stuff in it that I carry when we travel but felt that I needed something so that I wouldn't have to improvise in the case of wound.

Thank you for sharing this with us. It's a good reminder. I also never considered a safety kit in our range bag, but that is on my list for sure. I keep a mini kit in my purse for skinned knees and such, but a larger kit is a good idea.

Best wishes to your wife. Hope she's able to function ok.

Thanks for the feed back. My wife is fine and busy as ever with her studies. An 'Israeli' bandage is now standard in my range bag. You never know when something might not go as planned. Even though we did not have any life threatening injuries, it opened my eyes to the possibility of them. A military style approach to packing the 'aide' bag should be part of packing the range bag. I suggest having two bags; a range bag and an aid bag. Some one else on the range might need your help. Bravado should not get in the way of this decision, since other people on the range that you are on might need your help. In other words...If you think you are never going to need it, some one else might. Pack a first aid bag. And read up on what to do when encountering a casualty and how to render first aid to a victim of a gunshot wound. After you have done all of this, tell the moderators to allow for indentations at each paragraph...Or the grammar Nazi's will attack in full force.

Same thing happened to me the first time I qualified with my Beretta for the sheriff's department back in East Tennessee in '87. I'd carried a Colt Python .357 for the first two years, and I learned my lesson the hard way when I switched to the automatic on qualification day.

Like others have said below, it only happens once.

Glad she's OK, and thanks for sharing your experience. I'll be putting together a small kit for myself today. And as one good turn deserves another, I'll make a suggestion to the OP. Get your wife proficient in shooting a full size gun before moving her to a smaller pocket gun. The full size is easier to control, easier to develop good habits on, and will have much less felt recoil. Pocket guns require a lot of compromise & adjustment & it's much easier to train down vs train up.