Behind the Scenes on Sons of Guns: Hot Brass Down Your Shirt

If you watched the Behind the Scenes episode of  Sons of Guns you may recall a scene in which Stephanie and I head to the range so she can prove that she can handle the Desert Eagle. She owned that moment and I was very proud of her for showing all the haters whats up (hee hee). I, however, did not own the moment. I completely ignored my own instruction and paid for it in flesh.

Here is the set up:

 

 

The camera guys, who are awesome, by the way, asked me to stand to the right of Stephanie and slightly behind her. They felt that was the best camera angle. It would have been fine except for the fact that the featured firearm was the notorious .50 caliber Desert Eagle (see photo). This is a mean gun and the only reason to shoot it, unless you are in the Israeli Defense Forces, is for novelty. I have shot it before and once was enough, I can assure you. If you shoot this thing in an indoor range or are near anyone who is shooting it, you can feel the blast of each shot through your whole body. The concussion from the round is *that* significant.  As you know if you have shot a semi auto pistol, the spent brass casing ejects to the right, right? And where was I standing in the scene? To the right. But I was behind her, you say. Yes, and that would have been fine, except that the Desert Eagle has so much muzzle rise that, as you saw on the show, the shells ended up right on top of me.  That also would have been fine, because I am super duper tough, if you cant tell, except that the burning hot shell found its way down my shirt and singed the bleep out of my skin. See Exhibit A.

Another one hit my arm to a similar effect. See Exhibit B.

 

This was not a fun experience, my friends. Probably not as bad as being tazed in the neck two times like poor Kris, but still not pleasant. So what have we learned from this little adventure? Always button that top button and/or wear a top that has a high neck when you are shooting. A scarf will work, too. In fact, I suggest covering as much of your skin as possible when you are shooting to avoid burns like this. Most importantly, any one of these shells could have hit my eyes if I had not worn sturdy, shatter proof eye protection. Eye protection is absolutely key. I would pair a hat with that awesome eye protection (along with your ear protection, of course) even at indoor ranges. If you are shooting with others nearby, brass could come from anywhere and you can not be too careful. Bottom line: Your mom was right. Better safe than sorry. Or in my case, better safe than burned.

The bright side: At least the scar makes for a good story, right?