APP Hangfire

[Abilene]

Artie Fly doesn't post on CasCity, but he told me I could share this.  It occurred at Trailhead, an annual match in Columbus TX last weekend.  I was not there.  The first thing I heard, 3rd hand at least, was that Artie shot off a toe!  It wasn't nearly that bad, but scary for sure.  And I think there is a need to share what can possibly happen with APP, rare though it may be.  Following is a message from Artie:

Leadfoot Artie here!  Word gets around, don't it.

Below is a re-telling of the delayed discharge event:

I'm all right, just ended up with a bad bruise, some swelling, and a small open wound on my big toe.  I was clean up until the 9th stage, when my 1st pistol dropped an expended cap into the hammer well and jammed it up with 3 unfired.  So I set that down and fired 4 from the 2nd pistol and the 5th cap did not ignite the APP (humidity maybe?).  I finished up the rifle & shotgun, then moved to the unloading table and cleared all guns.  The posse had finished shortly thereafter and was gathering at the next stage.  I was still at the unloading table and I re-capped the second pistol 3 times with no discharge, then I set it down on the table for a moment.  The gun was horizontal this whole time.  Some 15-30 seconds later I picked it up to re-holster and when I dropped the barrel down the round went off and I felt the impact.  I knew immediately the bullet had hit my foot and I called over Doc Boedecker (who was on our posse) and he immediately began assisting. He removed the boot and bloody sock, cleaned and dressed the wound. All this time I felt no pain and could move my toes.  We examined the boot and there was a tear from the impact, but we could not find a bullet. The wound was not thru & thru and no impact on the inner sole. Not knowing where the bullet was, EMS transported me to the nearest trauma center in Katy.  After x-rays they confirmed there were no bullet fragments or broken bones, just an open wound about 1/8th inch wide.  The pretty ER doctor washed the wound, gave me a tetanus shot and an antibiotic and sent me on my way.  She left it open, no stitches.  Doc had done a better dressing than the hospital did, but she was way prettier.

From the sequence of events I believe the powder was burning slowly and by dropping the barrel an ember set off what was left, hence there was not much force behind the discharge.  The pain has been minimal (less than if I was hit with a ball peen hammer) and eased with Tylenol.  The swelling is causing me to limp, but I can put full weight on the foot and the limp should go away once the swelling subsides.  All in all, my pride was more bruised than my foot and I am more disappointed to have lost my clean match.  By shooting my foot, my son Matthew should have moved up to 2nd place.  I was told there was much discussion over this at the awards later, mostly about what my new alias should be.  Leadfoot Artie seems approprate!

Feel free to let anyone know I was just lightly injured, just bruising and swelling  and about the delayed discharge.  First time this has happened or seen it happen myself.  I should be at Plum Creek on the 4th.  Appreciate your concern.

[Coffinmaker]

  Unfortunate   

Unfortunate to say the least.  Unfortunately, this can happen with any propellant.  Can happen with cartridges as well.  It is not limited to APP.  It has happened with every propellant used in firearms.

Let us be careful out there.   

[Dick Dastardly]

Watch that muzzle.  It's where the bullets come out.  With doubtful ignition, clear the entire gun safely pointed and go on.  I'm happy that nothing worse happened.  Thanks for posting.  We can all learn from this.

DD-MDA