who's got the "scope scar"

L

lockedcj7

New member
I used to laugh at guys with the tell-tale crescent shaped scar over one eye from crawling up on a hard kicking rifle. ...that is until I got mine season before last.

I was deer hunting with a friend on a big field during ML season and I had just bought my first in-line. (I'm what they call a "late-adopter" of new technology. I waited to get a DVD player until I could get it free in a box of Cracker-Jacks) I had worked up a load with 3 50 gr. pellets of 777 under a Hornady 300gr SST-ML bullet with lock-n-load sabot. I was golden out to 200 yds. Damned if a deer didn't walk out 15 feet behind the stand. I stood up and turned around, poked the rifle through a hole in the blind material and touched it off. Now, mind you, I was shooting at a very awkward, downward angle in a blind that I couldn't stand up in. After the shot, I turned around and sat down with my hand holding my head.

"Hey man, are you alright?" my buddy says through tears of laughter.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't think it broke the skin." I replied as I released the pressure I had been applying with my hand. Blood gushed out at this point and ran down between my eyes and along both sides of my nose. I eventually got the bleeding stopped and got the deer to the processor. I hadn't had a chance to clean myself up (or even look in a mirror).

The processor took one look at me and said, "looks like he almost got even! Boy, I sure have seen a lot of guys come in lookin' like you."

The good news is that now I can sense evil.
 
3 50 gr. pellets of 777 under a Hornady 300gr SST-ML bullet
Click to expand...

Hehe...no wonder. :) I never got bad scope eye, but after a mild incident or two, I learned to put long eye relief, low power scopes on big boomers, and mount them pretty far forward. At least you got the deer!

I'm proud to say my nephew got his first case of scope eye at the age of 3, from an RWS model 48 with a Swift Premier scope - didn't occur to me before that about springer airguns recoiling seriously - I knew they did recoil, of course, but had never had a problem myself, and thought that the backward recoil was so short lived before the opposing forward recoil kicked in that it wouldn't matter. His mother wasn't too pleased.

Not scope eye, but I cut the cheek of my face right on top the cheek bone, by dry cycling a K31 at a gun show once, without moving my face to the side - the upper left edge of that ring is damn sharp - you think having your buddy and the processor seeing you bleed is embarrassing - try bleeding at a gun show from your own mistake. Hurt like a mother too. :)
 
I know two guys who have cut themselves with the scope on an RWS 48 AIR RIFLE!:D
I still haven't joined the "Half Moon Club".:)
 
I havent yet but a neighbour has. He has a .30-30 marlin with a scope base on it and I asked once why it has a scope base his son told me that he got hit in the eye once, took it off and threw it in the bushes.
 
Yeah I got mine! The first was from my old Ithaca 12 gauge the weekend I mounted an old Redfield 2 3/4 Widefield on it and benched it to sight in. I had plenty of eye relief, I just got into my work. Literally. The second was from my beloved 300 Win Mag. Same deal, except it was a 3x9 LoPro Widefield. Are we seeing a pattern here? If I stick to regular scopes instead of the wide ones neither my eyebrow or beezer bleeds. As a sidenote the 300 bit my pal too; he had two shots touching at 300 yds. and crept up on the scope [after I warned him]. Scopes three, humans 0.
 
I don't have scope scar over my eyebrow, but I did break my nose once with that same 150 grain 777 load under an SST. Scope cracked me across the bridge of the nose and broke it. Both eyes were black.
 
I don't have a scar but the in line TC Omega got me last year on the nose between the eyes. I pulled the trigger and was not quite ready and it got me. Guys at work just laughed when they saw me because they knew what the scab was from.
 
I got a little blood in my eyes about 30 years ago shooting a 98 Military Mauser 8MM with a Galaxy scope that I gave $40 for.I was just learning to shoot and determined that the reason I couldn't hit anything was because I was holding it too tight.After holding the rifle loose a time or two I discovered there is a good reason to hold them tight.The rifle was shooting key holes and everything else.Hard to believe I didn't get a good bore for 40 bucks.
 
I doubt I will ever get hit by a scope - at least with one of my own weapons. I can't stand short-eye-relief scopes. I like the scope mounted farther forward, so I only get scopes with the eye relief to handle that kind of mounting. It just doesn't feel "right" with my eye right up next to the scope.
 
I have my scar. My brother had just acquired an ultralight 270, this was the first 270 I had ever shot. I do not remember the name of the scope, but I do remeber the first shot.

I was shooting at a 2 litter coke bottle full of water at 200 yards from a kneeling position. I busted the jug, the scope busted my eye....my brother thought it was very humerus.....that is until the scope busted him in the eye when he took the next shot.

Light guns kick, even in what are normally considered light recoiling calibers.
 
I do :o. Its not noticable any more but a couple years ago I set up my O/U rifle/shotgun combo with a 4x scope and was sighting it in with 3"slugs. After several hard kicking slugs I had taken another shot and upon firing something hit me in the bridge of my nose. I heard a "tink" and my scope was laying on the concrete. Cut my nose had a nice little scar for a while. My wife decided to call me by the prestigeous name "Shooter McGavin".
I decided to locktight the mounting screws and it hasnt come loose again.
 
I'm telling on myself to much today, but back when i first got started hunting and working on guns, i done a surperb job of getting the Remington down to about 1 1/2lb. pull. While shooting at our make shift range by myself, i put the 30/06 over the hood of the jeep, fliped off the safe and kept my finger in the trigger bow as i was coming down to look in the scope...BOOM. Right between the eyes. There are three things that happen after you do this..

1. Its like when you see two rams hit each others they set there stunned for a little bit.

2. You look around to make sure no one seen it happen.

3.You run to a mirror to see if your bleeding to death.

Thank god for them rubber cups on the end of the scope, and by the way, it aint funny so you can stop laughing now!
 
I have an Uncle that used a film canister to guess the amount of FFg needed for his ML. He had used them as "speedloaders" by measuring and prepping them at the house before. It left one heck of a crescent moon. By all investigating later is would appear that a TC encore can withstand about 250 grains. :eek::eek: Very lucky and stupid.
 
A friend "helped" me out when I was living in MD in a shotgun only zone. He drilled and tapped my Mossberg pump 12 ga and mounted a 4x on it. I guess he had never fired slugs from a shotgun. Equation looks something like: Cheap scope (short relief) + slug = blood in my eye.

Mainly irritating because I knew better - just was too excited to try it out to think...
 
Had a freind two years ago that had a gunsmith work his trigger over, on a 300 Win Mag. We were at the range and asked me to try it out, and of course being the dumb A-- I am, I sat down and wasn't ready for the light trigger pull. Wound up with scope eye, and a bruised collar bone, because I wasn't ready for the gun to go off. It won't be a mistake I will make twice.:(
 
We were just talking about this and A guy at work came in the other day with a real nasty cut above his left eye (looked like it could have used some stiches). He was in the prone position shooting at a ground hog and a 300 WSM got him good. I am trying to talk him into a good varmit round that kicks less.
 
Yep got mine trying to shoot out of a double bull. I leaned forward and to the left to get a shot at a nice buck. I got the buck. I also got the scope in the eyebrow from a 270WSM. Bad shooting form but dropped the buck. I bled like a stuck hog. Adrenaline must have been pumping. I mopped up with my shirt what seemed like a gallon.
Half-Moon club-member!
 
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