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btroj
11-29-2010, 11:07 PM
Tonight I was going to add some lube to the Star sizer. I always fight the darn plunger assembly getting it out to add lube. I fits REALLY tight. I had it moving along OK and was pulling the it the last little bit out. Yep, it came flying out, right into the side of my nose.
I quickly sensed blood and started swearing like a sailor as that seemed the thing to do at the time. I quickly got the bleeding stopped but it's gonna leave a mark for a while. My wife says it looks like a got in a fight with a hole punch. And lost.

Good news it that this is the most serious firearm related injury I have ever had in over 25 years of shooting. The ego hurts more than anything now. chalk this up as a lesson learned.

First photo shows the wound. In the second photo you can see the round center piece of the plunger in the middle of the bright ring. Thankfully it isn't a sharp edge or who knows how bad this could have been.

theperfessor
11-29-2010, 11:13 PM
Ouch! Glad it wasn't your eye.

Bullshop
11-29-2010, 11:23 PM
Me thinks you need to put some Bullplate on that plunger.

1Shirt
11-29-2010, 11:27 PM
Like the lettering on the pregnant ladies sweat shirt says! "Poo Poo Occurs"
1Shirt!:coffee:

btroj
11-29-2010, 11:28 PM
I have bull plate. Never ever thought of using it there. Now you tell me. I can see it now "Bullshops bull plate sizer plunger lube". Does this mean we need a sticky?

Ok, sarcasm off. I will have to try some bull plate on it. Sure can't make it worse.

Thanks for the idea.

Brad

runfiverun
11-29-2010, 11:39 PM
thought i was the only one that done stuff like that.
learned to grab the top so's i only punched myself in the face.

Fixxah
11-30-2010, 12:45 AM
Did youy heat the sizer first? Definately easier that way. Glad you lost the fight but not an eye.

Bullshop
11-30-2010, 12:53 AM
Brad
Be carful, it may come out at a higher velocity with BP on it.

HeavyMetal
11-30-2010, 02:32 AM
I hate to say this, particularly after the fact , but you do know that the ram on top is reversible and screws the ram out as well as in right???

96wa6
11-30-2010, 04:25 AM
How does one use Bullplate on the plunger? Where does one put it? Just paint it on? Let dry? Etc?

x101airborne
11-30-2010, 08:05 AM
Battle Scar. Makes the ladies go "Woooo...." LOL

btroj
11-30-2010, 08:24 AM
I did reverse the ram on top to get things moving. This happened when pulling the plunger the last inch or two and almost the entire spring. Etc was out of the sizer.

As for making he ladies go " Woooooooo", it's been a log time for that. I have a feeling they are more likely to say far stronger things. With my job as a pharmacist it will certainly be a conversation starter at work. Yipee.

And I promise to go easy on the bull plate. If it causes further injury I'll let you know Bullshop. I just can't imagine how it could come out faster than this.

If I could get a photo of the bruise it left on my ego I would post it. Problem is that my ego won't even get out of bed today.

Brqd

ghh3rd
11-30-2010, 11:42 AM
Did something like that years ago with a small screwdriver -- tried to pry a plastic fastner out of the wall and the screwdriver slipped off the plastic and stuck into my head just above my eyebrow. A split second before it happened, I realized it wasn't a good idea to by prying like that, but it was too late.

lwknight
11-30-2010, 12:10 PM
I have punched myself in the jaw trying to get a drain plug out but never had a prying wreck so far. I'm always a little scary about things that are stuck and in this case , your arms became stored energy like a spring and your face was in the line of fire.

Key operator : " LINE OF FIRE "
Watch out for it.

ghh3rd
11-30-2010, 03:25 PM
I remember seeing a couple arm wrestling where rather than locking hands together, they curled and locked their fingers. Of course the unsuspecting participant was pulling very hard, toward his face, and his opponent let go at just the right moment :-) Youch!!!

BLTsandwedge
11-30-2010, 06:17 PM
....and how many aside from me got busted by an M60 firing pin & spring assembly?

HangFireW8
11-30-2010, 07:16 PM
Battle Scar. Makes the ladies go "Woooo...." LOL

Heh. Look up Tycho Brahe.

scb
11-30-2010, 08:41 PM
I hate to say this, particularly after the fact , but you do know that the ram on top is reversible and screws the ram out as well as in right???

Exactly. You don't have to "yank" that plunger out. You can screw it out. The closest analogy I can think of is like a wheel puller.

looseprojectile
11-30-2010, 08:51 PM
Bolt and carrier assembly. Don't push on that little lever --- can ruin your spectacle frames and put a lump over your eye. Like lightning. I feel like a fool!
M60s have several ways of hurting a man. Got afoul of a pneumatic charger on a M3 20mm once, really learned a lesson. You guys be careful.
No springs on the old Lyman sizer, I'm safe.

Life is good

ghh3rd
11-30-2010, 09:53 PM
So, is that how you chose the handle "looseprojectile"? :)

btroj
11-30-2010, 10:28 PM
I had screwed it out, most of the way. It was the last inch or so when just the seal on the end of the pressure screw was in the reservoir. When that bad boy let go, pow, it got me.
In the future I will have the heat on it. That should make it much easier to get out.

This has been a learning experience for sure.

lwknight
11-30-2010, 10:50 PM
No matter how you explain yourself , they are still going to give you grirf just because its fun.

btroj
11-30-2010, 11:33 PM
Oh, I know. Can't wait for all the comments at work tomorrow.

My wife just thinks I'm an idiot. Sad to say I have a hard time arguing right now.

At least it wasn't the tinsel fairy.

lwknight
12-01-2010, 01:13 AM
I was 3 stepd up a ladder today and thought that it was 2 steps when I started down. I'll tell ya , that last step was a doozy. I was in motion when I hit the floor and tumbled backward. No way to catch my balance because another ladder caught my foot.
Anyway I saved the Dewalt drill in my have by placing my thumb between the drill and the floor on impact. Now I have a black thumb.
P.S. It felt good when it quit hurting.
It happens!!

looseprojectile
12-01-2010, 03:52 AM
Got my handle from some 7.62 X 51 surp I got from Century for forty two a thousand. Some had loose bullets. All were Portugese. My shooting partner made fun of my purchase. I have been giving him a battlepack for his birthday for years.
Dang battle packs are worth a hundred each now. :groner:
Musta been about the time I joined up here.

Life is good

clintsfolly
12-01-2010, 09:13 AM
Just tell them you forgot the third rule of marriage NEVER backtalk with out a good escape route I will never make that mistake again!!!! Clint :groner:

cajun shooter
12-01-2010, 10:17 AM
That washer is called the hycar and it may be lubed. The easiest way to remove the entire assembly is to have the air cylinder. You just put air into the hole on the lower back of the cylinder and it retracts. Fast and easy. It is good to have a spare Hycar as they do go bad without warning and only cost about $7.50

XWrench3
12-01-2010, 10:42 AM
I really know nothing about star sizers. But, i do have an idea for you, if there is a place to do it. My idea comes from removing, and installing camshafts in automobile engines. The job is much easier if you screw a fairly long bolt into the end of the camshaft. Is there a place on the plunger that you could drill and tap to screw a bolt into it? You would ideally want it to be a blind hole, so you would not have to leave the bolt in all of the time. If you can, then removing the plunger would be much easier, and you would have much greater control of it. If you can not drill and tap a hole in it, then the only thing i can think of right off the top of my head is maybe a pair of needle nose vice grips, if there is a place to grab it without damaging it. I hope one of those ideas will help.