Range time and how to shoot yourself

Since this is my online diary of sorts, this is going , to remind me of how interesting and crazy life can be. It's going to be a great reminder of another possible near death experience... and wonder how many I get. Sort of a long story:

Tuesday night was range night and I didn't have the time to go, we were leaving in the morning for our annual camping trip to the SW part of the state. I don't want to be one to miss a good training session, especially low light fire drills so I banked on a low sleep night and loaded up. 24 hours in a day no matter what.

We started at the pistol range and everyone asked why I had my full military body armor on. I responded that if you never actually use your gear at the range, what good is it. I wanted to know if I had my mag pouches positioned correctly, if I needed to adjust the shoulder straps, etc. I don't need questions or issues at other ranges, so I never wear it at them. I wanted to see how I would do with it in the heat, it was around 90 degrees when I threw it on. Clothes, armor, glasses, ear protection and plenty of ammo.... fun times ahead. Everyone was complaining about bugs biting them but I had long pants and a long shirt on, nothing bit me.

The pistol range was fun, my second round was a dead center hit so I started pistol mag change drills with 3-5 rounds and I even loaded spent cases to simulate misfires/jams. I would load a few mags then mix them up in a bag so I never knew what I was putting into the XDM. One of the other guys in the group was doing this for his wife and I thought it was great.

The whole group moved to the rifle range. I had a cardboard box with a target stapled to it (zombie of course), a rubber 'self healing' gong type target and a flip style target:

This target is designed that when you hit the upright target, it will flip. It also makes a nice metallic ping when you hit it, like any good steel target, so it's great for low light. The bad thing was I apparently got a heavy version so it didn't flip with 5.56

I ran a few magazines through my carbine and the zombie box died, the swing target died and the flip target died with resounding blood curdling pings. My EOTech was on the money, I was on the money and my gear was rocking just like I had hoped. I set my carbine down on a table so it would cool off and threw my armor in the back of the car, glad to be free of it since it was hot. I started to pack up for the night.

Someone asked me about the flip target so I gave a demonstration.
Trigger pull, Ping
Trigger pull, Ping
Trigger pull, Ping
Trigger pull, Ping.... hmm, a bug bit me
Trigger pull, Ping
Trigger pull, Ping
Trigger pull, Ping... carbine on safe, on the table and to the car for my trauma kit. See, that one ping was more than a ping, it was a full on ricochet that sliced my left side above my little love handle. Yup, of all the crazy stunts, risks and stupid things I have done in my life... I could add shooting myself to the list.

It wasn't super bad, one of the teams doctors looked to be sure since everyone was calling me macho for not fussing much about it. Hell, we could have performed surgery in the back of my car if I needed to, I don't mess around with my trauma kit contents.

I tossed that target into the recycle pile once I got home. I bet my .308 would flip it but I'm not willing to take another chance.
 Two valuable lessons learned:
1.  Wear my gear the entire time. I doubt it would have even nicked the ceramic plate had I kept the armor on.
2. Staying calm works wonders for me and everyone around me. Besides, getting worked up makes the blood flow faster.
3. I heal really fast

So, self, learn from your experiences. I've been shot at, stabbed, taken horrible falls and stumbles on cliff edges while trail running, blocked an 80 pound piece of steel with my arm so it didn't crack my skull and kill me, been under a tank when then decided to move it, fallen 30 feet onto rocks, almost drowned in a lake... I'm sure I've forgotten a few others but can add shot myself to this list. Let's not make it any longer, please.

More posts this week with pictures from our trip. Now it's time for bed, driving almost 1200 miles in 36 hours is torture.