Anyone ever messed up their hand practicing reloads?

[LSW]

So I was doing a few hundred reps of burkett reloads for awhile; then one night on my M&P compact I was doing some and I slammed one home a bit too hard. Had a really sore wrist for a few weeks, it's been about 6 weeks now and it's still sore. For awhile a pushup or any kind of pressure on the lower hand was pretty unbearable.

The odd thing was the pinky on my left hand (the injured one) started getting really cold and would stay a good bit colder than the rest of my body/hands. The injury primarily occurred in the lower right palm of my left hand. The M&P compact mags with the thumb extension aren't flat on the bottom, the pinky extension makes an empty ledge around the base plate so the pressure from a reload is more focused where that ledge hits your hand.

My palm still has splotchy red blotches on it, I think I might've crushed a nerve, which I read can mess up the way your blood vessels regulate blood flow to the area.

Just wondering if anyone else had anything similar happen and/or ways to avoid it happening again.

[Sal Picante]

My (bad) advice: go see a doc.

...but, back to the point... Yes: I've jammed steel feed lips into my palm, pinky, etc. Got a finger caught in the magwell (a few times). Tore my strong hand index fingernail in half (rifle reloads - mashed the button too hard and bent the nail in the "button ridges").

[Vinnie Bagadonuts]

It really does sound like you may have done some nerve damage. I'd see a doctor soon. Also you may want to cut back on the number of reps you do at any one time. Any form of exercise can be over done.

[TGS]

I think medical care is the obvious next step.

If you live in NJ or eastern PA I'd give you a good chiropractor reference, they can do some pretty amazing stuff if you find a quality guy. There's videos all over youtube of them treating finger/hand issues revolving around nerve damage and bloodflow problems.

I'm pretty wary of chiropractors, but I used this one when someone tried to PIT me and it ended up being more of a full-on-ram, ended up tweaking my neck. I knew of him from my previous job where lots of people in EMS, fire and LE went to him, and I ended up trusting him too.

[Doc_Glock]

You have Hypothenar Hammer Syndrome. Get it checked out.

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/diseases/hypothen.html

http://www.orthobullets.com/hand/6097/hypothenar-hammer-syndrome

[LSW]

I have a close family member than is an M.D. and they basically just said to refrain from doing things that caused the injury and give it time. They said nerves regrow but they do so very slowly, so it could take 6 months or a year before it's comletely healed. I haven't been shooting or doing dryfire since the injury.

[Treecop]

Ouch. I was ready to talk about locking part of my palm into a G19 after switching from a full size. Seems kind of minor now.


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[Rex G]

First, I wish you swift and complete healing. I will need to search for "burkett reloads," and avoid doing that.

For your healing period, and into the future, I reckon longer-length magazines, for the full-sized pistols, might be an idea, for your spare mags. Insert firmly but gently, with no emphahsis on speed, until the locking "click" is detected, then pull to ensure full seating, AR15-style. (This will probably not win competitions.)

Edited to add: Matt Burkett's website has gone blank, perhaps due to his legal troubles. I found enough other sites to determine he is known as a competition shooter, so I reckon a "burkett reload" is a competition-oriented reload.

[GuanoLoco]

Use longer mags or a base plate. Download a round. Stop hammering it - I do a lot of dry fire/live fire/matches/training and always have to be careful about overtrainign and injury.

Train hard - but not so hard you are injuring yourself and impeding your ability to train!

[nycnoob]

Edited to add: Matt Burkett's website has gone blank, perhaps due to his legal troubles. I found enough other sites to determine he is known as a competition shooter, so I reckon a "burkett reload" is a competition-oriented reload.

It is a training technique.



http://http://forums.brianenos.com/index.php?/topic/229609-reload-practice/





IMO, I'd do Burkett Reload drills to get a thousand repetition with a straight trigger finger.
Burkett reload:


Start with the gun extended as if firing your last shot with 2-hand grip. No mag in gun.


Depress mag catch while drawing/aligning a mag with the weak hand. Do not fully seat mag - insert 1/2" only.


Return mag to belt pouch


Repeat


I love Burkett reloads. Five times more repetitions of the
critical "dump mag fast, feed mag fast with proper alignment"
portion of the reload than when you do the whole thing... and
have to stop and pick things up, reholster, etc.


I suggested it because these are the parts of the mag change you
need to do thousands of times with a straight trigger finger.






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZTjDYLUIjU

[45dotACP]

I'd see a doc...if the finger is cold...it means blood flow is changed. If it goes numb, I'd be concerned.

I usually just pinch the ever loving fuck out of my hands with the flush fitting 1911 mags...got a few nice blisters out of the deal but I save all my hand trauma for Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai.

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[Jim Watson]

That is scary, way past medical exam time.

[StraitR]

You have Hypothenar Hammer Syndrome. Get it checked out.

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/diseases/hypothen.html

http://www.orthobullets.com/hand/6097/hypothenar-hammer-syndrome


Hypothenar hammer syndrome has also resulted from sports activities such as karate, baseball, mountain biking, golf, tennis, hockey, handball, volleyball, badminton, break-dancing and weight lifting.

Reload drills huh? Come on man, we're all friends here.


Seriously, as a dude with permanent hand damage including nerves (that didn't grow back), you need to get it looked at.

[Chance]

Can you use full-sized mags on an M&P compact? I never understood why people reload G19's with G19 mags. G17 mags are much easier to grab, and you don't risk pinching yourself when you seat it.

[LSW]

Yeah but I do idpa ccp division with it and full sized magazines make it too tall for that division, compact mags with the pinky extension are still small enough, although I do carry a full sized mag with an x grip spacer when I actually carry it.

[Hemiram]

I hope you come out of it ok, it doesn't sound good at all. I've never hurt myself reloading, but I did manage to pinch the web of my hand between my thumb and trigger finger when I picked up my gripless Sig P226 and dry fired it. It's just about healed up now. Last time before that was trying to rack the slide on one of my friend's 1911's with oily hands and I slipped and the serrations ripped the side of my right trigger finger. Ouch.

[M2CattleCo]

I caught the meaty part of my hand in a very enthusiastic reload at an IDPA match with a Glock 19 once. I think peed a little and broke out in a cold sweat.


Had a blood blister the same length as a Glock 9mm base plate.