M1 thumb is no joke

[9th company]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYSl_Ngt_gc

 

[357 MAX]

I experienced this with a 10mm pistol forget the brand, but my first shot I shot the pistol 2 handed,, big mistake. the gun was hanging from my thumb and thumb was bleeding. hard lesson learned about semiauto pistols. lucky I didn't shoot myself getting the gun loose.

 

[gmerkt]

I mentioned in another post recently that I'd had my first attack of M1 Thumb. After avoiding it for decades. In this case, the bolt didn't get me. I snagged my right thumbnail on the edge of the receiver and tore the nail partly off. Very painful

was having an unusually hard time getting the clip to latch in.

My experience is, new en bloc clips have a very rough surface. They impart a certain amount of friction to the process aside from simple mechanical resistance. I like the older clips, which either were made with a smoother surface or have had it worn away some so as to insert more easily.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Never had the dreaded Garand Thumb,, but I have been "Kissed" a couple times, enough to remember to keep my right palm firmly against the charging handle whilst loading, even on a nice and tight rifle!

Grand Dad showed us all when we were little, used a hot dog as a display, it splattered weiner all over the place, and made a hell of a mess in the rifles action too, but thanks to his explanation of how to do it properly, I have thus far avoided getting smashed!

Never had Hakim thumb, and don't want to, the Remington Mod-8 was bad enough, and that was a paper cut compared to others I know about!

Worst one was a Beretta semi Shotgun ( don't remember the model, probably an A-400) , the damn shell lifter is slotted/forked, and for some reason, the one I was shooting was ether very worn or the factory didn't blunt the edges,.........
I'm shoving rounds into the tube and on the way out, that sucker grabbed my thumb and Fileted it to the bone, OUCH!!!!! Ended up with 8 stitches and a year or so worth of strange phantom pain in that thumb! I damn near busted that Beretta around a tree I was so pissed! Never had that issue with ANY other tube feed shotgun, only that one Beretta! Funny but my Benelli Super Vinci has damn near the same shell lifter, but it's all rounded and polished smooth, never even an issue!

 

[CLT65]

was the closest thing I could find to "OUCH!!"

My thumbnail is slowly growing back. It's been about three months now, looks like it has another two or three months to go before I have a full thumbnail again. The thumb is quite sensitive where there's no nail.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I've been shooting M1 Garands for the better part of three decades, and have never experienced the dreaded "M1 thumb", until today. I've always thought it was an overblown worry, and easily avoided.

Today I made a stupid mistake. I was teaching my son how to load and shoot an M1, and was having an unusually hard time getting the clip to latch in. Well, I forgot that one of the clips I brought had only seven rounds. Loading a seven-round clip is no problem, if you're careful and do it right. I forgot and just shoved it straight down until it latched. When it did, the bolt slammed forward. Having no top round to strip off and slow the bolt down, it hit my thumb HARD. My wife says I'll probably loose the thumbnail. It's still throbbing many hours later. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

Sorry for your sore thumb, but I am more wondering if your son is shying away from that thumb eating milsurp rifle after seeing it hurt his "Daddy"…

 

[Mikej]

I must look like a real DWEEB, the way I load the Garand. With the way I hold the bolt back with my right thumb and lock the loaded clip in with my LEFT thumb. Then release the bolt. I don't have the dexterity/hand strength to do the job the "Proper" way! I can live with the ridicule if need be.

 

[CLT65]

In case anyone wonders how long it takes to recover from a bad case of M1 thumb, the answer is about four months. The new nail has finally grown out. It's wrinkled and funky, so it'll probably be another couple months before I have a normal looking thumb again.