Thumb Whacked
This happened to me yesterday and has only happened once. I was outdoors, cocking and loading my Condor. I cocked the gun with the thumb of my right hand while cradling the Condor to my right side.
I seated the pellet with my left hand. As I pushed the pellet into place the action slammed shut on my left thumb. Ouch and a scrape but no real damage.
The only thing I can think of is that my heavy, unbuttoned jacket both undid the safety (would seem to be a rare chance of this happening but nonetheless possible) and my jacket likewise rubbed enough on the trigger to actuate it (more possible given the lightness of my gun’s trigger).
I took off the air tank and cocked the gun and prodded every moving part in the breech area with a plastic rod and nothing would make the works let go.
Has anyone experienced anything like this and not have it the fault of pulling the trigger?
I figured a good practice would be, just after cocking the gun, to curl my right thumb around the knob and fingers of the same hand around the front of the frame arch thus making sure that even if the trigger were accidentally pulled, nothing would slam shut. It also seems to make for a secure hold.
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First time that happened to me it was 10 degrees out and I couldn’t feel the trigger or something and it snapped shut. It doesn’t do anything bad, it just hurts like a mother.
I’ve almost done it once or twice if I didn’t cock it enough. Mine seems to be able to catch at one point, but it only does it for a second, then releases. So I have to make sure to push it all the way forward to ensure a solid hold. Maybe that happened to you?
My dad used to tell me stories about people getting a M1 thumb when he was in the Army.. 😉
I shoot right handed. To reload, I hold the gun with pistol grip in right hand, and open bolt, load pellet, close bolt with left hand. Once I had the bolt slip out of hand, no pellet, small blast of hpa. I was decocking and it was totally my carelessness. NO fault of the condor what so ever.
Totally opsite with rim/center rifles. Hold with left hand, cock and load with right hand.
I guess that I can chalk it up to being a klutz. The good thing is that with my thumb in the way no pellet got launched.
I’ll also try the cocking/loading suggestion above.
Thanks
YEEEE-OUCH that sounds painful! Tantamount to whacking one’s thumb with
a framing hammer, I’ll wager. (Now THAT I’ve done… 😉 ) Perhaps the
rifle wasn’t completely cocked and movement release the hammer?
I’m a bit of a noobe, but after a few thou I’ve not had it happen.
I’ve never had it happen, but I use a different technique to load (a modified version of what I use to load springers). I’m right handed, and cock with my right hand holding the rifle ‘normally’ in the left (which never moves in the process). I carry ammo on my right hip, so I have to pick the pellet up with my right hand to insert. I don’t worry about the hammer falling (I tested it) since the hammer is against the breech and can’t ‘get a running start’, it’sl just like the cocking force….no big deal.
No chance of pulling the trigger, that hand is busy elsewhere.
When I first got it, I tried to get it to catch the hammer without latching it up well but couldn’t. Doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen on another gun, of course.
Doug Owen
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That could possibly be it. I’ll have to do some more testing in more controlled conditions with a “thumb surrogate.” You are right – it hurts.