So I was mounting an eotech onto my rifle and my girlfriend wanted to hold my rifle.  I handed it to her, she swung the rifle up and whacked the edge of the granite counter top with the flash hider.  I almost crapped my pants.  It was soooo loud.  It actually made a little chip on the underside of the counter top edge.  The rifle seems fine other than a tiny little mark on the top of the flash hider.  She didn't mean it, so I can't be too mad.  It is a CHF barrel.  What do you guys think.  Is my rifle gonna suffer any lasting effects from this brutal whack.

negative

Thanks brokefromguns,  that one word has already lifted my spirits.

negative ghostrider

Your rifle is fine don't worry about it.

its ruined now sell it to me for half price

Huge +1

 

Ask the guy who was throwing hid down on his gravel drive way to give it the used look

That guy isn't working hard enough (I've seen rifles of our troops that looked a lot worse than that)

It also takes a pretty brutal whack just shooting it.

Alright, I know I was over reacting.  But, man, I can never get used to the feeling you get when a new firearms gets its first ding.  Thanks guys.

It gets better after the first couple of times you throw it on the ground trying to prone

Reminds me of when I first got my sword.  First words out of my mouth were "be careful and watch out for the fan."  Immediately she held it straight up and hit the ceiling fan.


I hate to be this way, but is anyone else nervous a tad when handing anything to the opposite sex?

He can't.

I think the bigger question is how is your GF gonna make up for her fuck up?

It depends on what I'm handing them

Any damage? Only that stain in your pants.

Pics of the GF or it didn't happen.

Don't you think your average soldiers whacks his M4/M16 against the ground/tank/bradely/wall/door/buddy/floor/cliff/pole/kitchen sink on a regular basis?

No damage at all.  They're designed to be "beat up" like that.  It can take a whole lot more.

One time while getting ready to clean my Colt A2 upper, Murphy paid a visit and the upper fell off the the 3 foot high workbench onto the tile covered concrete floor.  The upper hit the floor square on the the front and rear sights.  The tile where the sights hit it was gouged out down to the concrete floor. Nothing on the upper was broken, only the finish on the sights was scratched.  I took the rifle to the range the next day and the zero had not even changed.

You're rifle should be fine.

metal is harder than stone.  unless your flash hider is made of something softer than granite, no harm done.  granite is relatively soft as stone goes, probably even more so on the rougher, unfinished underside.  Unless you were angling for a make-up request, you should thank her; now you don't have to handle it with kid gloves any more.  Can turn it into an easy lesson about being careful and mindful when handling firearms.  Could also make her feel at ease (I assume you want her to be at ease around guns) by saying something like: "I would only be more upset if someone banged your head against the bottom of a granite countertop."  Too late now, but could have feigned over concern about the counter top...would have been interesting to see how she reacted to that.

Why I am posting so many responses?  Seems like I have caffeine-brain...

Part it out on the cheap. I want dibs on the good stuff.



It's fine.

Hell no. You'll be fine. Take it out front, throw it down the drive way. Pick up, and repeat.

Take her out shooting with the rifle and ENJOY life....

Now if that had been Costa's beard she hit, then you'd be in trouble.

I'd be more concerned about the granite counter top.

+1

 

It's fucked.
God I hate to see things like this happen.  I'm sure she feels awful about it, so don't be too hard on her.  IM me for my address, and you can send me the gun and I'll see if I can get some salvage value out of the parts for you.  I've done pretty well lately with these kind of things.

Oh, and send some pictures of the girlfriend, too, when you ship that scrap up here.

The gun would of shattered

This pic gets tossed around WAY too often.
The stupid thing is that people try to pass it off as beat up.
Looks more like a dirty rifle that didn't get cleaned well to me.
Or maybe a shitty job of removing paint.
Either way it's obvious that the marks aren't scratches/gouges/dings, etc.
I'll see your
And raise you

And take a video and post it right??

I hate to say it - but the damage (to your granite counter-top) is indeed permanent...  Console yourself by knowing that your rifle is just fine.

As long as you have a chrome lined barrel made of 4150 CMV and M4 feed ramps you should be all set.

Congratulations, you've got the first ding out of the way. Now you can relax and enjoy.

You're fine.

About ten years ago I was participating in a CMP rifle clinic.  The instructor was noting how some of us were having trouble getting the rifles to chamber, so he told us:

"This is a weapon of war.  It understands only one thing:  force!  Don't treat it lightly; if it won't go into battery, give it a good smack and things will work out!"

[the rifles in question were M1 Garands but it's the same theory.]

Another story as told to me by one of my buddies who went through Ranger qual school (he didn't make it, btw), in a similar situation, had the drill instructor saying:

"She is not your wife!  She is not your sister!  She is not your girlfriend!  Treat her like a street corner whore ... if she doesn't do what you want her to do, use the back of your hand until you get what you want"

[hope that wasn't against COC]

Long story short, these guns were designed for rough use.  I think you'll be okay.

Do a search on youtube for Bayonet Drills.

While on active duty, the only concern I've ever seen, other than carelessness with a weapon was taboo and an accident like that usually resulted a good butt chewing and 50 push-ups, was knocking the sights off zero.  The idea being, a good shock to the rifle banged against something hard, OR dropping it, would NOT hurt the weapon in the slightest, other than scratches; but the shock can cause pinned/pressed/clamped pieces to shift a little and that can knock off the zero of the weapon.   NOTICE I said Zero, NOT make the sights inaccurate, if you don't know, Zero is like calibrating your sights so they are the most accurate possible, if something cause the slightest shifting of parts in the weapon, the sights will still be good, but may have changed them just enough to throw off the zero and you'll have to do it again.

If you haven't zeroed the weapon yet, then nothing loss at all, in fact it may have helped a little, by having the parts settle in before you zero (NOT suggesting new AR owners bang their rifles around).  Yea, I brought up another concept, look up torque checks in reference to machines, NOT firearms.

Yes, the pic does look like dirt or bad job of stripping off paint, but considering it appears to be a U.S. Soldier in full Battle Gear, and thus likely in one of our Combat Theaters, I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt.  Something we forget about with our Recreational Weapons and the Military "true" MilSpec weapons, when the weather gets bad, we go back home and clean, military stays in the sandstorm or rain and gets dirty and then they don't come home for another 4 days, and only have what they can carry to clean their weapons with while out. As well, in combat or even training for combat, you have to dive, roll, jump, climb with your weapon and put your weapon and body through a lot of abuse, unlike anything a recreational shooter does. No one knows the story behind that picture, but it very likely could turn out that there is 100% legitimate reason that soldiers weapon is covered in dirt or whatever it is, and likely it is still performing like it did when it was clean (yes, provided he was caring for it like he should).

One of my Sabre M4s suffered a hard drop when it tumbled out of the gun rack and slammed on to the tile floor. I swear it sounded like it was dropped from a helicopter. I nearly fainted but it did no harm whatsoever. The rifles are very resilient.

Your rifle isn't made out of balsa wood and tin foil.

Dude, if that hurt the gun (beyond some finish damage), our boys would be in some serious shit.  Don't sweat it.  The gun is just fine.

Well, lets NOT forget, our "Boys" have true "MilSpec" weapons, and that means way more than the parts fit the blueprints, think a whole batter of specs and tests to ensure quality control, as well as specs on what materials and processes to use to ensure the highest quality product.  Granted our civilian versions are clones, vendors and consumers misuse the word milspec in reference to them, and they are varying quality.  BUT, a good quality AR-15 will still come close, if NOT equal, the ruggedness and reliability of Military Issue, a poor quality clone may NOT, BUT even a poor quality clone is NOT going to suffer any functional damage or reliability issues from accidentally banging the flash suppressor against something hard.

+1      

Always attach muzzle cover before the GF handles your rifle.
Use far left or right depending on the size of your barrel.

Have Chuck Norris Donkey Punch this clumsy broad!

Next thread we'll see:

"I actually shot a round in my AR, did I cause permanent damage????"

Take it to the range and shoot it.  It should go bang but I know what you mean we all baby our rifles forgetting its an istrument of war.

Obviously you were never in the military. Those rifles are private proof for the most part. You should see the abuse that a troop can put his gear through.

Yes.

you're fine