Football players used to get Omega brands on their biceps. Hell's Angels cruised the streets with large patches on their vests. And L.A. gangs flashed hand symbols to show allegiance. Every tough guy group out there has a mark. But, hey, us gun guys want an identifying mark, too. Well, perhaps the best candidate is a snake bite scar. A snake bite is the cut we get over the eye when a combination of factors (usually culminating with the recoil from a high-powered rifle) jams the scope back into your forehead. Yes, it hurts. Yes, grown men also cry.
It doesn't happen much, but it is bound to happen if you shoot a lot and shoot a lot of big guns. It could be because the scope is improperly mounted or because the gun is too powerful or because of human error (read: you did something really dumb). But it's a reality of the gun range. Eventually the recoil of a rifle and an ill-placed forehead will result in a gash in the vicinity of your shooting eye. From this day forth, I'm considering it the brand of a marksman.
David Petzal, the legendary gun writer for Field and Stream, wrote up an account of some of the best scope cuts he's seen on his blog, The Gun Nut. I've pasted them on the next page for your enjoyment. Consider it an early Christmas gift.
"The two best I've ever seen came from a .30/06 with a cheap scope that had no eye relief to speak of, and a .300 Weatherby, whose owner contorted himself into a weird prone position, shooting downhill at a caribou. The ocular lens bell caught him on the bridge of the nose and opened it up like an ax. My own best scope cut came from a .30/378 with a muzzle brake. I was curious how hard it kicked without the brake and fired it prone. I found out."Sadly all I've got to show for my days at the range is a scar on my thumb. That dandy came from an overpowered revolver that kicked back and dug the hammer into my skin. It's on my hand, though, and not the face, so it's like only getting an associate membership at a country club or transferring to a college and touting your diploma like you'd been there for all four.
