So last week I was at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, AZ shooting the 3MR trigger system at their media event.  I had a little mishap while I was there, which could have been worse had I not been wearing gloves. The back story is that I had my own personal rifle there at the range, and was shooting it pretty hard.  Hard enough for the barrel to heat up to flesh searing temps. When I was back at the bench, I was putting my rifle down for a bit to cool it off it began to slide off the bench.  Like most people would, reached out to catch it.  I just happened to grab the barrel with my gloved hand.

There was smoke, burning and a lot of discomfort for a minute or two.  But in the end, the Mechanix Wear gloves I was wearing took all of the heat, even searing the barrel caliber and twist into the glove.  Yes, my hand got warm.  But there was no lasting damage or even any minor burns on my hand. I figured I at the very least owed Mechanix Wear a thank you.  Without their glove, I would probably be sitting here typing with one hand in a dressing and bandaged up, or still stuck in a Phoenix hospital awaiting a skin graft to my hand.

My rule, since I began shooting tactical rifles many years ago was to always wear glove of some type, be it Nomex, Mechanix Wear or whatever I had available.  It is a personal rule, and one that I have never wavered from. This incident right here is why.  Sometimes in life things happen, you react and catch something and good pair of gloves can really save you a lot of pain down the road.

I also want to thank Mechanix Wear for offering to send out a new pair to me, free of charge.  Top notch service and product.  Look forward to a new pair of gloves, minus the barrel imprint of course.