Why not to shoot steel plates with jbullets

[steve in kc]

Enough said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0ABGIJwiGBc

[Swede44mag]

The guy is lucky he didn’t die or get blinded.

I got hit by a ricochet at the range one shot by another shooter it hit my coat and bounced off.

[nes4ever69]

Nothing more scary then hearing that high pitched noise go above your head from someone else shooting.

[theperfessor]

Many years ago I read about a guy shooting at a discarded TV monitor. Apparently this early era monitor had a glass front but the back sides were metal. They angle of the backsides was just right to have a bullet bounce off two sides and return back on a parallel path. As I recall he shot at it several times before he figured out what was going on.

[NSP64]

I have had .357 j bullets bouce back at an indoor 50 yrd range. The had steel plates mounted like venetian blinds to deflect bullets down into a sand pit behind them. Must have hit an edge.

I was once shooting bowling pins off of a fallen tree at a friends house. I was using a .45 with light recoil spring, reduced loads, and the lee 255 rf boolit. Friend wanted to try gun. He was not a very good pistol shooter. First shot hits tree trunk, bounces back 10 yrds, smacks him in the thigh. He had a bruise 4" across.

I learned along time ago never to shoot at something directly in front of you.

[HighHook]

Nothing more scary then hearing that high pitched noise go above your head from someone else shooting.

Bringing back memories, So very True !!!!!!!!

[ghh3rd]

My dad described hearing that sound when he was in the military. He was asked to cross a flight line in the dark to get something for someone, when he heard "Stop - who goes there", and immediately two sharp cracks and bullets zipping by. That was one nervous guard.

[x101airborne]

my buddy and i in high school snuck out my dad's 357 python. We were shooting a water logged tree in the pond with 38 wadcutters. One bounced back and smacked my buddy in the finger of his right hand while he was shooting. Broke his finger and left a good nick in the bottom of the grips. served us right i guess.

[high standard 40]

Depends on the plate. I have fired many, many, thousands of jacketed and cast bullets at steel plate since 1980 (IHMSA Silhouette) and have never been hit by a rebounding bullet. The problem is there if you shoot a damaged plate or a surface that is not flat. A curved surface can deflect even a cast bullet back at you. The attached link to a video will show you exactly what happens to a bullet that impacts different hardness steel plates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfDoQwIAaXg

[frankenfab]

Depends on the plate. I have fired many, many, thousands of jacketed and cast bullets at steel plate since 1980 (IHMSA Silhouette) and have never been hit by a rebounding bullet. The problem is there if you shoot a damaged plate or a surface that is not flat. A curved surface can deflect even a cast bullet back at you. The attached link to a video will show you exactly what happens to a bullet that impacts different hardness steel plates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfDoQwIAaXg

I agree completely. The flatness and angle of the target has alot to do with it. The only danger then is the spawl. Seems like there are miltary spec for shooting steel, if I remember right. Something like 200 yds minimum for steel targets.

[high standard 40]

Seems like there are miltary spec for shooting steel, if I remember right. Something like 200 yds minimum for steel targets.

I've shot for years as close as 25 yards, mostly with a 22LR but also with 40S&W, 45 ACP, 357 MAG, 44 Mag, 22 Hornet, 30 Carbine, and others. Smallbore silhouette and Field Pistol silhouette chicken targets are shot at 25 yards or meters. No issues for me or anybody at any match I've attended.

[JDFuchs]

Even with cast once i was shooting a store bought steel spinier. The 32 H&R hit the stand and then my friend who was behind and 6' to the side of me. Far less energy hit him then long distance airsoft round but still.

[DIRT Farmer]

Points out the need for eye protection when shooting. I shot a lot of action pistol with a .45. The miminum steel distance was 12 yards and have been hit with spatter. Shooting skeet and sporting clays shot has bounced off clay targets and trees hitting me. Shooting glasses with side shields should be mandatory.

[noylj]

Bullets don't bounce at 90 degrees. You shoot 45 degrees to an object, and the ricochet will come off at about 1/2 of that angle.
TVs used to have a leaded glass in front of the picture tube that was about 1" thick to cut down on the X-ray adiation coming out the front so children could watch from 1 foot away...

[mroliver77]

I have had the steel core "squirt"back from steel when shooting AP ammo. Buddy had one stuck in his leg is how we figured it out. Once shooting a plate @ 40 yards with cast from a .357 I heard a sound like an angry 10lb bumble bee go whizzing past our heads. My nephew found very deformed boolit 5 feet behing us!
Jay

[NoDakJak]

About 45 years ago I was running some penetration tests with a 357 magnum. The projectile was Speer Half Jacket and the test medium was the steel frame work of a collapsed windmill. I had fired several shots when something struck me in the throat. I instantly clasped my throat and was horrified to find the half jacket imbedded in the flesh. It had been sheared off the lead, came back 180 degrees and struck me. My shooting partner removed the jacket and his wife applied a bandage. It stung like the biggest bee in creation and I bled like a stuck pig. The swelling was impressive!
I must be a slow learner because about twenty five years later I leaned over the edge of a bridge and fired my 1911 Colt straight down into the thick frozen ice. After firing several shots something struck me forcibly in the chin and a 45 Hardball unblemished by anything other the rifling marks dropped between my feet. It didn't draw blood but certainly did not feel good other.
I can understand the 357 jacket coming back and hitting me but not the 45. Perhaps it hit the edge of the crater where I was trying to shoot a hole through the ice, followed the curvature around and nailed me. I'm not really sure but I certainly do not intend to repeat the experience.
My Dad once told me about when he and his cousin were trying to shoot a hole through a dime that was tucked in the curvature of the side of a railroad rail. They were using a Stevens Favorite and 22 LR. His cousin took the first shot. The dime came spinning back, blasted through his lower lip and broke a couple teeth. Youuuuch!!!
Perhaps it is in the genes but I'm surprised that some people live to maturity!!! Neil

[mike in co]

About 45 years ago I was running some penetration tests with a 357 magnum. The projectile was Speer Half Jacket and the test medium was the steel frame work of a collapsed windmill. I had fired several shots when something struck me in the throat. I instantly clasped my throat and was horrified to find the half jacket imbedded in the flesh. It had been sheared off the lead, came back 180 degrees and struck me. My shooting partner removed the jacket and his wife applied a bandage. It stung like the biggest bee in creation and I bled like a stuck pig. The swelling was impressive!
I must be a slow learner because about twenty five years later I leaned over the edge of a bridge and fired my 1911 Colt straight down into the thick frozen ice. After firing several shots something struck me forcibly in the chin and a 45 Hardball unblemished by anything other the rifling marks dropped between my feet. It didn't draw blood but certainly did not feel good other.
I can understand the 357 jacket coming back and hitting me but not the 45. Perhaps it hit the edge of the crater where I was trying to shoot a hole through the ice, followed the curvature around and nailed me. I'm not really sure but I certainly do not intend to repeat the experience.
My Dad once told me about when he and his cousin were trying to shoot a hole through a dime that was tucked in the curvature of the side of a railroad rail. They were using a Stevens Favorite and 22 LR. His cousin took the first shot. The dime came spinning back, blasted through his lower lip and broke a couple teeth. Youuuuch!!!
Perhaps it is in the genes but I'm surprised that some people live to maturity!!! Neil

ok i too have fired thousands of rounds at steel plates at 15 yds and further.......

a straight back rickocet is seldom if ever incurred. what does happen if the bullet goes off at an angle and hits another surface( the support for the plate) and then comes back at the shooter.

the trick here is to ensure the support is BEHIND the target, not in front, a section of angle iron say a 6x10 , 6 wide makes a nice small steel to shoot at....but the supporting leg MUST be behind the face of the target...else splater will go down and the web ( a smooth radius, not s sharp 90)of the two legs will direct lead back at the shooter.....


mike in co

[doghawg]

I once thought that shooting old golf balls on golf tees would make great backyard air rifle practice. The pellet didn't break the skin...of the golf ball or my leg....but it gave me a new respect for a .177.

[Fly-guy]

As a kid, I remember shooting my BB gun in the garage. I distinctly remember seeing the BB bounce straight back and then hitting me in the forehead. Counted my blessings and quit shooting in the garage.

Another time a friend and I were shooting on the DCM (dcm dates me doesn’t it?) range at our clubs range. There were steel plates hanging between each target frame and my friend shot one of them with a 147gr fmj. A small fragment bounced back from 100 meters and caused a 3/8” cut on his cheek – ouch. More blessings!