Ricochet may not be the best word used to describe a bullet actually reversing direction, but I’m very curious to hear of everyone’s knowledge and experience with the possibility of a bullet striking downrange and able to return all the way back to the shooter. I’ve shot plates at both the rifle and pistol lines at ranges all of my life without ever seeing this happen. Yet, I’ve read stories and seen videos floating around the net showing shooters either getting struck or nearly struck by their own bullet. I guess I can swallow the possibility of it happening at the pistol line, but I have a very hard time with the possibility a bullet could have enough energy left over after it stops moving away from the shooter to be able to return the same distance back to the shooter. Please chime in if you’ve ever seen this actually happen. Thanks!
180 degree ricochet?
- Thread starter ARshooter
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falshooter
Well-Known Member
It happened to me a few times shooting Chinese steel core 7.62x39 years ago.
Id say the biggest danger is when shooting on steel. Its not if, but when a round comes back.
When I taught for a living we had a huge number of student come thru the facility so our group sample was very large. Our steel maint program was excellent, we rotated targets, flipped them, replaced them, and inspected prior to every evolution. We fired untold hundreds of thousands of rounds on them and could predict replacement timelines.
The biggest danger you face is ranges with totally clueless operators and users. They will continue using steel with chips, divots, and fractures which can be life threatening. Even with our maint program, constant supervision, and the best 500Brinel steel (MGM Targets) at the time, we had injuries. I was at the 50 yard line with several Instructors at the 15 yard line shooting on steel for Instructor development. A few feet away from me an Instructor took a frag to the neck. It was bleeding pretty immediate and bad, but we had a 18D nearby and he fixed him. This was 50 yards away from the steel with them shooting pistol. High velocity rifle rounds require more attention of course.
Surprisingly all of our injuries were with pistol, zero with rifle. We used the MGM rifle rated 500Brinell targets only. The safety distances were strictly enforced and we did constant inspections. The hanging targets (Called MLS BCC Zone now I think) are the only ones I would use as the target is positioned to send rounds downward, and take a lot of the impact with the built in swing. They also use disposable 2x4 boards as stands, so zero ricochet issue there.
The reason ranges or individuals keep using dangerous steel is either the cost or the ignorance. If steel has ANY pass thru rounds they are done and should be discarded, if they are delaminating on the edges they are done, if they have stress fractures and cant be flipped they are done, if they have significant divots in them, they are done. Before you shoot on a range with steel ask these questions, or walk down and look at them. Its your skin.
When I taught for a living we had a huge number of student come thru the facility so our group sample was very large. Our steel maint program was excellent, we rotated targets, flipped them, replaced them, and inspected prior to every evolution. We fired untold hundreds of thousands of rounds on them and could predict replacement timelines.
The biggest danger you face is ranges with totally clueless operators and users. They will continue using steel with chips, divots, and fractures which can be life threatening. Even with our maint program, constant supervision, and the best 500Brinel steel (MGM Targets) at the time, we had injuries. I was at the 50 yard line with several Instructors at the 15 yard line shooting on steel for Instructor development. A few feet away from me an Instructor took a frag to the neck. It was bleeding pretty immediate and bad, but we had a 18D nearby and he fixed him. This was 50 yards away from the steel with them shooting pistol. High velocity rifle rounds require more attention of course.
Surprisingly all of our injuries were with pistol, zero with rifle. We used the MGM rifle rated 500Brinell targets only. The safety distances were strictly enforced and we did constant inspections. The hanging targets (Called MLS BCC Zone now I think) are the only ones I would use as the target is positioned to send rounds downward, and take a lot of the impact with the built in swing. They also use disposable 2x4 boards as stands, so zero ricochet issue there.
The reason ranges or individuals keep using dangerous steel is either the cost or the ignorance. If steel has ANY pass thru rounds they are done and should be discarded, if they are delaminating on the edges they are done, if they have stress fractures and cant be flipped they are done, if they have significant divots in them, they are done. Before you shoot on a range with steel ask these questions, or walk down and look at them. Its your skin.
You were shooting steel core on steel ?
falshooter
Well-Known Member
Sure was. Back in the "wayback when".....late 80's early 90's. Homemade 1/2" mild steel plate got from the job. Problem was I hung the plates at a 90 to the ground. Learned from that mistake and started making on an angle so the frags would hit the ground in front on the plate
Live and learn right
Live and learn right
davidd
Expert in the field of wife avoidance
For competition steel shooting, all of the targets angle top forward, so flat direct hits are angled down for the return trajectory. Your concern is real. Pretty much all of us have had lead fragments pepper us at some point. Sometimes even drawing a little blood.
Bigchillin83
Well-Known Member
Shooting steel is always an adventure… wear safety glasses for sure!!!! Only happened to me 2 times, wear Ppe and make sure steel is angled correctly and that still don’t work all the time lol
Stuck me in my chest, was hard to pull out cause it burned itself around it after it hit lol
Stuck me in my chest, was hard to pull out cause it burned itself around it after it hit lol
I have seen this happen often at Precision. Last time I went the person I was with was hit with a Jacket. None of this is life threatening.
Didn't hurt, just surprised me a bit. Always wear your eye pro, it could have been worse.
I've had two occasions where I was hit by bullet fragments on the range. Coincidentally, both of them were at The Shooters Club in Harahan. One struck my hand, and the other hit my shoe. Since I wasn't the only one at the range, I have no idea if it was my rounds, or someone else's, but I did scoop them up and toss them in my range bag because I thought it was odd.
highstandard40
Well-Known Member
I've been shooting handgun metallic silhouette for over 40 years. I've never seen an injury at a match from bullet fragment bounce back, but our closest targets are 50 meters. I have seen it occur but it has always been attributed to a cratered target. A hard flat steel surface won't usually cause an issue.
highstandard40
Well-Known Member
There is a ultra slow motion video online that shows how bullets react when impacting a variety of objects and surfaces. I'll try to find it and post a link.
