Caught my first ricochet

[NoBodyImportant]

Hitting some of the self healing targets in the back yard.  22lr came back and hit my leg.  They where hanging so not sure why it came back.  It didn’t hurt all that bad, but it’s weird it happened. 

[Jim Neal]

Ouch!  At what range were you shooting from?  Gets you thinking more serious about safety when something like that happens.  Did it bounce off the actual target or was it a miss that ricocheted off something else?  Looking at your setup, I'm mystified what could be solid enough to ricochet, it all looks pretty soft and squishy, is it wood chippings or similar?

Our syndicate was having a knock-around clay day a few years ago.  One of the invitees took the stand, loaded his gun and when he closed it....BANG!  That was scary.  Good job he was handling the gun in a safe manner and it was pointing downrange.   "Oh yeah it does that sometimes" he says!!!!!!!!

[Walker570]

Had a few 38 Special and 357 Magnum rounds bounce back from a purpose built indoor range ....  double rubber hanging sheets, sloping armour plate into 18 inches of water but still the very occasional one would come back and if shooting 1 second exposures at 7yrds they did sting.  Good reason to wear eye protection .

[Ultrastu]

All that timber is perfect for bouncing back bullets. Surprised this is the first time .

Your asking for serious  problems with that as your back stop. 

Tyres are also very prone to sending bullets straight back at you .

You need a 100 % rethink on that "back stop " 

[39TDS]

Cousin shot a golf ball with his air rifle, ricochet straight back into his eye

[NoBodyImportant]

The back stop is barrels filled of sand with about a foot of wood chips.  The steel top is from when my son was younger he would sometimes shoot high.  But it is at a 45 degree angle.  The bullet hit the hanging rubber target because I saw to swing.  I was shooting at 25yards.  

It hit with enough force to sting about like a airsoft rifle.  

[Gas seal]

On my seventh birthday dad took me to the local cycle shop and bought a new Webley  junior air pistol (for him or me?. ) We went to my grans house and when dad was making tea my uncle took the pistol out of the box and  pinned a target to the wooden gate in the yard . I showed him how to load the gun, the man in the shop showed me how . The target was about eye level, he fired at the target and the pellet hit the gate and bounced back and hit him just under his right eye. He said the gun was dangerous Dad said he was dangerous as it could have hit me. First shot first lesson.  

[Ultrastu]

The issue is slow moving rounds and hitting  springy  materials  .

So a .22 air pistol  is very prone to ricochet 

A .22 lr has a lot of mass v it's velocity and is also likely  to come back .

High speed bullets /pellets etc that are lighter weight shatter or penetrate  more into different materials and hence bounce back less .

The slower the speed the more careful of your back stop you must be. 

 

A good example of this is try shooting an arrow into ply wood or a tyre and it will come back at you almost every time  .

 

[Graham M]

 

[ShootingEgg]

22 hours ago, 39TDS said:

Cousin shot a golf ball with his air rifle, ricochet straight back into his eye

Ive had a 22 pellet whistle back past me before. 100% spooked the hell out of me and I changed the angle I shot from and the backstop. 

[Fisheruk]

I’ve used a similar backstop without any problems. I’d be happy to put centre-fire into that. What I have found with the self healing targets they can get full of lead and if there are a couple of rounds just below the surface of the target the new round doesn’t get caught and can bounce back. Reality is most of the energy will have gone out of the round into the target. Always wise to have glasses on.

[London Best]

22 hours ago, 39TDS said:

Cousin shot a golf ball with his air rifle

Idiot.

[Zapp]

I once had a number 6 shot come back off a beech bough and hit me on my lower eyelid on my left eye whilst roost shooting in a small wood.  I wouldnt like to think what it would have done to my eyeball, it broke the skin but only just.

 

[Dave-G]

4 hours ago, London Best said:

Idiot.

There'll be a good few idiots about then - he won't be the only person to have taken a pot shot on a golf course at a ball.

 

[strimmer_13]

Had a 22wmr come back at us once from about 80 mtrs. From a elevated position as well (about 3 silage bales up). That would of smarted a bit. 

[Gas seal]

As a child I was hit in my leg by a ricochet from a air rifle. Years later my brother in law was telling me about the time he and his friends got into trouble for shooting a kid with their air rifle. I don’t know who was more surprised when I told him that I was the kid that he shot. He often asks if I still have the scars. I was also shot in the knee cap with an arrow, shop bought bow and and arrows, that ricochet when my friend was shooting at targets. He said it’s a good job you wasn’t wearing your school trousers, and then looked for his arrow. 

[steve s×s]

On 02/10/2021 at 21:21, London Best said:

Idiot.

Yep, some people should not be allowed a water pistol un supervise 🙄