Do .177 Pellets Ricochet Off Metal Targets

[NAProf]

I appreciate all the input from everyone, and will accept some of the tongue lashing, but please keep the question in perspective. I specifically said I was shooting .177 pellets for Field Target. That means under 20 fpe. I specifically said that I was shooting spinners and knock-down or resetting targets, not flat steel. I failed to mention that the spinners are in dead trees and they are on my property.

The points made about hitting the twisted parts of the spinners and possible deflecting was a very good one. The video on ricochets (though it was a full metal jacket .45 at point blank range) was enlightening and definitely worth watching. The comments on target houses or things to that effect have inspired me to think of ways to work that concept into my range. Even the stories of ricochets off of flat steel are enlightening. All of these are reasons I am on this forum. Ask a question and get good info. So thanks!

Some of the other responses are why this is the only "social media" type of place I participate in. Before condemning someone as "terrible" you should probably take a good look at yourself. "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone ...".

 

[dgeesaman]

My experience with ricochets is with field target.

 

[davecole]

Last week I was hit in the cheek by a ricochet while standing behind a shooter shooting at a target about 10 yards.

 

[NAProf]

For those interested in a bit of a more scientific explanation I found the video below. It makes some really interesting points and I think is worth the 15 minutes or so to watch. May be a bit boring as it includes a set of equations, but the conclusions are interesting.
Cheers,
Greg

 

[dgeesaman]

Oof. I watched that and it is dry. But well done. Here are my takeaways:

Long story short, lead does not create fully inelastic collisions against harder / heavier targets. Like steel. The projectile or pieces of it will bounce back a little bit on an angle. How much bounce back and on what angle is a rich (wildly complicated) of physics to calculate.

Lead has a low yield stress but it’s not zero. There is always some portion of its energy that doesn’t just stick to / drop at a rigid target.

Also, ricochet technically only applies to a fully intact projectile getting redirected, usually at a very shallow angle. Nerds call pieces of a projectile spalls and the splattering disintegration is called spalling.

Swinger targets tend to create less bounce back because they will move in the direction of the projectile. Field targets kill zones move and will tend to create less bounce back. Field target face plates are built to be rigid and will create more bounce back.

 

[Chief Ten-Beers]

As I said before, if you cut the ends of a cardboard box it will stop/slow down any splattering. Amazon stops by my house everyday thanks to my wife I always have boxes

Between Amazon and Chewy, we never have a shortage of cardboard!

 

[thauglor]

I find splattered flattened pellets from my 10m air rifle (targets at 20 meters) about 7 yards away occasionally, so they definitely can

 

[beerthief]

.177 will ricochet off of plywood ,even @ 8FPE and 20 yard target backing . ask me how i know .

 

[LCURRENT80]

Get a real backstop and maintain a good relationship with your neighbors.

My .177 Vet still splatters 10.5 gr at 50y . I had a wood side trailer around 15 ft or so, to the side of the targets . And when shooting rimfires I had a lot lead splatter stuck in the wood . Even if it splatters small pieces are spreading out . And you could still have a ricochet by just catching the side or edge of metal targets.

Wanted to add:

If any part of my pellets hits on other homeowners property , I m doing something wrong . And never damage trees if they are not yours by hanging targets on them . Thanks

Add carpet in front

 

[MEC17670]

Might want to build a plywood backstop for that area with carpet or foam.
I use a system on free swing conveyor belts sections. The swing action absorbs the energy as it moves as the projectile hits it. I tried my 22 magnum on it, slug did not go through and fell into the collection barrels.

 

[VneMC2]

I have a backyard range that I use to practice Field Target. I have a bunch of steel targets, some of the resetting kind as well as a couple of knock down/sting reset and a half-dozen spinners on the sides of trees. My next-door neighbors are great and probably the nicest I have ever had. Today Mark came over and told my wife that two or three times he has heard my ricochets hit his window that faces my range. That window is 10 feet higher than my targets and 20 yards away (almost perpendicular to my sightline) from the nearest metal resetting target (which is 35 yards from my shooting point).

My understanding (and experience) is that my 13.4 gr JSB pellets are of such soft lead that they effectively splatter when hitting steel. So I find it to be a near physical impossibility that my ricochets are hitting his house. That being said, I want to keep the great relationship we have with them and want to keep shooting. So I talked to him and told him I would move target s further away from his house and he seemed to be happy with that.

But is it physically possible?

Cheers,
Greg

while the lead in a pellet is much softer than most "hard targets" it has been my experience that if the pellet just touches the edge of a target if most likely will ricochet at some obtuse unpredictable angle

 

[Florida_Man]

I wouldn’t shoot steel if I was that close to a neighbor, unless it was in a plywood tunnel. If I hear my neighbors in their yard doing anything I don’t shoot steel.
A nice cardboard box full of rubber mulch with the target side covered in duct tape will take a lot of shots. When it’s looking ragged I swap the rubber to a new box. Silent fun.

 

[daddypaddy]

don’t shoot a coconut tree or palm tree trunk with an airgun. you will most likely get a ricochet.

 

[EquivalentDelta]

Couple weeks ago I got hit on the nose by a pellet that somehow ricocheted out of a pellet trap at 20m.

Didn’t even leave a mark, but woah! It was the whole pellet.