Pellet splatter/ricochet

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MadKatt

MadKatt

Member
May 28, 2021
202
12
Nebraska, United States
Question for those of you who use reactive steel targets, spinners and the like. What kind of pellet splatter, ricochet do you get? I have shot steel on my powder burners for years and these require a specific angle to get the bullet splatter to hit at the base of the target stand. Can I just shoot a reactive target or such in my backyard (with a backstop) and not worry too much about the pellet after it flattens out on said target. Or do I need to basically cover all 4 sides? Never shot steel with pellets but would like to start.
 
if you have neighbors within 100 yards 90 degrees out i'd put some kind of backstop to the sides .. dinging their car or bustin out a window will be the end of your backyard airgunning ...
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It's hard to argue with someone who is advising caution (better safe than sorry!), but pellet splatter travels very few feet, usually less than 1. A ricochet is another thing, though I've only "achieved" that by hitting steel at a very shallow angle - those can go quite a distance, but they're roughly in the direction you're shooting. The best reason to have sides and a bottom is just to keep the lead particles from spreading all over, and perhaps poisoning critters you don't want poisoned. 

GsT
 
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Yes I’m very safe been handling weapons for 40 years, just have no practical experience with pellet splatter. I was figuring maybe 10-20 feet at max unless it was a weird angle ricochet. I will do as suggested and cover all 4 angles probably some kind of ground sheet too when I’m back yard shooting. Try to get get a bit of a downward angle on my reactive targets too. Thx for the responses.
 
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stuff a box with rubber mulch and end your ricochet worries. :)

targetbox001.1623515771.jpg

 
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I made this box on a wagon frame to control the splatter. It has a cover on it now after I put paper across the top to see if anything was going that way; it was.

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Man you read my mind was thinking of the same thing minus the wagon, but I love it even more. Since the general consensus is yes lots of ricochets going to do this to be safe with my metal targets.
 
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My first target backstop I made with a 1/8" steel plate ( a savaged street sign from scrap yard). You would think that is a safe thickness for a 22? Well not really. After a week of ring=target shooting, the pellets were hitting a consistent point and at one time I started hearing some strange noices...the steep plate was plunge through, and a metal cabinet drower front and a back wall as well and the pellets were ricocheting back from a concrete wall (in my basement, we talking now about 22-23 yards).

So I made a second backstop in a new enclosed box made of 2x4's, 1/4" hardened steel plate 1x1 ft. The ricochet was really aggressive, my basement floor full of lead chunks and dust. So I grab about a dozen packs of clay/duct seal putty and ended up with about 3" layer of dampening in front of the steel plate. You would think is enough? No...after weeks of shooting a ricochet is coming straight back through a crater in the clay, and my basement still full of lead chunks and dust and I can hear bouncing back from walls rolling on the floor. Maybe outdoors from a surround noice you may never notice but in a dead quiet basement,,,yes I could not stop the ricochet.

And a 1/4" hardened steel plate have ugly bumps at the back...this from tuning in my .25 Impact @ 22-23 yards.
 
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I know this thread is a few days old but my story has relevance. A none air gunner but a .22lr shooter was asking me and Tom, a fellow air gunner a question that led us down this path. 
He wanted to know the penetration power of a .22 cal pellet. Actually he wanted to know if it would shoot through a penny? I gave him the figures of the pellet =18gr at around 880fps can get you a muzzle at approximately 30fpe but didn’t know if that was enough energy to shoot through a penny. The man produced a penny we talked bout the ricochet so it was decided to tap the penny a 1/4 the way on the side of our target stump. Be a nice shot at 25yrds to hit it. Tom pulled his wildcat out loaded her up with the 18gr jsb. First shot fired,, bam penny gone not one of us seen it. The stump is backstopped by heavy woods. [Added disclaimer]
So Out came the gorilla tape and the man produced 5 more pennies. Now this is starting to sound like a “hey y’all come and watch this joke” kinda felt like it at the time. We have an old tree stump to the side of our 75yrd range we sight check on or setup rifles/scopes. The stump is 25yrds and a nice dry wood. The pennies were taped down under the gorilla tape cause everybody knows nothings coming loose with that stuff. Tom took aim bam the pellet scored a direct hit. This time we seen where it landed. 12ft in front of us with the pellet lodged right into Abe. That’s a whole mess of energy to bring both the penny and pellet back 65ft right at you.

I'm not trying to make light of this but let folks know it’s more serious than one would think it “could” be. This is not a penny challenge so don’t run out and shoot one but shooter beware…. You notice we didn’t feel the need to pull out the .25 or .30 to shoot a penny at 25yrds. .22 was scary enough.. I know on the internet if you don’t have pictures it didn’t happen. When I get back to Tom’s I’ll get the pictures of the rest of the penny’s, you didn’t think we’d stop at one did ya?

Red


 
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I know this thread is a few days old but my story has relevance. A none air gunner but a .22lr shooter was asking me and Tom, a fellow air gunner a question that led us down this path. 
He wanted to know the penetration power of a .22 cal pellet. Actually he wanted to know if it would shoot through a penny? I gave him the figures of the pellet =18gr at around 880fps can get you a muzzle at approximately 30fpe but didn’t know if that was enough energy to shoot through a penny. The man produced a penny we talked bout the ricochet so it was decided to tap the penny a 1/4 the way on the side of our target stump. Be a nice shot at 25yrds to hit it. Tom pulled his wildcat out loaded her up with the 18gr jsb. First shot fired,, bam penny gone not one of us seen it. The stump is backstopped by heavy woods. [Added disclaimer]
So Out came the gorilla tape and the man produced 5 more pennies. Now this is starting to sound like a “hey y’all come and watch this joke” kinda felt like it at the time. We have an old tree stump to the side of our 75yrd range we sight check on or setup rifles/scopes. The stump is 25yrds and a nice dry wood. The pennies were taped down under the gorilla tape cause everybody knows nothings coming loose with that stuff. Tom took aim bam the pellet scored a direct hit. This time we seen where it landed. 12ft in front of us with the pellet lodged right into Abe. That’s a whole mess of energy to bring both the penny and pellet back 65ft right at you.

I'm not trying to make light of this but let folks know it’s more serious than one would think it “could” be. This is not a penny challenge so don’t run out and shoot one but shooter beware…. You notice we didn’t feel the need to pull out the .25 or .30 to shoot a penny at 25yrds. .22 was scary enough.. I know on the internet if you don’t have pictures it didn’t happen. When I get back to Tom’s I’ll get the pictures of the rest of the penny’s, you didn’t think we’d stop at one did ya?

Red

Keep the stories coming very interesting to see what a little bitty pellet can accomplish. Made me totally rethink what and where and how I was shooting my pellet guns.
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