I use my pans as a backstop.
Putting a few layers(or a box)in front of to attach a target to. The pan essentially "catches" the projectile.
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Ricochet from a lead pellet all the way back to me?!
- Thread starter jetpopt
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Putting a few layers(or a box)in front of to attach a target to. The pan essentially "catches" the projectile.
Good precaution. The can that it ricocheted off had been shot so many times that the front was pretty distorted. I’ll restrict that can (actually a nested pair of cans) to shooting at from 50’, and I’ll aim at its sidewall instead of the ends.
Never was an issue with the steel spinners, which have “auto-slant” when hit.
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I’m amazed that a pinon snag would not just absorb it. Pinon wood, especially on a dead tree, is soft. Juniper, on the other hand...that stuff withstands almost anything.
Yeah, after the TING sound I I heard what sounded like a tiny pebble hitting something, then saw it land on the porch floor (concrete). Looking for damage today and found nothing.
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Holy crap, I’m surprised there are so many of these stories. I guess that’s what I get for being a girl and not being around guns (excluding my cap gun or water guns), until well after adulthood.
Or maybe some people would not think this hobby is “adult.”
Or maybe some people would not think this hobby is “adult.”
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The wood shelves are soft cedar, painted white for the sights, and soft for ricochet protection, and great for plinking. The cans actualy bounce off the steel back plate when shot.
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Nice set-up. Soda cans are so soft I don’t think ricochet would occur, but then again, I didn’t think a lead pellet would do so, even off a steel can.
The soda cans I set on ground level last night were duct-taped end-to-end, so that the pellet had another end to absorb the energy. Those two were the last two of four soda cans I had duct-taped into a soda can “train.” The farthest a pellet ever penetrated was into the can immediately behind it, so I removed the shot-up first two “train cars.” Higher power? Tape on more cans!
I posted a pic of the new can-hanging box I made two nights ago. But when shooting last night, I also placed on the box floor, below the suspended can, three others that were just sitting there.
Making note to self to bend the wire that hangs the can so that the can front angles down! Pic of the pre-shooting can is in iAMzehTOASTY1’s thread titled “We like visuals!”
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I actually had a .357 magnum come back so close I felt the breeze past my ear! I had shot at the concave part of a shovel and it came straight back at me instead of passing through it. I really almost wet my pants.
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We have experienced that, shooting from our shot shed, which have corrugated steel plates for 3 sides, well shooting at a sand berm only 15 - 20 M away the 45 degree slope of sand with a little smaller stones in it managed to 180 a 18 grain .22 pellet shot by my friend.
There was no doubt what hit the back wall of the shed, and we looked flabbergasted at each other CUZ we did not expect that
I only shoot that short when messing with my adjustable scope rings to get a fairly 0 setting off point, normally i dont shoot shorter then 75 M, that is unless it is windy then i will bite the weather vane and shoot 50 M, but otherwise long balling is my game.
There is a video on youtube, some guy almost shoot himself with a 50 BMG, after first sending the bullet a long way in a safe direction.
Thats damn scary stuff.
Making me freak the hell out when i saw some indoor gun range in the US you can get to rip on a Ma Deuce ,,,, and a M134 too for that matter.
And trust me if i get the chance to pull that trigger,,,, well there will be many USD in my pocket eager to be set on fire.
There was no doubt what hit the back wall of the shed, and we looked flabbergasted at each other CUZ we did not expect that
I only shoot that short when messing with my adjustable scope rings to get a fairly 0 setting off point, normally i dont shoot shorter then 75 M, that is unless it is windy then i will bite the weather vane and shoot 50 M, but otherwise long balling is my game.
There is a video on youtube, some guy almost shoot himself with a 50 BMG, after first sending the bullet a long way in a safe direction.
Thats damn scary stuff.
Making me freak the hell out when i saw some indoor gun range in the US you can get to rip on a Ma Deuce ,,,, and a M134 too for that matter.
And trust me if i get the chance to pull that trigger,,,, well there will be many USD in my pocket eager to be set on fire.
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These two men.
The great deciders of when a ricochet will occur.
They are, without variance, the beginning and the end of ricochet theory.
The great deciders of when a ricochet will occur.
They are, without variance, the beginning and the end of ricochet theory.
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I shoot at targets on 3/4” plywood, hanging steel, drink cans and gallon milk jugs full of water and behind any of those are a hardwood tree. While I do have a few pellets buried in a tree most expend their energy in the target but I’m surprised at how often I hear a ricochet.
Rick H.
Rick H.
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I mostly shoot paper targets taped to the front of a pellet trap, or steel spinners placed in front of the pellet box. Ground in front of the spinners is crushed rock/gravel driveway, and I hunt for stray lead to see where they land (and to remove lead). The spinners must do a good job of deflecting, because I’ve not found pellets far from them.
But cans are fun targets, so I need to take more care in placing them.
Lesson learned.
But cans are fun targets, so I need to take more care in placing them.
Lesson learned.
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Many years ago I belonged to a gun club in Mike Tyson’s (at the time) hometown, Orwell,Ohio.
It was a rinky dink kind of club. They had 4x4’s in the ground and hung used car tires on them and you stapled your target to that. 25 and 50 yards. I put a target on the 25 yard tire and shot my Dan Wesson .357mag at it. My brothers friend was standing next to me. He said ouch just after I fired and is rubbing his left pec.
I said “Yeah right”. He bends down and picks up a .357 hollow point and it’s still hot. Last time I shot at that club. We were very lucky that day.
It was a rinky dink kind of club. They had 4x4’s in the ground and hung used car tires on them and you stapled your target to that. 25 and 50 yards. I put a target on the 25 yard tire and shot my Dan Wesson .357mag at it. My brothers friend was standing next to me. He said ouch just after I fired and is rubbing his left pec.
I said “Yeah right”. He bends down and picks up a .357 hollow point and it’s still hot. Last time I shot at that club. We were very lucky that day.
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I'm not sure what to say that hasn't been said. That'll happen. When I was a kid, I'd only shoot things that were 100m away or further, so I never had that kind of problem. But now I'm mostly shooting things in the 20-30m range, and I spend a decent amount of mental energy on my shots, trying to minimize bad deflections.
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Cans are the best! I have 115 yards of hard packed driveway in front of my bench.
Nothing better than pushing a couple of Cambell soup cans all the way to the end of the driveway.
Reactive steel, spinners and paper targets are fun, but a tin can brings it all back from my youth.
The Sherrif stopped by the other day after hearing about the rifles from some powerline workers who were working on the right of way got
curious about what I was doing. The Sherrif was chuckling the entire time he was chasing those cans. Never hurts to have LE on your side.
So far the UPS, Fed Ex and game warden have all tried the Daystate out.
Building a support base for future changes.
Doc
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This is why I never shoot golf balls anymore. Had one come right back at my head from 30y away--hit me in the temple and had enough oomph to almost knock me out. Saw stars after that one.
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Imagine if it were a larger caliber / double the energy and similar ricochet. It's why I prefer to shoot into soft targets these days when up close.
-Matt
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You beat me to it. NEVER shoot golf balls. The pellets WILL come back your way. Before I knew any better, I was shooting at a golf ball from about fifty yards and after a good solid hit there came a pellet buzzing like an angry hornet right by my head.
Lesson learned.
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I have 1" ballistic rubber on one of my traps. Since it is meant for powder burners, any lower power pellet will bounce off it straight at me 20ft away.
So I only use that trap for 25 or above caliber.
So I only use that trap for 25 or above caliber.
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Any metal target that gets bent/concave from shooting is a huge danger for ricochet. Guessing that is what happened with the tin can. Pellet didn’t penetrate all the way through but bent the surface into a curve and watch out.
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