.38 Rounds bouncing off trees?

[provotrout]

Last weekend I went shooting & had an odd thing happen.

It's possible I'm just a complete moron & if that's the case you all will probably say so.

I was shooting two .38 Revolvers simultaneously at a mature oak tree that was about 20 feet away. Two friends of mine were standing on each side about 5-10 feet behind me. The area's moderately wooded, with enough room for a car to travel through.

The 10th shot (according to my friend) bounced off the tree I was shooting, bounced off at least one other tree left of the tree I was shooting, and ricocheted back towards my friend, hitting him in the shoulder. By the time the bullet reached him, it was going about a hundred feet per second. The round (or piece of bark, whatever it was) didn't penetrate the skin, instead it left a small bruise on his shoulder. He said he saw a metallic object coming from an angle a good 45 degrees different from the tree I was shooting at.

Initially I figured it was just a piece of bark from the tree, but am wondering if I was being really unsafe or whether this was just a freak occurence. Either way it convinced me of the importance of wearing safety glasses when shooting.

thanks for your feedback in advance.

 

[SuperNaut]

Did those trees attack you or something?

 

[Patriot-Brewer]

Well, since you're looking for serious answers, I'll refrain from telling you that either 1: it was an Ironwood, not Oak
or
2: the tree was just returning fire (self defense)
or
3: some unseen varmit was shooting back
or
4: bullets sometimes do weird things at certain velocities and certain angles against certain densities


I've been "shot" with shrapnel bouncing off of bowling pins from 50Yds!

 

[CypherNinja]

Obviously, nature hates your friend. Tell him to stop kicking puppies and setting forest fires.

 

[RNB65]

Bullets bounce off of everything.

If you ever get a chance to see nighttime shooting with tracer ammo, you'll be amazed at the crazy ricochets bullets take.

 

[230RN]

It was the tree's Revenge.

I understand, but cannot document, that it is illegal, at least here in Colorado, to shoot at a live tree.

I believe that's in the Forest Service Rules.

Trees out here, at least on the plains, are precious and valuable things.

Also: don't shoot at tires or metal with curves in it (as from previous bullet impacts) if you can avoid it.

At least not from too close.

"Oh, what harm can come from plinking a .22 at a railroad track?" asked I of myself.

Welllll, nature and the laws of physics answered back at me that the bullet and/or its fragments will travel up around the web of the track, curve around and will come right back at inquisitive little ole me.

Clipped a branch nearby.

Lucky and smarter little ole me.

 

[WayneConrad]

it was going about a hundred feet per second.

You set up a chronograph on your friend, and then claim it was an accident? Tsk tsk.

 

[MikePGS]

Did the tree look anything like this?

 

[RubenZ]

Were you in the Land of Oz?

 

[obxned]

Gotta do something about those assault trees. Was it a 'black' oak?

 

[Elza]

How could he expect anything else living in a place with no 'tree control'? We should register all trees and ban 'assault trees' completely.

After all, it's for the children!

 

[Archie]

Anything that gives and springs back will bounce a bullet. Like living wood. Or freshly cut 'green' wood.

Slow moving lead bullets tend to hold together and not splatter when they hit. Plus, they tend not to penetrate as well as faster moving bullets.

Yes. Bullets can bounce off trees. Especially LRN .38 Special bullets.

 

[chris in va]

I see you're in NOVA. What range was this?

 

[McCall911]

Two sort-of-related things come to mind.

1. I was shooting a Swedish Mauser (6.5x55) with Norma 156 grain bullets at an oak tree of about 7 inches in diameter. The bullet penetrated the tree and knocked a six-inch chunk of bark off the other side. Wow, was I impressed!

2. In the same area, I was with my wife and we were shooting a Browning Hi-Power (9mm) towards a hill at a distance of some 25 feet. The ammo I was shooting was some generic 9mm ball ammo (I forget the brand.) After I had shot, my wife said "Ouch!" When I asked her what was wrong, she said it felt like a rock had hit her. Puzzled, I looked at the ground in front of her--and saw the 9mm bullet in front of her feet! My wife was unhurt except for a tiny bruise, but the incident left us a bit rattled.
To this day, I don't know whether this was the result of a ricochet or, even freakier, whether the bullet had struck another imbedded in the hill and sent it flying back towards us.
So, no, I don't think you're a moron, but freaky things do happen.

 

[El Tejon]

Rule #4 is what now?

 

[Sistema1927]

This is why everyone in the area should be wearing eye protection (in addition to hearing protection), preferably with side shields.

Bullets, brass, rocks, powder particles, etc. etc. etc., can cause serious damage to the old eyeballs.

I shoot CAS, and not a match goes by that I don't get peppered by shot or splattered by bouncing bullet fragments, either from my guns or while RO'ing. However anyone in the berm could be hit.

 

[bakert]

I found out years ago that lighter loads, and even many factory loads in .38 Sp have a tendency to bounce back or sideways from just about any hard surface. Just one the many good reasons to always be careful of your background and wear safety glassed. I've even been hit by a .44 mag cast bullet at an indoor range. Right above my belt buckle and it hurt like hell!! Talked to the guy shooting and he was doing nothing wrong as far as I could tell. I think he was much more upset than I was. We never did figure out where the bullet hit to come back like that.

 

[teCh0010]

Did trees gang up on you and beat you when you were a kid or something?

Don't shoot live trees, with all the development we need all of them we have left. Damaging the bark around the trunk can really cause a tree problems since it carries water in nutrients in the layer right under the bark, the rest of the tree is just structural support.

You don't want to accidentally kill something that takes 40 years to replace.

 

[heron]

Don't shoot live trees, with all the development we need all of them we have left. Damaging the bark around the trunk can really cause a tree problems since it carries water in nutrients in the layer right under the bark, the rest of the tree is just structural support.

Agreed. It is possible to shoot a tree to death. Don't kill anything that isn't
(a) threatening you, or (b) food. Oak trees aren't very digestible.

 

[TallPine]

A chainsaw is a much more effective weapon against trees.

 

[McCall911]

Understood about the oak trees and Rule #4.

I wouldn't do such foolishness again, but the oak tree I shot is about 200 yards behind my house and is doing fine after these 16-17 years. Actually, the only reason I shot it is because the white piece of pasteboard I was using as a target was propped against it. (See, I had only got up to Rule #3 at that point. )

 

[esmith]

1. I will shoot anything i want including trees. Its the obvious things that i wont, people, my dogs, etc. 2. I wear eye protection anyways but im still going to take farther measures to avoid this.

Tech0010, spare us all the green party junk. I think a lot of us here arent afraid to shoot a tree because it may damage it. That is, unless theres a law against doing such. I know for a fact that there will be trees around when i die, so im not worried about them going extinct. And if for some odd reason that they ever do, it wont be my problem. If im at the top of the food chain, im going to use the power that was blessed upon me.

 

[fiVe]

Were you in Fangorn Forest? You don't suppose it was one of Treebeard's relatives, do you?

 

[ZeSpectre]

Wet wood had a surprising amount of "bounce" to it. I've seen a dull axe rebound hard from the trunk of a wet tree so I'm not too surprised that a bullet could do the same.

 

[shooter503]

Stealz10

I am not sure what to say but "grow up". If you are being funny then you were not quite funny enough.

In certain states it is actually against the law to, in general terms, introduce metal objects into trees. The reason for this is that someone, especially in the logging communities, could be VERY seriously hurt when a chainsaw or circular saw blade hits the object. In effect, the bullet in the wood becomes a live round again under the power of the saw.

A further point is that copper is actually poison to trees. You may kill a tree without causing obvious physical damage.

There are enough, safer, places to set up targets without fastening them to trees. A target at chest height fastened to a tree is 99% guaranteed to produce misses that will travel into the distance with the possibility of injury to someone or property damage. You could end up with your bank account seriously drained.