Guy at the range took some shrapnel

jmorris said:

This is a good video of bullet impacts on soft and hard plate steel.



Hard plate video of centerfire rounds starts around 7:00 in and you can see how much more stuff just goes radially vs backwards.

Click to expand...

I love this guys videos. Very useful for how things break.

I recall a video of a guy shooting a steel goose load at a steel plate. A pellet came straight back and knocked out one of his front teeth. Moral: Don't shoot steel with steel (including BBs, evidently).

I decided long ago to not shoot jacketed bullets at steel closer than 50 yards.

Long ago, we were shooting M-79 40mm grenade launchers. One of our guys took a piece of aluminum grenade case in the neck. It was about a half a centimeter, and barely stuck. No moral, just another example.

lionking said:

Given the stories on the thread stuff flying back is not uncommon. Stuff sometimes flies sideways also, one time a woman next to me shooting a single action .22 with timing off was spitting lead pieces at me, just another reason to make sure you have eye protection.

Click to expand...

My former shooting buddy (It’s a long story, he’s an arse!) had a Dan Wesson .44 that had a bit of a timing issue. Even with the BC gap adjusted in close that thing spit lead like a baseball team spits chew juice... anyone within ten feet was peppered with every shot fired.

Stay safe.

FL-NC said:

Splatter from steel is just a normal part of the hobby. There are also other things that can harm, like errant brass, or even something from a weapon or ammunition malfunction. Suitable eye protection is something that can never be understated.

Click to expand...

Very true. I once had a case head rupture on a 10mm. My eye protection did its job but I was picking tiny pieces of brass out of my cheek for quite a while.

Earlier this year, I had this come back off the berm while I was shooting up close to it. Caught it in the right lens of my glasses. It was a pretty solid "whack" too, and gave me a pretty good start.



The past couple of years, Ive taken a couple of hits from stuff like this, usually when Im shooting up close. One to my chest actually raised a welt.

Might could be time they thought about adding some fill, or maybe reclamation.

If the plates get pock marked it's time to replace them. Back before the AR500 plates became readily available we used soft steel. As long as only cast bullets were used there weren't any issues. Once they got a few pock marks things started flying back.

Years ago my uncle shot at an old rail tie plate with an 30-06. I don't remember hearing the range or bullet, but one came back and took out a couple teeth.

Don't forget malice.
My club quit putting up plinking gongs because the SOBs would shoot pistol targets with rifles and 100 yard rifle targets at 10.
You can hit a pipe and angle iron target stand from a bench too.

'Kickback' is bizarre. We had such an occurrence at a kid's summer camp at a controlled range with several firearms instructors - bullet kicked straight back and bruised his forehead. We had a physics prof in the group and asked him how that was possible. He said that can happen from virtually any surface except water. Water will ricochet but not prone to kickback. I have been hit at local indoor range from straight kickback off slanted metal backstop, and also off concrete. Don't know how I survived decades of shooting without any protection whatsoever when I was young.

Shoot regularly at an indoor range. One got hit by a BIG chunk of splatter on my upper thigh, just below my groin. Left a bruise about the size of my thumbnail. Can’t figure out it made it past the gate/ bench on my lane. Made me think about adding a cup to my shooting gear. Same range a couple days ago, get home and find some small bits of splatter stuck to my shirt just below my neck. Paper targets, a bit of steel that attaches target holders to pulley system, that’s it.

Always wear glasses with wrap around protection!

House Rep. Dan - from Texas wears an eye patch.
Yes... I know he was a SEAL, The reason for the patch is secondary if we lose one.

Back in the 60s my Dad heard from a coworker that his young son lost an eye to another kid’s BB gun.

I was shooting in a GSSF match a few years ago and kept getting splashed by lead or jacket fragments (I couldn't tell which) coming over the berm from the next stage. They were hitting my arm and shoulder pretty hard. Small, so no damage, but I was really glad I had eyes on.