Have you ever been struck by a ricochet?

[Scottish_Lord]

Once I went to the local range back home in VA. I rented a select fire .40 caliber MP5. I shot about 10 magazines through this thing. The last two were on full auto, annihilating a steel swinging target tree.

I didn't notice anything there, but when I got home, I discovered that the bottoms of my boots were full of jacket fragments and one very deformed .40 bullet.

 

[deadhawg]

Yep. Couple of times. Once, shooting at targets in front of a steep canyon wall, from about 25 yards away, with a 44 mag. Fired a round and a moment later felt something thump me in the chest, hard enough to startle me, but not hard enough to leave a mark. Looked down and there was a deformed .44 slug lying at my feet.

Next time was shooting at a home made steel swinging target with a .22 revolver at about 50 feet. Fired a round and felt something strike my hand. Pulled a jagged piece of metal out that hit just hard enough to break the skin and stick in about 1/16 of an inch.

A good reminder to always wear safety glasses when shooting!

Ron

 

[Cokeman]

I had a piece hit me in the chest at a small range. It hurt.

 

[ar10]

Steel plates are the worst. When they hit the bullet fragments or bullet can go anywhere and I've seen a number of them at the range.
The ones that stand out the most:
1. A man and his son were picking up brass after a training class and his son was hit in the side of his head with a fragment. The guy shooting was in the next bay over seperated by a 10' high embankment shooting steel plates.
2. This one was just plain stupid during an IDPA match. This guy move up on the side of the bank to take pictures of his buddy shooting metal plates. The bullet, (.45 cal), bounced off the plate and hit him dead center on his left nipple. The guy went down like a tree. I ran over to the bay from the other range and thought he was shot. The bullet left about a 3"dia bruise and he refused calling EMS. The bullet was stuck between his shirt skin but it didn't penetrate the skin.
3. Another guy was taking down his target in one bay while a group of shooters were practicing plates in the adjacent bay. One fragment smacked the guy taking down his target right on his nose.
Since that time all adjacent bays that are using steel plates are also closed while shooters go down range to change targets.

 

[hemiram]

I got hit on the chin by a tiny little hunk of jacket off of a factory 110gr SJHP .357 round I had just fired at the indoor range near my home. I thought for a few seconds that I had been stung. It wasn't any big deal, but did bleed a lot. One of the owners was right next to me, and he said he felt something hit his arm, but it didn't cut him. I guess it just hit the trap at the right angle or something.

 

[Coyote Hunter]

Bought a new burn barrel and decided to do my usual "shoot the air holes in the barrel" routine. Was using a .36 uberti 1851 Navy. All was going OK until one shot sounded a little less powerful than the rest. That didn't really have time to register when I felt a hard "smack" on my forehead right between the eyes and above the brim of my hat. After my eyes uncrossed , I picked up a flattened .36 ball off the ground. Seems it hit the barrel, flattened out, and bounced back to my head. Had a red spot and a sore bump for a couple to days.

It was STUPID on my part, and I shoulda known better. I've made my living for most of my life with a gun of some type. I was just saved by the grace of God it's velocity was just enough not to penetrate my thick skull.

 

[rojocorsa]

This is why I like to wear long sleeve clothing when shooting.
At indoor ranges hot fresh brass bounces around a lot.
I have never been struck, but once when shooting a Beretta 92 FS burnt powder struck me in the lip thanks to the Beretta's open-top slide design.
I am glad that I never been shot though.

 

[Colt46]

Can't really explain it though

Was going to join my brother and his high school buddies shooting on top of a bluff. I was directly behind them by some thirty or forty yards and in a creek bottom. Something whacked me on the top of the head. It stung, but didn't make me see stars or anything. I looked at my feet and there was a bullet(.22 LR) that was pretty heavily deformed. Either it was a richochet that came straight back or an acorn or some other forest litter that fell onto my head and the bullet was already there and I just made the connection that I was hit by the bullet. Other than a small bump on the top of my head there was no injury.

 

[ndh87]

yep. Got hit in the left hip by a 44 mag ricochet. Dont know how it bounced back, didnt break skin, just left a bruise.

 

[fletcher]

Another yep. Jacket from someone's .357 flew back and embedded itself just below my bottom lip during an indoor IDPA match; a second before that another piece grazed the man in front of me and cut his shirt. Definitely a "that's why you wear eye protection" moment.

 

[Bw2k2000]

I was hit by a grenade fragment once on the range. Thank god for sappi plates!!!

 

[anythingshiny]

may have told this once before..

local shop offered a set of 6 advancing skill pistol classes, starting with "how to draw" and ending with some basic room clearing and entry techniques.

I had taken all the classes, some several times for fun but enjoyed the last 2 the most. We were in an open bay, indoor range with a false wall that we stacked up against and were to make a 180* turn thru a "door" and engage 2-3 targets. There were 2 of us for this drill and we had walked thru dry 2-3 times as well...

So I'm number 2, weapon down and squeezing shoulders..we go around the corner and guy 1 engages immediate threat and I rabbit down the long wall to get to my corner...i feel a "THWAP" at my cheek and hear a really cool sizzle but keep going, shoot the bad paper targets, scan, safe and show clear..

One of the instructors came over and tugged at a really long hunk of blowback that was stuck just at the orbit/cheek area...it entered at a perfect angle as I was moving perpendicular to shooter 1, missing my eyeball by less than a 1/2 inch...

Still have a cool scar there.