Ricochet target shooting off of water

[kh0505]

Hello,

First off I'm an Army Brat and I was in Germany till 1987. I don't know if I saw the show on tv there or after coming state side but is has been a long while. There was a competition where people would hit targets across a body of water and hit a target. You would think in this age of technology you could find anything but all I have found are stories like mine where they remember seeing it, one of those being on this forum. The few posts I could find said it was either German or Swiss. There are plenty of "Schützenfest" sites out there but I see nothing in regards to this. I am assuming that "ricochet" and "bouncing" bullets off of water searches aren't coming up with nothing because there must be an official name for this competition besides crazy.

Anyway, someone out there has to know what\where\when this happened since I'm not the only one that remembers this.

Thanks,

Kai

 

[WardenWolf]

I don't know, but it's extremely dangerous and in many cases illegal to fire a rifle over water for this reason. A bullet can bounce off the surface and carry on for an extreme distance.

 

[06]

Seems like a dangerous way to play. Think I will stick to berms behind regular targets.

 

[rcmodel]

I saw something like that on TV's Impossible Shots show.

Seems like somebody in a coon-skin cap with a muzzle loader breaking targets across a pond by skipping balls off the water.

The thing is though, there are very few places in the country you can do that safely.
Unless you own 1,000 wooded acres with a pond in the middle of it.

And have a TV helicopter crew patrolling the boundary's to keep trespassers out.

rc

 

[Legion489]

Yeah I was going to say it was German or Swiss too, can't remember which now. Contest held for 100s of years. Idea was to hit a target by bouncing the bullet off the water of a lake and the old timers were quite skilled at it, which seems reasonable as it probably took years to get good. I THINK it was to celebrate some famous shot, like William Tell, that sort of thing.

The Swiss are big on that type of stuff, taking their guns to the polls because some Count or Baron didn't want the sheeple to vote and they rose up and shot the guy and then marched to the polls with their guns to vote, and continue to do so to this day to remind the scum in office not to mess with them.

At least one state USED to have rifle seasons on fish (VT? NE somewhere as I remember). Anyway one lake I know had a rifle season for fish and it was fairly popular. Not like shooting fish in a barrel however.

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

saw one were they shot a bullet at the ice. and it would bonce and spin a few feet away
from the shooter nuts

 

[jmorris]

We have done that many times for "fun". If you have enough land to shoot a 50BMG safely you should be good to go, with a 22 rf.

 

[Snag]

http://www.youtube.com/user/22plinkster/videos?query=water

 

[41 Mag]

Like was mentioned I can only go by what I was told by the old folks while growing up.

The actual competition was set at a lake which was down in a ravine or for lack of better terms between two mountains. Shooters on one side, the targets on the other, backed up by the rise of the mountain. The wind was not an issue and the lake usually was mirror smooth. The targets were set so that they mirrored on the face of the lake and the shooters were to aim at the reflection, where as the bullets skipped off the reflection and then into the target. The rifles used were of the Schützen variety, and launched round balls in order to achieve the best "skip" off the water.

This said it has been many years ago that I was told of this.

 

[Triphammer]

While a member of the NSSA (North South Skirmish Assoc.) back in the early to mid 70's I was told of a game the cannoneers used to play "in the old days". Seems they would anchor beach balls in a lake, a line of three or four for each team, and the goal was to sink your line in the shortest time. If you were good (lucky) you could skip a cannonball through your whole line of beachballs & win the match with one shot. Can't vow for the veracity of the storyteller but considering the quantity of single malt scotch consumed around the evening fire I can't help but believe him.

 

[Slamfire]

There are a few of us old enough to remember the Readers Digest Article about a 303 Enfield that skipped across water to kill a lady driving a car.

Others remember this and you will find more detailed memories here:

http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=92;t=000302;p=1

Bullets need to end their lives in a nice good backstop, not flying about the country side, or ocean, where they might meet a random living creature.

 

[jmorris]

Bullets need to end their lives in a nice good backstop, not flying about the country side, or ocean, where they might meet a random living creature.

While I tend to agree, I can't help but remember that my goose loads had something like 130, #2 (29.+grain) lead projectiles in each one I shot up into the air.

 

[One_Jackal]

If falling birdshot was harmful all duck and dove hunters would be extinct.

 

[arcticap]

At least one state USED to have rifle seasons on fish (VT? NE somewhere as I remember). Anyway one lake I know had a rifle season for fish and it was fairly popular. Not like shooting fish in a barrel however.

According to this Winter, 2012, Saint Albans Area Watershed Association newsletter, it's still legal to shoot some fish in Vermont.

I used to go pickerel shooting with my father. We would use a high powered rifle and go to the marshes in the spring to “shoot pickerel.” Vermont is one of two States which has not banned shooting fish....Although very few Vermonters shoot fish, and such a practice can be extremely dangerous, there were enough legislators who either identified with the culture or found it politically advantageous not to vote to ban the practice.

http://www.saintalbanswatershed.org/Winter_2012_Newsletter.pdf