What things will cause ricochet?

[Moparmike]

Having shot a .22 and having a ricochet near me, I now wonder what things are a definite no-no besides rocks and hardened metals (besides those things that I dont want shot ). I am not sure what it hit, but it was bad enough that one came back my way and gently tapped my house, then landed on my head. Ow.

Anyone have suggestions? Will logs be ok, or are there problems with a log as well? I ask because a log with a target on it is easily assembled at my current shooting location, and I wont be shooting with a .22.

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

i think .22lr with bounce off of humid air on the right day.... i you use lead bullets that will help, but dry ground will easily send out a siren.... as would a log...

i'd think some bales of straw would work pretty good...

 

[SDC]

Water can definitely cause a ricochet; for that matter, almost ANYTHING has a potential for causing a ricochet, if you hit it at a shallow enough angle. Logs and earth usually do a pretty good job of absorbing impacts, though.

 

[Old Pa]

Hitting a hard smooth surface at a glancing angle causes the bullet to ricochet rather than break up. Water and other liquids look very hard to a bullet at speed. High BC will, of course cause the bullet to preserve velocity longer on a ricochet as well.

 

[mete]

Use hollow points they ricochet less. 22s also deflect easily that is why they are dangerous when you are shot with one. You never know where in the body they will end up. I had a 22 hit and kill a woodchuck ,deflect 45 degrees then exit the 'chuck.

 

[Glamdring]

Water, glass, metal are real bad to shoot at.

 

[Jim K]

I have seen .38 wadcutters bounce off hard wood; I have no doubt a .22 would do the same. Shooting straight into soft dirt or sand is about the only way to eliminate the possibility of a ricochet.

Jim

 

[Moparmike]

Its not .22...

Its going to be 8mm Mauser. I just want to make sure that I aint going to have 154 grains of lead or steel or nickel/stuff coming back at me when I shoot.

Thanks,

 

[bernie]

Believe it or not, dirt causes a fair amount of ricochets. Only very loose sand or soil is what I would consider recoil resistant. Usually earth will send them up, not back.

 

[Kcustom45]

I have had .22's ricochet in wood. I think the problem I had was that one hit a bullet that was already lodged in the wood. I'm not sure if that was actually what happened, but that is what it looked like to me.

 

[Preacherman]

Even the berms on shooting ranges can cause problems... I was on one range up in New Hampshire (forget which one) where they were busy with a front-end-loader removing all the berms and replacing them with new soil. Apparently the old berms had become so saturated with bullets behind the targets that they were no longer absorbing shots, but richocheting them all over the place, to the distress of the shooters!

 

[blue86buick]

i've often wondered what happens to all taht lead going into the dirt...i wonder if they sift out the bullets to reclaim/recycle them when replacing a berm.