Ricochet danger

[BlackbirdPS]

Hi Folks,

Today shooting at a container port. Weren’t many birds so practiced on the letters on the side of the containers.

so I’m bench shooting on a concrete block, target is 65 yards level shot. 25g jsb, 910 fps. 
Make a shot then feel a tap on the shoulder! The lousy flattened pellet! See photo 

65 yards! Man we have to be careful.

km

 

[PumaCarl]

That's good to know! I would never have thought that the soft lead of a JSB would fly that far back. I guess that's why shooting glasses are always a good idea. Thanks for sharing this.

Edit: I should have completed the thought that that I would have not been surprised if he was using Benjamin domes, they're really hard. BB's, as a kid, were all over the place too!

 

[scotton]

I've had golf balls send pellets back at me shooting 177.

The worst ricochets were from shooting at bad shotgun shells (reloading errors, usually bad crimps). Had a few occasions where the pellet would hit the primer and cause the shell to launch towards us as it ignited. At 25-50 yards, it wasn't as scary as it sounds but after a few zings going overhead we decided that we were acting like Florida Man and went back to shooting safer targets.

 

[JimNM]

+1 to be aware. It does not take any FPE to knock out your eye. For general purposes, I do not shoot perpendicular to hard surfaces target. Swingers and plates are off set at least 10 degrees to throw splatter in the safest direction possible.

I have caught splatter from our service weapons while on the qualifications range. The guy two lanes down hit the support plate and I got some hot reminders of why eyes and ears are required. Added a bit of realism, yeah?

 

[AG72]

Back in the 80's me and a friend where shooting inside a barn @ some varius targets and I thought as a joke i should take a pellet in my hand and fool my friend that i have been shot in my stomach, i did so and when he shot @ the target i bendt forwards moaning saying i been shot, he looked @ me kinda shocked and i kept doing my Oscarnominee worthy acting, then opened up my hand to show him the pellet and when i did there was 2 pellets in my hand... One flat and one unused, so i had realy been shot in my stomach, without me notice the impact, i was lucky it didn't hit me in the eye when i bendt forward, great timing... 

 

[bandg]

This fall I was shooting at a 55 gallon barrel. One shot hit on the top side of one of the raised stiffening ridges that run around the barrel. Several seconds later the pellet landed on top of my shooting bench. Apparently it went a long way upwards and then fell. They can cover quite a distance.

 

[qball]

Great thread to remind us these are not toys and need to be really careful. had a few incidents myself and fortunately no damage but did remind me even at low power I need to treat them with respect.



1. really low power or less than 5 FPE, hit the wood on my pellet trap funny and the 177 pellet bounced straight back over 20 yards! Even at low power still can take out an eye easy.

2. Medium power or .25 hades @ 25 fpe on a skunk, zipped right through and bounced back from hitting the metal fence post. Heard it bounce back 25 yards with a bang hitting something in my neighbors yard, never do that again. This is why I only shoot 177 at low power in my yard now. 


3. target shooting with slugs and can hear the ricochet all the time and occasionally hear the slug hit another tree or branch far away with force.