Forums » Handgund: General Discussion

• ed46

  

  • 4 posts
   

  May 11, 2011 10:37:22 AM PDT

  Do bullets really ricochet? Can they come straight back and hit the shooter? What do bullets do when they hit a metal plate? We've all seen photos of fired bullets that are deformed but intact. Yet, I have experienced shooting steel plates next to paper targets, and the paper targets being shreaded, apparently from the bullets hitting the steel and splatering. Not ricocheting or just deforming. What is your experiencing with ricocheting bullets?

• JimBianchi

  

  • 15 posts
   

  September 5, 2011 6:36:52 PM PDT

  I have been tagged in the legs by ricochets a few times. Usually it is just a bullet fragment or jacket, never the whole bullet. It has drawn blood a few times, but nothing serious.
• EdPierce

  

  • 19 posts
   

  September 5, 2011 10:57:27 PM PDT

  I have been tagged as well while at the range during club shooting matches. I don't know if it was a bullet ricochet or a small rock kicked up. At organized matches we are allowed to shoot into the side berms. This is where I think rocks might get kicked up. Just guessing.
• PeteRensing

  

  • 5 posts
   

  October 3, 2011 4:08:53 PM PDT

  Yes full bullets can ricochet and can still travel a long way. Just spend some time on the work party at desert sportsmans collecting trash behind the bays on range 4. Out there u will find full bullets that have found home there. None of them hit a steel plate and most did not come close to the back berms. Most of the time it’s a bullet that hit the ground at a shallow angle and rode the berm out. This is why there is a strict minimum target height at the ranges. Others can strike rocks and who know where there fragments may go. But there has been extensive testing done and after a bullet hits something the velocity is greatly reduced and if is unlikely any major injuries will occure. But keep those safety glasses on at all times.