Video .50 BMG Ricochet
Published by Ninth Stage June 30th, 2007 in Guns, Shooting.Guy shooting a .50 bounces one off a steel plate and shoots himelf in the ear-muffs.
You can even hear the ricochet zinging back.
Via Accurate Shooter where they say “That’s why you should only shoot low-velocity rounds with soft lead or frangible bullets when shooting at relatively close range.” That might be true if you’re shooting at low velocity but if you’ve ever shot much action pistol you know that low velocity is dangerous with hard-cast lead and jacketed bullets.
Two things that are most important for safe steel shooting are high quality un-cratered steel targets and enough velocity to shatter the bullet on impact.
A crater in a steel target is a disaster waiting to happen. When hit with a bullet, a crater acts like a lens focusing a lead and jacket-fragment jet back towards the shooter. I’ve seen a rifle shooter lay open a 10″ long gash in his forearm after shooting a piece of scrap steel at 100 yards. I’ve been hit in the head, drawing blood, by lead jets while RO’ing a pistol match on good steel some ass had cratered with a rifle. Don’t shoot at steel of unknown provenance and don’t shoot at steel with craters in the impact surface.
Hard-cast lead and FMJ bullets are another problem. A 200 grain bullet in a .45 ACP or .40 S&W shooting 5pf over major is going only 850fps. This is not usually a problem on fixed steel but poppers and plates are made to fall when hit. A nice square hit on a popper is not usually a problem but a second hit, while the popper (or plate) is falling, can result in an intact bullet bouncing off the plate into the sky. I’ve seen a 200 grain H&G 68 hit the ground between me and the plate and do a little dance in the dirt. I’ve had 200 grain .40 FMJ TC bullets fall at my feet with an audible “thump.” That’s part of the game but, if you can, avoid shooting slow bullets at falling steel.
FWIW, a friend of mine builds steel training systems for the DOE, NASA and other alphabet agencies. For his advertising brochure he set up a steel target at one yard and emptied a belt from an M60 into it. Bullet fragments everywhere but no ricochets.
I still have a scar on my thumb from hitting a cratered plate with a 180 grain jacketed bullet in .40 S&W. I keep on shooting but the following magazine change was pretty sloppy from all the blood leaking on the magazine.
For all I know I still have a scar on my forehead, but I gave up looking at myself years ago.
My last bloody mag change was while shooting a G19. I pinched the web of my hand between the gun and basepad. Hurt good at that moment but I didn’t notice the blood until I’d finished the stage. Nest time I’ll use G17 mags or stick to my 1911.