I think I got hit by a ricochet

[Big_Red]

I was at the range yesterday shooting, among other things, my Walther PPK/S .380. I was shooting it at steel plates on the pistol range. The range is fairly short (15 - 20 yards). I had gone through several mags when all of a sudden, after firing one of the last shots, I felt a sharp pain on the front of my right thigh. At first I thought that I got hit by an empty case but they all go to the right and slightly in front of me (6 - 8 feet) so that didn't make sense. I didn't think much of it for the rest of the morning. Later that day I was taking a shower an noticed a red and purple welt in the same spot that hurt at the range.

Call me crazy but I think that it was a ricochet.

 

[ephemeratta]

No doubt. If you shoot plates, eventually, some chunk will reach out and touch you.

 

[doobie]

I had a ricochet on steel plates at HSC once. I'm glad I had safety glasses on; it was to my face. I felt a shape pain as if someone stuck a needle in my forehead. It lasted a pretty short time, but I had tiny amount of blood.

 

[CRSIII]

Man, you been shot! Maybe just the jacket? You are indeed lucky, it could have been your forehead. Explain that to you co-workers. Then again, at 20' if it was the slug, you might not have to explain anything ever again!
Glad your OK.

 

[pipmaster1971]

I had a ricochet on steel plates at HSC once. I'm glad I had safety glasses on; it was to my face. I felt a shape pain as if someone stuck a needle in my forehead. It lasted a pretty short time, but I had tiny amount of blood.

Something like that happened to me. Except this was a hot spent cartridge that made a perfect bloody circle on my forehead. I was amazed that it could eject and hit me with such force.

 

[depicts]

Yeah, it's nice to use some soft lead and a bit of distance shooting steel plates.

Not to frighten any new shooters, but eye and ear protection are used for a reason. There are particles of powder or lead that might touch you. You have to watch all your safety practices, and be smart and careful.

There is a reason shooting is one of the safest and least injury prone of sports... we follow the 4 Rules of gun safety.

 

[Admin]

No doubt. If you shoot plates, eventually, some chunk will reach out and touch you.

+1 As long as you are wearing eye protection I always say getting hit back is good training.

 

[joemcg]

Jacket material can fly for up to 50 yards given the right conditions, so make sure everyone on the line is protected. Those guys yakking away 10+ benches away can still be struck by this stuff.

 

[Devils Paintbrush]

Not all that uncommon while shooting steel plates. I have been hit a number of times. Our club started slightly angling the plates to avoid a square hit richochet, or getting hit with pieces of the jacket. Seems to work pretty well.

Be glad you weren't this guy. This is an old one but a good one if you haven't seen it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ABGIJwiGBc

 

[Supermoto]

If you shoot plates that are not perfectly smooth, then you will get alot of splash back. The main problem is people shooting rifles at steel plates, they chip the steel, then we you shoot pistol rounds at the steel close up, you get hit.

 

[MichaelJ]

Not all that uncommon while shooting steel plates. I have been hit a number of times. Our club started slightly angling the plates to avoid a square hit richochet, or getting hit with pieces of the jacket. Seems to work pretty well.

Be glad you weren't this guy. This is an old one but a good one if you haven't seen it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ABGIJwiGBc

That is one of my favorites.

 

[Mikey]

Same thing happened to me probably at the same range as you Big_Red. I pulled out a nice chunk of steel that went right up my sleeve as I had my arms out straight shooting.

 

[jamz]

I only shot steel plates for one season, and got hit plenty of times.

 

[MassMark]

Though not a steel plate story, it's close. In my younger and more mentally challenged days, I picked up my very first 1911. It was a USGI mixmaster special - patina city - I loved it. One of the first days I owned it, I was shooting at a make-shift garbage heap at the end of an abandoned road. I shot at the bottom of a hot water heater, (too stupid to know those things are thick on the bottom). The hardball zinged right back and "thwaped" my pant leg, missing flesh but scaring the crap out of me...I started figuring out all those neat safety rules then...

 

[clinotus]

That'll buff right out.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Happens a lot when shooting steel plates at the Hopkintons Sportsman's Club indoor pistol range. On Wedneday nights during the winter months, they do USPSA practice there and sometimes steel plate races. Guarenteed that you will be hit by some kind of flying metal during the night.

 

[packingungal]

That'll buff right out.

We are off to another heartless week...

 

[K-DUB]

Something like that happened to me. Except this was a hot spent cartridge that made a perfect bloody circle on my forehead. I was amazed that it could eject and hit me with such force.

That happened to me once at MRA. After the bleeding stopped & I got a look at myself, it was kind of funny to look at.

 

[Ma$$hole]

Can't really say I'm too proud of this but... Took my Mossberg 500 out to some farm lands and decided to take some of my first shots with the gun into a wheel barrel to feel it out. Well after about the 4th round i noticed something hit me right below the eye. It was a piece of shot and i guess there was a rock on the ground and it must have bounced off it and back at my face. Learned my lesson quick...

 

[6hold]

I must also unceremoniously join the ricochet club. My wound was to the forehead as I was in the midst of the timed-fire stage of a gallery course match. Thank God it was with 22 LR ammo that was being used. It was more of a “spit-back” than a ricochet as far as I’m concerned.

The medal plate backstop on that particular range was not that hard and was always getting pock marked by some members that were using high-powered jacketed ammo, against club policy. They had someone come in every so often and weld-up the craters but that night someone’s bullet caught a bullet crater and part of it came journeying back toward the competitors.

I didn’t feel any pain I just felt a click like if you tapped a tooth with a fork while eating. The click must have been the sliver of lead hitting my scull. I knew that it couldn’t be much and was used to occasionally getting a hot ejected shell landing on my arm or caught between my collar and neck so you’re used to not flinching while shooting.

I finished the timed fire stage, made my gun safe and gave a wave to the range officer to come over. At this time I could feel a trickle of blood running down my forehead and when the competitor next to me turned around his eyes popped open and he blurted out, “You’ve been shot!” I laughed and said no I just got a sliver of lead from a back splatter, nothing more.

When I pulled out the sliver of lead from my forehead it was little more than paper thin and shaped like a wedge. I’m just glad it wasn’t half of a 38 special imbedding itself in my scull!

 

[drew]

cudos to the four safety rules comment, cudos to the safety equipment comment as well... if you shoot at steel close up, your bound to get hit with something... The angle idea works pretty good though.....cudos to that...

 

[PistolPete]

I got hit last year really hard from a ricochet and I was cut pretty badly. Getting some spatter happens all the time and that's why we require a minimum distance for steel.

 

[hminsky]

I was shooting next to the pistol area at our club and a someone was shooting a hanging steel plate. A jagged flattened piece of lead hit the bench I was at and embedded in the wood. I try not to be near those plates anymore when people are shooting.

 

[Dick]

We seem to get a few of these incidents every year during the Bullseye league season, in spite of shooting only at paper and often with barriers of some sort (e.g., homasote or carpeting) between the targets and the steel backstop. As 6hold said, it's likely due to irregularities in the backstop. All the ones I've seen personally are only a small shard of lead and they don't come back with enough force to do any real damage, though they often draw blood. Reason enough for both shooters and spectators to never enter a range without first donning the shooting glasses (and muffs and, increasingly, respirator).

 

[Supermoto]

I got hit last year really hard from a ricochet and I was cut pretty badly. Getting some spatter happens all the time and that's why we require a minimum distance for steel.

That was one of the worst I have seen, that same plate rack got me also. Right off the knee cap. I had a nice stream of blood running down my leg

 

[mark056]

+1 As long as you are wearing eye protection I always say getting hit back is good training.

+1 Spot on !

Mark L.

 

[Noxzema]

I've heard those ricochet "whistles" fly past me in the past. If you can hear them they are close. steel BBs are famous for their richochet, I have been hit many times with BB's. always wear eye protection. In self defense situations though, i'll take my glasses off and put in a mouthguard.

 

[drgrant]

Years ago I had a .45 ACP 230 FMJ bounce off my wrist. It came back at me after bouncing off a piece of ballistic plate glass that was probably almost 2 inches thick.

I was shooting and I felt something like a bee sting on my left hand/wrist. I kept shooting but then the pain increased slightly. I stopped after emptying the mag to see what it was... I pulled up the sleeve on my jacket and I saw a nice circular bruise right near my wrist, and a little blood. I moved my sleeve a bit and the slug fell out onto the ground!!! I picked it up, it was almost completely flat!

I wish I had kept the slug, but for some reason I left it at the range or couldn't find it when I went to leave.

The area where it hit was "stingy" for awhile but it wasn't enough to make me stop my range session. I cleaned up the wound when I got home and that was that.

FWIW the .45 ACP round only left a small pockmark on the front of this glass block. .40 S+W JHPs that I had actually expanded and buried themselves in the first layer. I fired .45 ACP JHPs at the block too, but they did the same thing that ball ammo did.

I had another block which I obliterated with numerous rifles.... they all went right through, although the .308 Win shots actually blew the block apart into chunks. The block was no match for anything resembling a
decently powered rifle bullet.

Needless to say though I won't be shooting at that stuff without taking more precautions, and likely not at that distance anyways.

I should take a pic of the one block I have that is still intact and post it here. It has a few handgun hits in it, and a few rifle holes drilled through it by .730 waters, .35 remington, and a couple 7.62 x 39s. I keep the block around as a visual demonstration of the power difference between the cartridges/platforms.

-Mike

 

[Gaffer]

The very reason the NRA Hunters Pistol moved the chickens for 25M to 40M was that too many competitors and spotters were being hit by fragments of the bullets coming back to the firing line. I would say that anything short of 35M has the possibility of being struck by splash back.

 

[PistolPete]

What's worse than being hit by a ricochet is moving a steel target that is on a hinge and not knowing the target was hinged and lifting the base and crushing your finger.

Mike, if you thought the ricochet injury looked bad you should see my finger. It looks like a purple balloon. I think I'm def. going to lose my fingernail with this as well. Woohoo. At least it's not my trigger finger so it shouldn't affect my shooting at all. HAHA