Bouncing shotgun pellets?
- Thread starter Solitar
- Start date
J
Jeff, CA
Guest
I wouldn't know - I've never thrown a shotgun at a steel target. 
I've taken Front Sight's tactical shotgun class, and this is how they break it down:
3 and 5 yards - bird shot on paper
7 to about 15 yards - bird shot on rocking steel plates. You can feel little bits of lead hitting your face at the closer ranges. It's not bad, about like sand blowing in a stiff wind.
20 to 35 yards - buck shot on steel. Less sandblast effect at this distance.
35 to 50 yards - slugs on paper.
100 yards - slugs on steel. These bounce back about 5 yards or so. You can find them out in front of the targets, shaped like flattened Hershey's kisses.
A guy in the class inadvertently fired a slug on steel from really close - 7 or 10 yards. It put a humongous dent in the plate, and God only knows where it went after that. Luckily, we were shooting from kneeling at the time, so it ricocheted at an upward angle.
I've taken Front Sight's tactical shotgun class, and this is how they break it down:
3 and 5 yards - bird shot on paper
7 to about 15 yards - bird shot on rocking steel plates. You can feel little bits of lead hitting your face at the closer ranges. It's not bad, about like sand blowing in a stiff wind.
20 to 35 yards - buck shot on steel. Less sandblast effect at this distance.
35 to 50 yards - slugs on paper.
100 yards - slugs on steel. These bounce back about 5 yards or so. You can find them out in front of the targets, shaped like flattened Hershey's kisses.
A guy in the class inadvertently fired a slug on steel from really close - 7 or 10 yards. It put a humongous dent in the plate, and God only knows where it went after that. Luckily, we were shooting from kneeling at the time, so it ricocheted at an upward angle.
I think Jeff has it pegged fairly well -- at the ranges we shoot around here, generally nothing bigger than #6 bird is allowed on steel targets, for fear of excessive lead splashback. We do have special targets for slugs but they are generally placed at 25 yards or so for competitions.
Justin
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Justin T. Huang, Esq.
late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Justin
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Justin T. Huang, Esq.
late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
OK, Here's one for ya!
Last year at a Sporting Clays shoot one station had rabbit targets thrown along the ground down a hillside. The rabbit trap launched the clays onto a rubber mat which exended about 50 feet from the trap.
Shooters who were quick were able to take the rabbits while still on the rubber mat, with the results that everyone who was standing around the shooting stand was pelted with shot!. Not hard enough to break skin but quite unpleasant.
The trapper at the stand told us that every group of shooters had the same thing happen. Naturally he did not mention it to new groups of shooters, probably because he delighted in seeing everyone clear out from around the shooting standafter the first shot!
Fortunately everyone in the club is required to wear safety glasses.
The range management got an earfull after that one!
Geoff Ross
Last year at a Sporting Clays shoot one station had rabbit targets thrown along the ground down a hillside. The rabbit trap launched the clays onto a rubber mat which exended about 50 feet from the trap.
Shooters who were quick were able to take the rabbits while still on the rubber mat, with the results that everyone who was standing around the shooting stand was pelted with shot!. Not hard enough to break skin but quite unpleasant.
The trapper at the stand told us that every group of shooters had the same thing happen. Naturally he did not mention it to new groups of shooters, probably because he delighted in seeing everyone clear out from around the shooting standafter the first shot!
Fortunately everyone in the club is required to wear safety glasses.
The range management got an earfull after that one!
Geoff Ross
Oleg, when shotgun pellets (and most bullets) strike a solid object (like a concrete wall) at an angle, they tend to follow the surface of that object very closely.
In other words if they impact the wall at 30 degrees, they will bounce off at a much more shallow angle.
If a "scroat" is shooting around a corner of a building using good cover, it's better to shoot closer to his "protected" side than center of exposed mass.
Not only do bullets skip, they tend to send all sorts of nasty fragments of building material and bullet particles, (jacket/core/etc.), that make it hard for a "perp" to see you (or anything else ever again)!
This rule holds true for both horizontal and vertical surfaces. It's better to error on the side of a hard surface than sending your projectiles into thin air!
Regards! DaMan
[This message has been edited by DaMan (edited August 16, 2000).]
In other words if they impact the wall at 30 degrees, they will bounce off at a much more shallow angle.
If a "scroat" is shooting around a corner of a building using good cover, it's better to shoot closer to his "protected" side than center of exposed mass.
Not only do bullets skip, they tend to send all sorts of nasty fragments of building material and bullet particles, (jacket/core/etc.), that make it hard for a "perp" to see you (or anything else ever again)!
This rule holds true for both horizontal and vertical surfaces. It's better to error on the side of a hard surface than sending your projectiles into thin air!
Regards! DaMan
[This message has been edited by DaMan (edited August 16, 2000).]
Yep, that's the reason for the oft-ignored advice of not crowding your cover! Not only does that present a weapon retention problem if you are sticking your gun out beyond a corner (around which you cannot see), but if you're too close to hard cover in such an instance, a bullet can skip right into you. Stand at least six feet behind hard cover and the skipping bullets will at least have a better chance of missing.
Justin
Justin
I've been hit with a #4 bird pellet that bounced off a target (car). It imbedded itself between the web of my hand between my thumb and forefinger.
Lessons learned? Always wear eye protection! Irregular hard surfaces will send back projectiles in an irregular manner! It's better to error on the side of safety!
Regards! DaMan
Lessons learned? Always wear eye protection! Irregular hard surfaces will send back projectiles in an irregular manner! It's better to error on the side of safety!
Regards! DaMan
At Personal Responsibility's range in Nashville, we prohibit use of buckshot on swinging plates, since generally the pattern breaks down before you can get to a safe distance. We also don't allow use of slugs any closer than 75 yards. By the way, is the moderator the Eric I might have met at the masters rifle class early this year at Gunsite?