Broke a safety rule today

A

AL45

New member
A friend has a shooting range on his land and he lets a few people shoot at it. The target consists of a a couple of sheets of plywood held up by three 4 x4 posts that we staple our paper targets to. Behind this is a large pile of dirt. Today, we started with shooting .22 LR pistols and rifles when suddenly there was a riccochette back in our direction. Thankfully no one was hit. We immediately stopped and my Wife walked behind the targets to investigate. Someone had tossed two car shocks and a small metal plate behind the targets, half way up the pile of dirt. I can't help but believe that someone did it on purpose trying to cause trouble, because there would be no other reason to do this since you can't even see them from where you shoot from. Safety rule #4, always know your target and what is beyond it. I won't make that mistake again.
 
tossed two car shocks and a small metal plate behind the targets, half way up the pile of dirt. I can't help but believe that someone did it on purpose trying to cause trouble, because there would be no other reason to do this since...
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Bah! Slobs do things with no rhyme or reason. It's a total waste of time trying to figure out some rational reason for what they do and it gives them undeserved credit for even having any reasoning ability.

The lowest common denominators are really disheartening.
 
Have to agree with Dale.
Stupid is far more common than evil.

I can't imagine how anyone would plan a ricochet using a shock absorber.

I do not condone the practice of using junk for targets and then not cleaning up.
But fact is,people do.

Eye protection is a really good idea. Good no one was hurt.
 
People are just plain lazy ! I have found that to be true at about every private range I have been to, where multiple people have access. I have a range similar to what you are talking about, but I have steel targets also. I find paper targets, cardboard, paint cans, etc.. on a regular basis. People go there to shoot with good intentions, but when they are done...they just leave their crap there. I doubt this type of behavior can ever be cured.
 
Targets that obscure the backstops are a bad idea.
If the actual backstop can't be clearly seen at all times, there's no telling what might be there.
At a match, barricades were blocking being able to see the actual backstop.
A little girl was playing about half way up the dirt bank behind a little bush.
No one saw her go up there or where she came from.
Yikes, that caused a rethinking of how future matches were conducted.
A clear view of where the bullets actually go is mandatory for safety.
 
A clear view of where the bullets actually go is mandatory for safety.
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Reminds me of a match I was shooting in with high grass (in a short area of low ground) behind the targets.
You could see the impacts on the berm though.

Using a 36X scope, I was shooting for group. Since one always sights the rifle to impact
slightly off point of aim to maintain a precise aiming point, I glanced at the group while
getting ready to fire when I saw movement through the group on the target.

When I looked up from the scope I saw a doe emerge from directly behind the target.
Called a cease fire, but it was a close call.
That range situation has since been remedied.

JT
 
Chance of ricochet is always there, and I've found that .22 is one of the worst. Problem is it's low velocity makes for "bouncing back". This, most of the time, is created by a flat surface that is perpendicular to the shooter and not by something curved or at an angle to the shooter. If the junk articles were responsible for the "bounce back" directly towards the shooter and were not readily seen behind the targets, then the bullet would have had to "bounce back" thru the target backer. Having seen .22 "bounce back" because of rocks in the berm, I'd be just as suspicious of them. I've also seen .22 "bounce back" when hitting bolts or large headed nails sometimes used in target stands, especially those that allow some movement when hit.

I'm not saying the "junk" was not responsible for the "bounce back", just that I'd consider all the possibilities before coming to a conclusion. Any thing hard in the berm is a hazard and folks depositing junk in one is foolish even if doing harm(causing trouble) is not the reason. I'd talk to the landowner and make sure he knows about the junk and see if he may know who's responsible. Odds are it's someone he knows that just didn't know any better. I don't use anything flat in my target stands anymore because of "bounce back", not only from .22, but from low velocity handgun ammo. I use round posts and pipe instead of 4x4s and angle iron/steel. Plates are always hung at an angle that direst ricochets to the ground. I use the least amount of fasteners I can when attaching plywood to posts and use screws with small heads instead of lags and spikes. I also insist everyone use eye protection....everytime. Even when one makes the best attempt to eliminate ricochets and "bounce back", shoot enough and it will still happen. Glad to hear no one was hurt.
 
This is interesting. Yesterday I went to the indoor range I'm a member of. No one there, just as I like it. All the target backers were at 7 yards, so I took one down and moved it to 25 yards. Got one mag shot and a bunch of people came in. They stapled up targets and we all started shooting again. When the time came to check / change targets, I walked down to the 25 yard line, changed my target, turned and my jaw dropped. I could not see anyone there, and I'm sure they could not see me. Vision was block by the cardboard target backers at 7 yards. Needless to say I got back behind the firing line fast. I didn't walk back down to change my target until everyone else left. Bad things could happen.
 
That is goofy. Just when you think you've heard and seen everything something like this pops up.

I must say I never would have considered this to be a problem...I'd be down range fat dumb and happy messing with my target while everyone else was loading up to shoot.
 
Probably a midnight dump run by some nefarious scalawags, hiding the junk behind the targets just so it could not be seen.
 
Regardless whether or not there was malice involved or not, thank you OP for sharing this story. It's a good reminder for us all to be alert.
 
Years ago my dog and I found ourselves in the line of fire by two guys sighting in their deer rifles. Their rounds were going through the paper targets, then through the rotted tree they were nailed to, then at me. I was yelling and screaming "don't shoot" over and over. Since they had rifles and I only had a camera to shoot with, I was very polite.
 
I can't think of a single range where I have shot that had clear penetrable targets that would allow me to be able to see where the bullet goes when I shoot the target, not a one.
 
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