Do not shoot yourself

T

TheKlawMan

Moderator
Well I did it! It looks like I actually shot myself, even if I was only grazed along he skin by a pellet from a target load that ricochetted off a steel patterning board.

It is kind of embarassing, and I wasn't going to mention it but posting might save someone from a similar but much more serious incident, say if they were hit in the eye while not wearing eye protection.
 
Many folks pattern their shotguns, not on paper, but at a steel plate, typically about 4' X 4'.

TKM - maybe you were too close.

His experience just reinforces the need for safety glasses. This would happen to metallic shooters as well if they are too close to the steel targets

Hopefully you got your patterning figured out
 
Never again, I learned my lesson

Never again, I learned my lesson. I was shooting a small 22LR pistol and grazed my forefinger with a bullet. It left a nice mark, no blood but scared the heck out of me. I am a lot more careful today. I was lucky.

Lemmon
 
Always - always --- wear eye protection !!! ( and hearing protection ...) ...

Getting hit by a pellet that richochet's off a clay target ...in Skeet or Sporting Clays isn't that uncommon. I've had a couple of occassions where I've ended up with a pellet embedded in an exposed arm and once in the side of my cheek. I've been hit by pellets many other times / and clay target fragments too ...just as a member of a squad.

In all 3 cases where the pellet broke the skin - the targets were relatively close ...but never off of steel either / just a flying clay target ... They sting a little / but a little disinfectant / and a bandaid fix it ...and maybe let it work its way out - or go see a doctor if its pretty deep.
 
Wear eye protection and hope for the best! And stay as far away as possible from backdrops that may ricochet. I pattern my shotguns on cardboard boxes, in part because I'm doing it out in the desert at distances of 3 to 10 meters which might not be allowed on a range.

Years ago, on 2 occasions I went shooting 45 autos with a friend. One time at a public range and one time out in the desert, a slug came back. One landed on the ground right in front of us, the other hit my friend in the arm, like somebody had throw a small rock at him!

Scary.
 
Like oneounce said, it was a steel plate patterning board and I had never used one before. In the future I may back off 5 yards for safety.

It is also possible that, and now that I think of it, moer likely that it wasn't a ricochette off of the patterning board, but off of a clay target. I was shooting from the 16 yard line and shot some birds closer in than I had in the past. Whenever I was hit, I didn't feel it.

I think using the patterning board was great idea andn plan to go at it again this afternoon.

Most importantly, I wanted to emphasize the need for eye protection.
 
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Getting hit by a ricochet could happen any time. If you do stupid things, you may have problems. Shooting a .50 BMG at an apparently soft steel target that close with the target perpedicular to the shooter and you can expect that to happen. The rules of physics and deflection apply at all times. If considered properly, steel is fine to shoot.
 
OMG -- I had to turn off that video when I saw the title. I don't want to see someone hit in the head by a .50 BMG ricochet!

As for patterning, or anything, for that matter at steel... Stand 5 yards further back is your solution? Um, you need to learn how to pattern a shotgun/what that really means as well as maybe stop shooting at steel! As for metal plate shooting, you should not be using jacketed rounds for various reasons.

Gehr
 
I had a .22lr ricochet back and hit me in the shoulder, but luckily it was not going very fast. It did not do anything other than scare me.

Always angle steel targets :)
 
Shot at a steel spare wheel someone discarded in the desert once... Was much younger, .22LR, range of about 2 feet. popZIIIIIING right past my head, little smudged dent in the wheel. What kind of idiot.....

Lesson learned, though, and I know crap like that to teach my kids not to be as dumb as daddy!
 
That shot will bounce back, and it does hurt! I also caught a portion of a .357 lead SWC off of a steel plate a couple years back. Like has been said, those glasses will save you.
 
never heard of a steel plate patterning board...just Googled it, interesting but I doubt Sir Isaac Newton would be using one if he were alive today (i.e., third law of motion). For patterning shot I use plywood and red rosin paper, if close up I put corrugated cardboard behind the paper...I mark shot info on the sheets and use them for comparison...
 
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One of the target pullers thinks it was from a piece of a broken clay target. That would explain why I didn't notice it until a round of trap was shot following using the pattering board. It is hard to imagine going that long without noticing the bleeding if it was from the patterning board. Whichever it was from, it makes a good case for wearing eye protection.
 
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Shooters of pellet guns should ALWAYS wear classes...

20+ yrs ago I was doing some predator control w/ pellet gun, pump up kind. Had 4 or 5 pumps one it. a 22 cal. Thenm intended target was gone. I shot a large oak tree (18" and 40' away) and the next thing I know was the pellet hitting the eavstrough just above my head. yuk..
 
Never liked the thought of shootin steel. Think ill stick to shootin dirt through a peice of paper or cardboard.
Glad your ok and it wasnt worse.
 
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