I got shot at the range

C

cscoios

New member
After shooting I was sweeping up my brass when I got nailed square in the back. I had my back to the range and felt an enormous thud and pain.

All the range lanes were full and everyone was firing, I have no idea who it was. Obviously, it was deflected from the range or trap and sent back towards the booth where I was. I've been hit with little pieces of shrapnel before, but nothing serious like this. It took my breath away. I kept feeling around my back expecting to feel a hole or some blood. I told the range officers about what happened and they said similar incidents have happened before, thats why its so important to wear eye protection. What kinda response it that?

I have to sign a waiver everytime I enter the range- basically that they are not liable in the event something like this happens or you get killed.

When I got home and took my shirt off my wife said the skin was broken and a nice welt in the center of my back. She asked if I wanted body armor for my birthday.

Has this happened to anybody else?
 
Never anything serious like that. Your lucky. I had a reload come back at me once when I was shooting my Taurus .45 Colt revolver in the woods, it bruised my foot. Glad your ok.
 
Sweeping, did you find the spent round

Since the round would have been spent did you find it?
If the area was clean and inside, I would think you would have found the spent round?:confused:

HQ
 
HQ- I didn't think of this until I was driving on the way home. I would have liked to have seen the size of the slug that hit me. I wasn't thinking all that clearly after the incident.

The range was over crowded and at the time my lane was the only one clean. With all the people and extra brass, don't know if I would have found it anyway.

I'm OK, thankfully it didn't hit me in the face or I would have been down on the ground for sure.
 
Not the first time it's happened but

Not the first time it's happened but perhaps it's wise to avoid a crowded range.

It wasn't me but we had a case where somebody who was not shooting stepped onto the range to exchange a few words without eye protection and lost an eye.

I'd look at the range layout for obvious rebound hazards if it has happened repeatedly. I'd worry about lead dust coming back as well. Or I'd try another range.
 
I once got a seriuos richocet back nearby my private parts while we were shooting steel plates. When we do it now, I keep my mouth closed, hoping nothing will hit my face.
 
I have had a piece ricochet off the back stop and actually cut my skin on the left side of my stomach. It actually grazed the left side. Never an entire bullet that was still intact.

Jim
 
I told the range officers about what happened and they said similar incidents have happened before, thats why its so important to wear eye protection. What kinda response it that?
Click to expand...

Actually, it's a pretty fair response. You got hit by a ricochet / bullet splatter. It happens. I've never taken a hit from a full on bullet ricochet, but I don't shoot indoors and don't participate in IPSC/IDPA or other activity that involves close range shooting on metal targets.

What kind of range where you at? Indoors? Do you have metal hangers? If so, someone probably shot one and that's how it came back.

Hollow points tend to split into smaller fragments and that could also have been a contributer to the ricochet.

But, yes, that's why it's important to wear eye protection. Not just for blowback from firearms, but from ricochets from bullets and/or fragments.
 
I was hit in the face just below my glasses by something

It cut my cheek and the bottom of my ear. Some blood a little bruising and a lot of cussing.

The RO commended me on my safety awareness for placing the gun on the table as I was ducking down.
He gave my buddy a little flak for covering me with his as I was tactically crouching near the floor.

I'm still not sure which one of us responded properly
 
Wow, glad to hear you're OK. I packed my gear and walked off the range a week ago as a shooter in the lane next to me was clearly not safe. He had hit the steel buckle that rides the cables a few times and I had seen ricochet off the floor...that was enought for me. Inexperienced yahoo using the biggest range rentals they had, 45. auto and a .44 mag.
 
Wow! I'd have to say this is the first time I have heard of this happening to someone. I was told that weaker powered pistols could not be used for this reason but I never heard about any incidents until now. I'm glad you are okay and that you had your back turned.
 
Last Fall I had the Lake Region Special Incident Unit (the High Risk Entry/SWAT Team I lead) on out on the range. As is our habit, we finished up live fire training with a double elimination competition on the Dueling Tree.

We were shooting from 15 yards, when one of the rounds (180 grain 40 S&W fired from Glocks) bounced back off the steel and struck me in the neck. It felt like Hulk Hogan power chopped me.

Fortunately it had expended a lot of energy on the steel and didn't penetrate. Other than bleeding awhile & leaving a pretty good bruise/burn mark, I was OK. Understandably, I had a difficult time concentrating next round, and didn't shoot very well. SWAT operators being what they are, I got no sympathy from my troops.

It turned out to be a fully intact but deformed bullet, not a fragment. It struck me above the collar of my tac vest and below the lower edge of my helmet, essentially the only area between my belt and top of the head not covered with ballistic protection. We were unable to figure out which part of the tree it struck which caused it to come back as it did.

In all the years I've been shooting, this is the only time anything like this has ever happened to me...
 
NDTerminator,

You are lucky as hell it didn't smack you square in the wind pipe. That could do some serious damage. Forget eyes and ears. I'm going in with a face mask and full body armor! :eek:
 
Yeah, it was pretty scary there for a couple minutes. I knew what happened the second the round hit, and my instant reaction was "*&#@*! This isn't good"!

You would love my guys (I sure do, but I'll never let em' know it). As soon as they ascertained Sarge wasn't going to bleed out on them, they INSISTED, no, DEMANDED I get back on the line! Even my most junior operator (affectionately known as Cannon Fodder), figured the Old Man was vulnerable and could be beaten after being shot!

As I said, lots of sympathy & warmth in this group, God bless every one...:D
 
I have never been hit with a fragment or a ricochet but I have found fully intact bullets not cartridges but bullets by the fireing line. I have also found them on tha shotgun range at work which is seperated (by a six foot wide ten foot high dirt berm with telephone poles encaseing it) from the handun range. Both of the ranges are 25 yards. I still can not figure out how that happens and the found bullets have little or no deformity. I am glad that you guys that got hit are ok. I can only wait for my turn as I spend alot of time on the range coaching and instructing.
 
The closest was at the ranges at Ft. Benning at the Army matches. some os were kicked back on the berm where Rifle competition was chowin down on some MREs when one of the guys standing forward from us got hit with an expended bullet. Stuff was coming from a pistol range over that part of the berm. Couple of guys got some expended bullets and bruises as souviners...
luckily no one was hurt any worse.

I would probably think about going to a new range.

Not so sure a waiver is going to protect them if they have a dangerous conditon and have knowledge of it and dont attempt to fix it.
 
I've gotten naialed up to 25-yards away from the backstop at my club's Indoor Range. I've even had blood drawn while shooting at the 7-yards line (about 10-yards from the backstop).

I'll echo what the ROs at your range said; this is why EVERYONE SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION. Not much you can do.

Look at this video: http://www.break.com/index/targetshot.html
 
The blood letting begins

I worked at a now closed range in WA. The back stop was a knife edge design with a snail decelerator. basically the traps were armor knife edges with traps on about a deg. angle or so. I ran fun shoots on paper and pins and plastic pop bottles. I was the RO on the range and I fallowed the shooter threw every step of the stage right next to them. I was cut on the arms and face about 4 times in 7 mos. I was laid out once with a Rainer ballistics Gr ball rnd. my second found that the shot was square on the knife edge and it bounced strait back. It hit me in the head just above the bill of my hat. The shooter was experienced with my range procedures so he froze and cleared his gun. I made it a point to never set a stage that put a shooter strait in front of a knife edge of a trap. I as well as others on the range ducked a few other frags as well.
good luck and keep em tight.
 
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