Plinking Safely

[Hallucinator]

Just read a thread about the experience of being shot and noticed that a few people had been hit by ricochettes. I think that we should talk about safety rules for plinking and using targets other than paper. Anybody have feedback on this one? The outdoor range I go to doesn't allow anything other than paper targets, and forbids people from using rocks to steady the target stands. But what about just wandering around in a field plinking?

 

[Justme]

But what about just wandering around in a field plinking?

Haven't done that since I was 10. I was once out "plinking" with a 28gauge shotgun and decided to shoot some hedge apples that my brother threw in the air. In one of those "how did that happen" moments I accidently killed a squirrel, not in season. My dad was not sympathetic, to say the least. I got the most horrible lecture about little baby squirrels starving to death because I shot their mommy. Since then I have been more careful of background.

 

[Shooters Plus]

I was out at one of our public outdoor ranges about 3 months ago. It's actually an old gravel pit that the locals have turned into a place to shoot. I was on the back side of it plinking away with my new Kimber and noticed I kept hearing something that sounded like .22 bullets whizzing by me and hitting the trees off to the left of me. When I drove in I had noticed a couple of guys shooting .22's so I got in my truck and drove around there. I asked them what they were shooting at and they pointed at their target, so I walk over and they had their target taped to a piece of 1/4" steel plate and was shooting at it from an angle thus what I was hearing was their .22 bullets ricocheting and whizzing by me.

 

[Night Watch]

It's been a long long time since I walked around plinking with a 22 rifle. The world's a lot more crowded, now, than when I was a boy.

Typical range rules include not putting centerfire rifle targets on the ground, and not shooting at steel from closer than 25 yards. (Which is what the warning label on many steel plate targets actually says!)

Today, I'm happy with paper targets; I especially like cardboard silhouettes. My interest is in shooting tight groups rather than in seeing things break or explode.

 

[chris in va]

I got hit by something for the first time last weekend. Friend and I were shooting our x39 rifles at targets 60 yards off when I felt something tag my left leg. I always wear eye protection, my friend does not. After that, he conceeded wearing glasses.

 

[tony pasley]

Plinking safety is the same as range safety, and firearm handling safety in general. Muzzle control, knowing your target, what is behind your target. You own the bullet ubtil it stops, you are libel for where it stops. Plinking, training, or any time you handle a firearm it is safety first last and always, 1 lasp can kill. I use a watermelon to teach firearm safety, once I shoot the melon I send the children down to put the watermelon back together. This teach that once a trigger is pulled you can never change what happens.

 

[X-RAY]

Wasen't Exactly Walking Arround Plinking but.....

Do some "plinking" in my yard with an old 42+ yr old Glenfield mod 10 using 22lr CB's. I shoot into an area that has a dirt birm to the left, the base of a huge pine tree as a backstop, and 1.25 miles of woods to the right. There is an in-ground pool elevated to the left of the dirt birm. While cleanning the pool one day I noticed a small object that I coulden"t pick up with the vac. Turned out to be a .22 bullet that was the same as what i was shooting, but showed no signs of riccochet Looked real close with a loop but could see no deformity to the soft lead.

 

[red-rider]

I have had little bits of jacket material stick in my arm, richochets from steel plates during ISPC shooting. Yes, we have and follow rules concerning steel targets in relation to the minimum distance to shoot them.

Please folks, Always wear your eye and ear protection! Stay safe.

 

[azsixshooter]

Several months ago I was shooting out in the desert with a friend. There was this old, really heavy industrial-looking fire extinguisher out there (already empty and shot-up). When I stood it up and shot it with my 9mm's they just dented it, but the 158gr .357 Magnums penetrated easily (through both sides). My friend shot it a few times with an AK-47 and it tipped over with the bottom plate facing towards us. I shot at this new, smaller target and my round hit right on the edge of the sidewall. We were probably about 25 yards or so back, but I took a piece of something in my left forearm. It's still in there and I can feel the lump pretty deep under the tissue. The entry wound was small, about the same diameter as the top of a push-button pen is. It doesn't really bother me until it gets cold out and then it gets kind of sore. I should probably get some x-rays taken or something, but I don't have insurance right now and like I said, it doesn't really hurt.

When that happened, I think the bullet ricocheted back and down into the dirt towards me because I caught some light spray in the face too. I was very glad I was wearing safety glasses or I might have suffered more damage. I'm sure glad that chunk-of-whatever-stuck-in-my-arm didn't hit me in the face or nuts and I'm glad it hit me instead of my friend. He wasn't wearing safety glasses, even though I had offered him my spare set.

My plinking is now limited to soda cans, plastic bottles and expended shotgun shells, but I still realize the dangers and try to set things up in as safe a manner as possible.

 

[azsixshooter]

Here's the bastid, I forgot I took a bunch of pics of it. IIRC, the big hole in the low center is a .357, the big dent near the top could have been a 9mm, but even when shooting more towards the middle the 9mm wasn't penetrating so I stopped shooting those at it for fear of a ricochet (ironically enough).