shooting steel targets with .22LR - any experts out there?

NoSecondBest said:
They need to move freely and have a flat, unblemished surface to guarantee safety.
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You were a safety engineer and you believe that you can guarantee someone's safety if they shoot a lead projectile at over 1000 FPS at smooth, flat, swinging steel?

I'm glad you weren't in my group.
 
25 ft is not too close, if certain criteria are met...

1st... the plate should be angled towards the ground... plates that tip over, direct the bouncing bullet upwards, if you are shooting knock over or reactive steel, you should back up...

2nd... the steel should ideally be ( AR ) abrasion resistant ( 500 seems to be the right number ) or be replaced as soon as the surface gets dented, or cratered... ( a 22 LR, as stated by the OP, is likely fine with a good thick piece of regular steel ) if the bullet strikes the bottom of an existing crater, it can direct the bullet upwards, back at the shooter... if it strikes the side of the crater, it can bounce them back at a sideways angle

3rd... ideally soft lead bullets should only be used when shooting steel... IMO, plated bullets, in center fire, & copper washed 22 bullets are usually fine... hard alloy cast bullets, & jacketed bullets should be avoided...

4th...eye protection with side shields should always be worn when shooting steel...

5th... reduced loads should be used when shooting close range steel... the extra power is not needed to get the bullet to 25 ft, & the plates will last longer... for semi autos, loads should be kept to a minimum that will reliably cycle the gun...

I've shot a lot of CAS stages, often at as short a distance as 10ft... directing the bullets down, in combination with lighter loadings in CAS revolvers, I've never witnessed a serious injury... I have seen big old hunks of lead roll out of shooting stages before, the ones I've witnessed, I'd suspect were hard cast, & at least 2 of the incidences I can think of, were shot out of black powder guns, where lighter loads are not often practical... I can't tell you how many times I've been hit by lead shot, bounced off of a shotgun knock down target, because of the shot being directed upwards, during the plate's falling down... if you angle that plate towards the ground, it'll greatly reduce bullet bounce back

if these certain safety tips aren't adhered to, the chance for injuries is greatly increased... I remember seeing a video of a guy shooting a 50 Browning, at some unremembered long distance range, that was hit by a ricochet, & that was at least several 100 yards away
 
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Life can be dangerous. If we wanted to strip all the risk from our ventures, I'd recommend -NOT- driving a motor vehicle on public roadways to get to the place where you shoot steel targets. If you do that, you'll have easily removed (BY FAR) the greatest risk to danger out of the equation.
 
...I dislike the fouling from lead-only bullets [.22 Rim Fire], so I would prefer to shoot the copper-plated stuff...
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I have never seen any lead-fouling in any .22 Rim Fire I have ever owned. The only fouling I have seen, even from extensive shooting, is from the burned powder/primer. If you are using copper-plated ammo in a .22 Rim Fire to escape "fouling", I think you are wasting your time. If your gun actually "leads", you likely have a rough bore.
 
I have never seen any lead-fouling in any .22 Rim Fire I have ever owned. The only fouling I have seen, even from extensive shooting, is from the burned powder/primer. If you are using copper-plated ammo in a .22 Rim Fire to escape "fouling", I think you are wasting your time. If your gun actually "leads", you likely have a rough bore.
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My Ruger SR-22 fouls badly without FMJ it's had several thousand rounds through it and the barrel seems fine to me.

About splatter, it's not much of an issue really I mount mine like this;

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You can adjust the angle by adjusting the backing nut. It works very well and the target is free to move and ring.
 
My question is, what about "copper plated" 22 LR ammo? I dislike the fouling from lead-only bullets, so I would prefer to shoot the copper-plated stuff --
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I have never owned, seen, heard of a .22 LR that fouled the barrel with lead when firing lead (not copper plated), ammo. Now, if someone else has experienced leading in a .22 RF, please post your experience here.
 
I too have been hit. 22lr. Not very high velocity coming back, but it wasn't fun anyways. Think the target was at just over 15 yards. Pitted backstop at a decent angle. I imagine the bullet came off the backstop and hit the floor then hit me. Indoor range with about 15 shooters, so no idea who it was that shot it. For all I know someone hit a wall or something though.
 
I have never owned, seen, heard of a .22 LR that fouled the barrel with lead when firing lead (not copper plated), ammo. Now, if someone else has experienced leading in a .22 RF, please post your experience here.
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Oh... yes, it can happen... back 15 years or so ago, my buddies & I used to get together on weekends, & shoot dueling trees with our 22 semi auto handguns... it was not uncommon for me, since I hosted the shoots, to shoot 500 rounds on Saturday, & another 500 on Sunday...

my gun of choice, is / was a Ruger Gov. Target Model with a dot scope... I almost always used the copper plated bullets, & usually cleaned Sunday, or early the following week... one week, the local gun store, was out of my regular Federal bulk packs, & I bought a couple bricks of Remington Thunderbolts... shot like normal the following Saturday, but midway through the 2nd brick on Sunday, my groups started going so bad, I was missing 1/2 the time, I went to a target, & groups had opened to like 6" at 50ft... I sprayed the gun down, & started to push a brush through the barrel, & got the brush stuck after finally getting the brush un-stuck, when all the lead was removed, I was literally pealing it out of the rifling, I could have made up a whole new lead 22 bullets with what came out of the barrel...

... went back to copper washed bullets, & never had that issue again...

I'll shoot hard cast in my center fires, ( actually preferred ) but the soft lead used in 22 bullets IMO, needs a harder metal, even if it's just plated ( or washed ) to keep the lead out of the barrel for fast action shooting
 
If there is a crappier .22LR product on the market that is worse (in every respect) to Remington Thunderbolt, I've yet to hear of it.
 
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