Posted: 11/17/2008 8:05:57 AM EDT
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Went out to the back yard yesterday for some plinking with the .22. I have a Birchwood Casey steel swinging target. I figured it was safe enough because the plate is angled to deflect bullets downward, and the soft lead .22s splatter when they hit. I've shot this target thousands of times from ranges of 10 yds to 100 yds, and figured it was safe enough.
I was wrong. 
I was shooting my S&W pistol from the 25 yd mark and took a ricochet to the head––clipped my eye protection and hit just above my right eyebrow. I actually saw it coming back at me after the shot impacted on the top edge of the swinger. No blood or bruising, and I could probably throw a bullet harder than this one came back at me. Just a left a little red lump, and scared the ever-lovin' shit out of me. It's the first time something like this has happened to me in over 30 years of shooting. Literally speaking, hundreds of thousands of rounds fired without a problem––but this is why safety gear and common sense are necessary.....it's the one in a million ricochet shot that screws up your whole day.
I was using my eye protection. Anybody know where I can buy some Common Sense? |
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Not much you can do. You were wearing eye protection.
Shooting IDPA, it's always the little silhouettes that are bad about ricochets and spall coming back at you. Shooting the 4.5" x 3" silhouettes is guaranteed to send lead back your way. As long as you're wearing the appropriate protective gear you've got nothing to worry about. |
| We were shooting m16's with .22lr conversion kits in them during one of the milsci courses I took in college on the 25 yrd indoor range. I had already shot my string and was leaning against a table about 10' behind the firing line when I heard a sharp crack above my head and a lighter one behind me. I turned around and there was a flattened out chunk of .22 sitting on top of the table. It had ricocheted off the bullet trap, the ceiling, and thudded onto the table. |
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Quoted:
Okay Colt45guy, now you've done it. I'm not so confident in my Wal-mart orange eye protection. So how much am I going to have to shell out for eyeware that is rated & hopefully tested for impact protection? About $8 for anything ANSI approved from Uvex. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Okay Colt45guy, now you've done it. I'm not so confident in my Wal-mart orange eye protection. So how much am I going to have to shell out for eyeware that is rated & hopefully tested for impact protection? About $8 for anything ANSI approved from Uvex. Hmm well i guess the ones i own are rated for at least 150ft/sec protection. They are labeled Z87. Branded with the Smith & Wesson name. |
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I've been hit twice, once in the neck and once in the temple.
One was a 147 gr Hydrashok jacket that stuck in the left side of my neck at an indoor range. The other time was a fragment of a 7.62 X 39 that scratched me and drew some blood from my temple while I was shooting out doors at 100 yards. |
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