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Posted: 2/4/2010 11:11:01 AM EDT
| When I am shooting and my backstop is a simple dirt berm, what is happening to the bullets? Are they hitting the berm and being flung upwards with reduced velocity? Do they bury themselves on impact? Do they explode into a trail of fire and fly back into the past? Thanks. |
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Quoted:
If there are no rocks in the berm, and the berm is fairly close to being vertical (not a gently rounded hill) then the bullets just bury themselves. so assuming it tapers to a smaller point at the top with a sloped wall, i should assume the bullets will fly upwards. do they lose a lot of velocity? or are they still significantly dangerous... |
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Quoted:
Yup.
I've seen plenty of tracers fly into the night sky off a berm. There are a lot of factors in play. For the average berm with no rocks most bullets will stay in the berm, a few will escape. A properly designed berm will keep a much higher percentage of bullets from flying. ETA - the bullets that do fly are still significantly dangerous - as in I sure don't want to get hit by one. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
If there are no rocks in the berm, and the berm is fairly close to being vertical (not a gently rounded hill) then the bullets just bury themselves. so assuming it tapers to a smaller point at the top with a sloped wall, i should assume the bullets will fly upwards. yes it's possible for them to deflect upward with a sloped hill. do they lose a lot of velocity? or are they still significantly dangerous...
Depends on many factors. Having a round leave the berm is a BAD thing. It' means you've lost control and it can come down on an innocent person. Set up your backstop to contain ALL the bullets (not just 'most' of them). |
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I generally wont return to a range where the target stands place the bulk of bullet impacts too far above the lowest third of the berm. IE, if the berm is 6', I prefer that the majority of rounds land around 2' from ground level.
I'm not saying that I won't shoot above the lowest third, I just like the added security. |
Most bullets i have dug up from my berm are either in pieces or are whole with some degree of expansion or deformity. We shoot from 10 yards to 900 yards. I shoot .22LR, 22 mag, .223/5.56, .308, 25-06, 300 WSM, .338 Lapua, 300 Weatherby, 38spl, .40 SW, 45ACP and .44mag. As stated above there are a lot of factors. There are 0 rocks or debris in my berm. That being said i have still had richochets even from low hits. They are rare but happen. This usually causes you to momentarily hold your breath in anticipation I keep the face of the berm pretty straight and all my target stands are no more than 6 feet tall. Berm is about 12 feet high.
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