Thread: A silly question ... but quite serious really

Originally Posted by Dundee

This was a result of a shotgun ricochet
Attachment 20295

That is just an insurance claim, must have been scratched or leaking!!

basically it can ricochet as far as the rifle can throw it but no further, from there back to you, the connecting with the ground isnt going to increase the bullets speed it will only take away velosity and depending on the surface it connects with will depend on the distance it travels
if it is a low shot and it glances along the surface of a puddle or lake for example a subsonic 22 could easily travel 150m

off dirt it is anyones guess, grass ect who knows

set up a test next to a lake on a calm day, you will soon see the splash on the water where the bullet hits

Originally Posted by Bill999

basically it can ricochet as far as the rifle can throw it but no further, from there back to you, the connecting with the ground isnt going to increase the bullets speed it will only take away velosity and depending on the surface it connects with will depend on the distance it travels
if it is a low shot and it glances along the surface of a puddle or lake for example a subsonic 22 could easily travel 150m

off dirt it is anyones guess, grass ect who knows

set up a test next to a lake on a calm day, you will soon see the splash on the water where the bullet hits

The guy firing that 50cal who loses his ear muffs may not agree

Originally Posted by Maca49

The guy firing that 50cal who loses his ear muffs may not agree

Ahh yes, this gent:

IMO When using high power 22, ricochets were only heard when hitting a hard flat surface, however after being a dedicated subsonic and suppressor convert for twenty years ricochets are more common than thought. I would say that more than 50% of shots bounce. Even when hitting rabbits heads, a bounce is heard. With suppressors damping the reports there appears to be a greater evidence of heard ricochets. Fortunately I hunt in an unpopulated area otherwise this could be a problem.
Anyone else have similar views ?

might not agree with what part?

Barefoot was zeroing a .22 down the back of my farm a couple of months back and there were several rounds that went whiz ing of into the distance after ricocheting

Yes, we packed that away rather quickly and moved onto something bigger.
I do seem to have had more ricochets with the last batch of cci subs (not hollow points) than anything else I've used.

I dont think its that you get more ricochets with subs, its simply that you hear them.

One would never admit to deliberately trying to skim 22lr across a body of water but I hear they don't go that far

Range carryed after impact would depend on many things but most effect would be angle IE a shallow glancing bounce has potential to travel almost as far as a normal shot aimed at the angle of departure of the ricochet.

If you can hear it it is probably a whole lot less dangerous than the ones you cant hear() because it is tumbling threw the air and will slow down relatively rapidly.

None of this is scientific, just logical and commonsense as is not shooting at a bunny on flat ground with a house in the distance.

The most ricochetts I've had is with 7.62x39 FMJs. Heard of a guy getting killed by a bullet refracting around buffalo horns, not sure if it's an urban legend but seams feasable.

Rule 5: Check your firing zone.

It's commonsense. If you think there's a chance of a dangerous/unpredictable ricochet, don't shoot.

With that addage you should never shoot a gun at anything. Period. There is always a chance of a riccochet.

Thanks for the comments ... to clarify - I'm talking about the projectile continuing on, away from me. I don't normally worry about it as usually 1500+m away from the farmhouses but the other day I shot a property and had a ricochet and there was a farm shed about 300-400 meters up the valley. I wondered if it would go that far off a gravel road ... safe to assume YES.
Out of interest - I did some research and found a guy who did some purely theoretical "worst case" models based on BC's which I have paraphrased below.
Ricochets with a fractionally munted .22 projectile = 1,900 yards max & lethal to 800 yards
Ricochets with a partially munted .22 projectile = 1,400 yards max & lethal to 550 yards
Ricochets with a reasonably munted .22 projectile = 700 yards max & lethal to 280 yards (this seems a plausible absolute worst case?)
Also on the same forum was a comment that 45 degrees of deflection has been experienced on a range.

I don't have a gravel road beside a big lake ... but that would be an interesting test.

No question is silly,very interesting thread. Of other ricochets.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't one of the main reasons that rimfire rifles aren't allowed on DOC land is due to their tendency to ricochet?