Thread: Richochet!!

I will leave every one hanging here............if all 7 basic rules were applied I guess you will still be in the shit?

I'm guessing rule 5 Check your firing zone.

Done checked...............Fuckn Richochet

Window??

One of the great Irish Tenors - Rick O'Shea. Seriously though Dundee, they are dangerous as if it happens there is no knowing which direction the projectile might spin off in

Way back when we used to play at being soldiers in the school cadets the Mt Maunganui College rifle range was on the road to the Papamoa Domain. At each end of the range two outposts on high dunes were manned by two cadets in each and a red flag on a pole. Even though we were at 90 degree angle from the shooters using .303's it was amazing how many bullets went over our heads and one lifted sand from about two metres to one side of us. We were supposed to be keeping an eye out for anyone walking on the beach...stuff that we were digging ourselves deeper and when they opened up with the four bren guns we were shitting bricks.

22lr is a shocker for it, you really notice just how many you get when you use subs!

I had a ricochet with the 308 a while back, zero check up a mates place. box in front of knob in padock ,soft ground, lush grass.
Boom Weeeeeooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww Fark! Good thing there is a big bloody ridge behind! furrow in ground about 3 foot long.
Promptly moved position to a steeper back stop!

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

22lr is a shocker for it, you really notice just how many you get when you use subs!

Yep I have had a few whizz off over the years. It gives you the shits when it happens.

Another thing I learned shooting long range s the tmbling effect. When I first started we out a big sheet of ply behind the gong so we could see were we were missing. We were calling hit on wood with the first couple shots but couldnt connect on steel. On closer inspection we found a torn up strip of grass around 20-30 meters infont of the target and sideways profiles of the bullets at random all over the ply. The bullets were hitting the ground and bouncing like a cricket ball a flying off into the distance. It was a safe setup but I had not experienced this before as normally theres a trench and bullet buried in the dirt. So ricochet can happen of the paddok floor and it doesnt have to be a hard surface.

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Thanks for that CD. I will remember that when trying out my new rig (when it gets here soon).

Originally Posted by CreepingDeath

Another thing I learned shooting long range s the tmbling effect. When I first started we out a big sheet of ply behind the gong so we could see were we were missing. We were calling hit on wood with the first couple shots but couldnt connect on steel. On closer inspection we found a torn up strip of grass around 20-30 meters infont of the target and sideways profiles of the bullets at random all over the ply. The bullets were hitting the ground and bouncing like a cricket ball a flying off into the distance. It was a safe setup but I had not experienced this before as normally theres a trench and bullet buried in the dirt. So ricochet can happen of the paddok floor and it doesnt have to be a hard surface.

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You sure u just didnt have to slow a twist wee creepy????? I think you might have and your twlling porkies!!!

Like this you mean

I got shot last season while quail shooting on the hill . Waliking down a spur , when the birds flushed they flew away from me , the shooter below let rip as what he thought was safe . It would have been on flat ground , but half the pellets came my way . Not a nice position to be in, and got one pellet in leg . Was bleeding but pellet never entered . Was a lesson for us all . The shooter was very embarrassed he shot me but never took into account the angle of hill , even though I was 20 yards behind the bird he shot . Shot guns are not exempt from richochet !

I understand from the Engineer who surveyed our range that ricochets can occur off of most objects, especially when the angle of incidence is less than 30 degrees.
The direction of the ricochet is unpredictable so a large safe zone is required to accomidate this.

Bouncing like a cricket ball or skimming stones off of water is probally an acurate analogy for these ricochets.

We regulary see and hear ricochets off the dirt with most firearms in all calibres including Pistol, Rifle and Black Powder Rifles.
Although we have noticed considerly more ricochets over this summer with the ground being so hard and dry.
We allow tracer rounds to be fire during the wetter winter months and I've seen these in 303 and 308 calibre ricochet off the 100m dirt mound and carry on in unpredictible directions including climbing straight up at about 30 degree angles for several hundered more meters before being lost from sight.

So despite some very large hills as backdrops and earth mounds the range was certified as if it was a flat range and the safe zone extends for 2.5 kms from the shooting mounds.

Cheers
Pete

Yea im sure was a 243 with 95 grn ssts and a 7mm08 with 139grn ssts once we sorted the data and got I dialing straight we were on steel everyshot. I was surprised too I had never seen this and its the only time its happened may have been the setup and angle but it happend with 2 different rifles and it happend multiple times . Im not saying its the norm but it can happen. Distance was 480 meters so not looong range but long.

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Originally Posted by Tussock

By the time you get out to "long range" the projectile is coming down at quite a high angle. Less likely to glance off. Seems odd that a projectile would bounce off the ground intact and then still have enough ooomph to penetrate a sheet of ply.

Im with Bob on this one. You sure those pills were stabilized?

Yep happens a lot.

Check out some of the vids of guys shooting LR/ELR on You Tube up in the deserts, pretty flat, splashes all over the show with some bouncing up into the steel.

I did it years ago in the evening with the 416 Barrett, didn't allow enough elevation at 750, the bullets landed in front of the 16mm Melamine target they dug a big furrow & smashed sideways into the Melamine smashing it but bouncing off.

I finished shooting the five rounds, packed up, drove to the target & thought WTF, then saw a projectile in one of the furrows so picked it up, it was still warm after 10-12 mins, a 400 grain heatsink

If the bullets weren't stable it seems strange that they would be accurate enough to be near the target at a decent range

Originally Posted by mikee

Like this you mean

Holy friggin crap!! Thanks for sharing that Mikee