richochet and steel targets

[Mr. Hawk]

So I am relatively new to target shooting for fun. Have always just sighted my guns in on paper and went on about my day. My father in law recently made me this target for plinking and I just want to make sure this is safe to use with handguns. I have a .22lr and 9mm pistols that I plan to shoot. He angled the plates down but I was taught as a young kid not to shoot things like this due to richochet issues. Maybe that was just bb guns?

 

[infoman jr.]

A BB will ricochet worse than anything. Without looking at it closer, I'd stick to rimfire.

 

[DaveB]

Yes on the rimfires, should be okay.

Can't speak to the 9.

 

[Mr. Hawk]

So the .22lr rimfire shouldn't richochet? And if I decided to shoot it with a .223 from 100yds, would that be safe?

 

[Tennessee Lead]

Just be careful with those steel targets. They was a group got together here last on the farm and were shooting a similar target when a 9mm bullet fragmented and hit a man just below his eye socket.

 

[DaveB]

Should be okay but I am leery of the fixed nature of the plates. There appears to be no give. Don't shoot the steel insert rounds at the steel but I say that only as an ultra precaution.

 

[rdl65]

That rocky backstop would worry me more than shooting steel.

 

[Mr. Hawk]

That's not the final resting spot of the target and the plates do swing

 

[BobTail]

If the plates swing EASILY you might be OK. Thinking that a 22LR won't ricochet is a recipe for disaster. If the plates swing easily and will deflect the bullets in a downward fashion it's likely alright. Otherwise I wouldn't want to be anywhere around it.

 

[TRIGGER]

I would not shoot anything other than rimfire at it unless it's AR500.(223 will ruin it from 100 yards as far as flatness goes) The problem comes when the steel gets pitted from bullets(or anything for that matter). The pits will cause the fragments to go anywhere. As long as the plates stay flat it should be ok because it deflects the bullet in a circular pattern in the same plane as the steel. Another cause of ricochet can come from anything around the circular pattern that the shrapnel can bounce off of to include anything on the ground underneath the target.

 

[gustaf]

Targets being angled will help. Cowboy action shooters' targets are close and angled down, and only lead bullets are allowed in matches, but lead fragments still bounce back. I've never shot in a CAS match, but I've been struck by lead fragments more than once when I've been there as a spectator. Don't consider shooting steel unless you and everyone else in the area is wearing safety glasses.

Just about any jacketed rifle bullet, not just the ones with penetrator cores, will shoot through a steel target unless it is AR500.