No shooting for a while (ricochet)

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BerettaCougar

New member
So I have a story for you all...

Went shooting July 5th with my father and older brother, we took out mostly my fathers handguns since he hardly ever shoots them and they just sit there for years in the safe.

I also brought my primary carry handgun (Walther P99 9mm)

So about an hour into us shooting, I start to feel fatigue and step outside the shooting area for a few minutes and to drink a Mt Dew.

When I return my father had made buddy buddy with someone else there that had a Raging Bull in 44 mag...my father loves the gun and has already shot it for a few times... My father saves a bullet in the gun (wheel open) for me to shoot. I put on my eye protection, my ear protection and take aim (head shot on a paper target that is backed by an indoor ranges back stops)..
I fire and I feel something punch the living hell out of me in the center of my forehead... I drop the gun directly on the concrete (i wish i didnt damage the guys new gun) I then stumble away with my hand on my forehead I look at my hand and see blood (Hardly any blood at all)..My heart is pounding I'm thinking death is soon to come...my father and brother yelling at me to let them see the wound.. I wont do it because to me at that time in my state of mind I think I'm holding my brain in (I seriously thought I was holding my brain in)...

After a few minutes the paramedics show up, they take a look at the wound and say it's a dime sized surface wound...nothing major and that I should still goto the hospital. I take their advice and my father drives me to the hospital.

The result? A minor concussion..

And boy let me tell you - IT SUCKS! - Any fast movement and I get dizzy..I eat and I throw up... bright lights make me dizzy.

And brain scans weekly for the next month...

I will probably think twice about going to the range again...atleast until I get over this. My father said "no more indoor shooting..EVER", because he was hit a few months ago by a bounce back and it shattered his glasses. He thought it was a once in a billion type thing.. Obviously it's not... So be careful guys!

And WildAlaska, sorry I never called ya back I was out of commision for a while.
 
G

Gbro

New member
Not a real uncommon thing when shooting steel. You were punching paper?
1.what kind of backstop is used at that range?
2.Was anyone watching "you" when this happened? (did gun go off before you were on target?)
3. do you normally start in a low retention and bring the gun up to target hight?(seen more guns fired early when coming from a high retention)(we still see it)
At our outdoor range during defensive pistol shoots there is blood letting often. Its not just an indoor range thing.
Right between the headlights seems like the norm for bounce backs.
 
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The Tourist

Moderator
It's not that common, but it does happen.

About 20 years ago my wife was firing a Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 SPL. Since she is a tad shy around new firearms, I loaded the cartridges way down. And by 'down' I mean the very bottom of the reloading data with dumpy lead bullets.

She was seated on the ground with her knees up, elbows on her knees, and shooting into a earthen berm at a public range.

As she fires, we see something bounce slowly backwards, taking about four or five leisurely tumbles as it finally rests against the bottom of one of her feet. I thought it was a dirt clod.

We were both surprised to find it was her pristine bullet.

Over the years I've heard similar stories about the wild twists and turns of bullets. It's hard to imagine that something moving that fast can make a 90 degree turn, but it happens.
 
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joab

New member
my father and brother yelling at me to let them see the wound.. I wont do it because to me at that time in my state of mind I think I'm holding my brain in (I seriously thought I was holding my brain in)..
Click to expand...
.yeah I had to hold my ear on like that once

My buddy thought someone on the range had shot me
I thought that my front sight had been blown off and somehow did a back flip into me
But he told me later that he had seen the sight missing just before I shot and was waiting to see if I noticed it

The sight was laying on the ground in the lane just in front of the table

The only other logical conclusion was a ricochet, either mine or someone else's

I have never been back to an indoor range without flinching every time I hear a loud gun go off
 
R

RedneckFur

New member
I'm afraid to shoot indoors. The idea of bullets on steel doesnt make me very comfortable. Shooting outdoors in areas with rocks in the dirt isnt much better to me. I like solid dirt backstops. A few years back I hit myself in the leg with a .38 special ricochet. Aparently it hit a rock or brick in the dirt and came back on me. All i got was a bruise, and I've still got the slug.
 
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Hosses

New member
Reminds me of that recent video of a guy shooting a .50 cal and the ricochet coming straight back to his head.

Glad you weren't seriously injured.
 
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BillCA

New member
With outdoor ranges, older berms are compacted down by rain and baked by sun. If you have rocks near the surface, they can deflect a bullet. Most times you never see it or notice it, but it happens. Bounce-back occurs with just the right conditions, including a rock and a compacted berm. If you manage or work at a range, screening out large rocks from the earthen berms and adding 2" of rock-free earth helps reduce the problem.

For indoor ranges, the steel baffle plates do get worn over time and if they aren't maintained properly, can come loose and act as springs. Most should be angled up and away from the shooters. In some cases, a trap is designed into the ceiling so that bullets are deflected up, then back down a steel channel above the shooting lane. Poor shooters putting holes in these lighter channel plates can result in a projectile finding its way back towards the firing line.
 
D

deadin

Moderator
Any angled deflection plate can be "dented" by high velocity hard ball rounds (Magnum) or "cratered" by hyper-velocity light rounds (.17HMR etc.) Either of these can cause a surface that is at 90 deg. to the firing line. Another hit on the vertical surface can come straight back at you.
This is why many indoor ranges won't allow FMJ's or handloads.
 
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tomh1426

New member
I got hit right over my eye once shooting steel , Ive found different targets since then.
Picture003.jpg
 
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oldbillthundercheif

Moderator
I ate a .38 wadcutter one time during a pistol match. It clipped me pretty good and the large amount of blood flowing from my face was a real distraction to my fellow competitors (as was my loud cursing). Luckily, it did not penetrate my skull, it only carved a chunk of meat off of my face just below my eye and I was able to get a do-over on the stage with a piece of paper towel taped over the wound.

Does your range use the ancient angled steel sheet over sawdust/sand backstop? If it does, you may want to rake the backstop next time as "lead pockets" can build up.

As for the concussion, I've had a few of those as well. Don't make any important decisions over the next week or so if you can avoid it. You may think your reasoning is clear and normal, but trust me, it's probably a little fuzzy.
 
F

finrot

New member
I was shooting at an indoor range and 2 stations down this guy was shooting a Glock 45 and the target he was shooting at ( at about 15 feet) looked like a shotgun pattern at about 60 ft. He hit the angle iron that they hang the targets from and I felt a sting on my face. It stopped bleeding after about 15 minutes and 3 weeks later the doc pulled a sizable chunk of copper out of my cheek.WEAR EYE PROTECTION ALWAYS!
 
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warwagon

New member
During the mid 80s I was the instructor for a security force qualifying on an indoor range.

The client rep had arrived to observe his men, and had brought his own .38 snubby to practice.

After about 3 rounds , I heard him stop firing, and start cussing, so I went to see what the problem was. Turned out that he had caught a bounce back square in the kneecap!
It swelled up to twice the normal size for about a day , and he had trouble walking for a few days, but was otherwise fine.
 
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UniversalFrost

New member
yup, had a similiar thing happen to me when shooting indoors. Except was shooting really hot 9mm+p and had one richocet and hit my gun and my left hand. Skinned my knickle really good and put a really horrible scratch in my slide and frame. Decided not to shoot indoors ever again, and your story just backs up my decision.
 
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armoredman

New member
Doing RO for an indoor bowling pin match, a very low powered 38 spl bounced back from the pin, and nailed me right in the twins. I dropped like a rock. Poor guy apologized for a week straight. Afterwards, it was incredibly funny, but sure hurt at the time. I kept the slug, too.
When I worked at the indoor range, we had people get bounce back all the time, the old angle steel bullet trap. Now, the Marksman II uses the shredded tire bullet trap, and bounce back is a thing of the past. Great recycling, too.
 
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