YOLO:
What do you guys think… 2 yards? Maybe 3? *SMH* Assuming that steel target is an IPSC silhouette we’re looking at ~24″ tall, so that makes the 2×4’s used for the stands about 4ft in height. If you took one and pivoted it in the ground forward I’m guessing it would come at least half way to that blue mat. Ugh even if it were a stationary target with an extreme downward angle that would be better than this. Look how it’s flapping around after each shot, like when your mom hangs your jammies on the clothes line in the wind after the wash. Redic.
Like Ryo (Gat tipper) said, the shooter is real concerned about the danger of the sun’s rays. UV can be a BITCH. Lead and copper at a ~1000 fps? Meh whatevs, dude’s over it.
Thoughts? Would live once with?
Gat tip: Ryo
Comments
17 responses to “Shooting Steel From Incredibly Close”
While it’s a little too close for my liking, it’s not much closer than the shortest steel challenge stages. If you’re shooting AR500 steel and not brake disks or other random metal objects, it’s less likely that you’re going to have problems.
i have been hit by ricochet from 20 yards away shooting a 9mm or 45 at a ar 500. it hit me right in the forehead didn’t leave a mark but did let me know I should be wearing safety glasses. we have all been young an dumb one time, mine was just a month ago.
I get it all the time at steel matches, it’s like lead and copper rain. Twice I’ve given blood to a fragment. Once at steel and once at the new Harrisburg Area Community College indoor public safety range. You should always wear eye protection when shooting anything at all. Eyes don’t heal all that well.
Johnny, I’ve got a half inch thick AR500 Torso target that I will be setting up at my Range behind the house. Advice on best reloaded bullets to shoot to minimize ricochets? I tend to shoot a lot of Rainier plated bullets.(hollowpoint 45 and round nose 9mm) bad combo? I don’t know if the softer bullets are actually worse on AR500.
I’m not Johnny but I have shot a lot of steel. Plain lead bullets especially softer versions are the safest, jacketed hollow points are the worst as they shed their jackets and send hi speed razor like frags off the steel. Cowboy shooters have found that even regular lead bullets if shot at low velocity will tend to ricochet more than the same bullet at higher velocity. It’s not as simple as it first seems, the two major things to consider is a full bullet ricochet and the frag which spreads away from the steel in an umbrella pattern. Steel angled away from the shooter at the bottom will deflect towards the ground in front of the steel, that’s good but you have to make sure this area is clear of anything that could redirect the bullet or frag. Steel with any pock marks or ridges, any kind of raised or uneven area can throw back full bullets so never shoot anything that is not smooth. Distance is your friend, for pistols at least 10 yds and rifles 50 with the best targets and 100 is better.
Could be frangible ammo I suppose
I believe 7 yards is the minimum in USPSA regs. He seems to be a little closer than that.
*shrugs*
Having shot in cities, alleys and shoothouses, I think anything anybody does is at discretion of their own comfort level. Anything can happen at any distance. You’ve probably got cats out there who would whine about this while wearing AR500 plates with zero spaulling (sp) protection.
Honestly, I’ve seen steel training targets much closer.
I wouldn’t shoot that close, but the two people I’ve seen get a bullet spit back at them were at 30 and 75 yards. But the plates were both homemade mild steel.
hell, there was a recent incident here in nevada where a person shot at a steel target without the downward angle and it ricochet back to him..
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/target-shooting-ricochet-blamed-man-s-death-tule-springs
From the YouTube description: Target is a metal 1/4” thick IPSC torso at 10 yards.
This is just camera perspective making it look closer than what it is. They shot this with a telephoto lens from a good distance away. it can make things that are relatively far away seem very close together. http://www.photozone.de/focal-length-and-perspective .That will give you an idea what focal length change can do to perspective.
I have shot steel at ~10 yards plenty. Yes, I get occasional ricochets. He is wearing safety glasses, a ricochet hit at that range hurts, a lot, but wont do permanent damage.
return fire, the next level of training punk bitches.
btw for the love of gawd when are one of these “patriots” gonna troll Calexico handing out “Not legal in California” pins, it should make for interesting examples of defensive training.
Whats up with those reloads from the truck bed? If youre gonna go through the trouble of dressing tacticool, put a magazine holster on your belt.
Since when did a black jacket, pants, and some chuck taylor looking shoes become tacticool?
Since Dickies showed up to SHOT 2015 as “Dickies Tactical.”
Ouch. I just got served.