[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

Caution on Rail Road Ties.

My gun club put up a backstop made of ties for shooting shotgun slugs for a fundraiser bull’s-eye competition. They did an alternate stacking two rows thick of ties with dirt behind. It was solid and nothing got through it. After the event, it was left as a short range backstop for general shooting.

Here is what I did...I fired about 400 rounds of .38 SWC of light to mid-range loads. I fired these over a few days of shooting at the range. And there had been plenty of others shooting all kinds of rounds too with no problems.

One day I was shooting at my usual 4-12 yards with the .38 and one day I caught a return bullet into my leg shin. I still have the dent to prove it. It bounced off my leg and fell nearby. It hurt just a little bit but no blood, just a slight bruise. I felt it hit (I was wearing shorts) and saw it drop in front of me. I thought it was a stone, but reached down and feld the dent in my leg. When I went to look it was a fired round and still warm. I have it saved somewhere.

Why? The .38 slugs only penetrate the RR ties about an inch or less depending on how soft (the state of decay etc.) or hard the wood was in that spot. The .38 slugs will stack one behind the other in some places. I believe the slug I fired hit a stack of lead that was pounded against one another and ricochet back.

From that point on, I face the backstop at a slight angle and any ricochets hopefully will go away from me. There were no serious concerns IMO other than when shooting very close range.

There were a few slugs (fired .38 bullets) that fell to the ground in front of the backstop. They hit other lead bullet and fell to the ground.

Just something to think about if your shooting lead that does not flatten or explode when hitting the backstop.