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NoSecondBest · June 10, 2019, 04:34 PM

A really big factor in splatter off plates is when the plates are really pocked up from being hit. I use all AR500 steel on mine and it's not a problem. I remember being at the NSSF Team Challenge in Florida for their big shoot and I saw what looked like a bumble bee coming towards me. I was behind the handgun firing line at the time and there were guys shooting. I tried to lean back because it was going to "fly" into me. I got a little bit back before it hit, and it was a very large piece off a .45 slug that hit me. It cut through my shirt and left a pretty big cut on my chest. Ruined the shirt and a few band-aids fixed the cut. That slug went out thrity-five yards and hit the plate and then came back over that distance to hit me. Those plates were really pocked up. Other places where I've shot would result in some splatter, but not that bad. In Conn. one time I saw the RO setting up the handgun line and testing the targets with his 38 Super. He had a slug come back and actually enter his sinus cavity and get lodged in there. That thing really hit him hard. He was one tough son of a gun. He went to the ER and they x-rayed the slug in his sinuses. He told them he'd be back on Monday for surgery and they taped his face up and he ran the match for the weekend. He was a state trooper up there. Not one to mess with. Those targets were pocked pretty bad also. After most of those episodes the NSSF made sure the targets were smooth faced. Good reason not to use mild steel regardless of how thick it is.

June 10, 2019, 04:34 PM	#11
NoSecondBest Senior Member Join Date: December 7, 2009 Location: Western New York Posts: 2,736	A really big factor in splatter off plates is when the plates are really pocked up from being hit. I use all AR500 steel on mine and it's not a problem. I remember being at the NSSF Team Challenge in Florida for their big shoot and I saw what looked like a bumble bee coming towards me. I was behind the handgun firing line at the time and there were guys shooting. I tried to lean back because it was going to "fly" into me. I got a little bit back before it hit, and it was a very large piece off a .45 slug that hit me. It cut through my shirt and left a pretty big cut on my chest. Ruined the shirt and a few band-aids fixed the cut. That slug went out thrity-five yards and hit the plate and then came back over that distance to hit me. Those plates were really pocked up. Other places where I've shot would result in some splatter, but not that bad. In Conn. one time I saw the RO setting up the handgun line and testing the targets with his 38 Super. He had a slug come back and actually enter his sinus cavity and get lodged in there. That thing really hit him hard. He was one tough son of a gun. He went to the ER and they x-rayed the slug in his sinuses. He told them he'd be back on Monday for surgery and they taped his face up and he ran the match for the weekend. He was a state trooper up there. Not one to mess with. Those targets were pocked pretty bad also. After most of those episodes the NSSF made sure the targets were smooth faced. Good reason not to use mild steel regardless of how thick it is.