Do not shoot yourself

[TheKlawMan]

Well I did it! It looks like I actually shot myself, even if I was only grazed along he skin by a pellet from a target load that ricochetted off a steel patterning board.

It is kind of embarassing, and I wasn't going to mention it but posting might save someone from a similar but much more serious incident, say if they were hit in the eye while not wearing eye protection.

[TxGun]

Why are you shooting at steel again?

[Madball6]

For that warning to be effective in any way i think we would need to know more about the situation.

[oneounceload]

Many folks pattern their shotguns, not on paper, but at a steel plate, typically about 4' X 4'.

TKM - maybe you were too close.

His experience just reinforces the need for safety glasses. This would happen to metallic shooters as well if they are too close to the steel targets

Hopefully you got your patterning figured out

[Lemmon]

Never again, I learned my lesson. I was shooting a small 22LR pistol and grazed my forefinger with a bullet. It left a nice mark, no blood but scared the heck out of me. I am a lot more careful today. I was lucky.

Lemmon

[BigJimP]

Always - always --- wear eye protection !!! ( and hearing protection ...) ...

Getting hit by a pellet that richochet's off a clay target ...in Skeet or Sporting Clays isn't that uncommon. I've had a couple of occassions where I've ended up with a pellet embedded in an exposed arm and once in the side of my cheek. I've been hit by pellets many other times / and clay target fragments too ...just as a member of a squad.

In all 3 cases where the pellet broke the skin - the targets were relatively close ...but never off of steel either / just a flying clay target ... They sting a little / but a little disinfectant / and a bandaid fix it ...and maybe let it work its way out - or go see a doctor if its pretty deep.

[thinkingman]

Bullet jackets off of steel poppers aren't that uncommon either. Nasty, sharp and hot...they leave a mark.
Good post.

[Bubba in c.a.]

Wear eye protection and hope for the best! And stay as far away as possible from backdrops that may ricochet. I pattern my shotguns on cardboard boxes, in part because I'm doing it out in the desert at distances of 3 to 10 meters which might not be allowed on a range.

Years ago, on 2 occasions I went shooting 45 autos with a friend. One time at a public range and one time out in the desert, a slug came back. One landed on the ground right in front of us, the other hit my friend in the arm, like somebody had throw a small rock at him!

Scary.

[TheKlawMan]

Like oneounce said, it was a steel plate patterning board and I had never used one before. In the future I may back off 5 yards for safety.

It is also possible that, and now that I think of it, moer likely that it wasn't a ricochette off of the patterning board, but off of a clay target. I was shooting from the 16 yard line and shot some birds closer in than I had in the past. Whenever I was hit, I didn't feel it.

I think using the patterning board was great idea andn plan to go at it again this afternoon.

Most importantly, I wanted to emphasize the need for eye protection.

[gearhounds]

For those that haven't seen it...could happen any time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ABGIJwiGBc

[Double Naught Spy]

Getting hit by a ricochet could happen any time. If you do stupid things, you may have problems. Shooting a .50 BMG at an apparently soft steel target that close with the target perpedicular to the shooter and you can expect that to happen. The rules of physics and deflection apply at all times. If considered properly, steel is fine to shoot.

[Gehrhard]

OMG -- I had to turn off that video when I saw the title. I don't want to see someone hit in the head by a .50 BMG ricochet!

As for patterning, or anything, for that matter at steel... Stand 5 yards further back is your solution? Um, you need to learn how to pattern a shotgun/what that really means as well as maybe stop shooting at steel! As for metal plate shooting, you should not be using jacketed rounds for various reasons.

Gehr

[the rifleer]

I had a .22lr ricochet back and hit me in the shoulder, but luckily it was not going very fast. It did not do anything other than scare me.

Always angle steel targets

[myshoulderissore]

Shot at a steel spare wheel someone discarded in the desert once... Was much younger, .22LR, range of about 2 feet. popZIIIIIING right past my head, little smudged dent in the wheel. What kind of idiot.....

Lesson learned, though, and I know crap like that to teach my kids not to be as dumb as daddy!

[chewie146]

That shot will bounce back, and it does hurt! I also caught a portion of a .357 lead SWC off of a steel plate a couple years back. Like has been said, those glasses will save you.

[TYM2MOTR]

never heard of a steel plate patterning board...just Googled it, interesting but I doubt Sir Isaac Newton would be using one if he were alive today (i.e., third law of motion). For patterning shot I use plywood and red rosin paper, if close up I put corrugated cardboard behind the paper...I mark shot info on the sheets and use them for comparison...

[Coach Z]

Glad you came out ok, BE CAREFUL

[TheKlawMan]

One of the target pullers thinks it was from a piece of a broken clay target. That would explain why I didn't notice it until a round of trap was shot following using the pattering board. It is hard to imagine going that long without noticing the bleeding if it was from the patterning board. Whichever it was from, it makes a good case for wearing eye protection.

[langenc]

Shooters of pellet guns should ALWAYS wear classes...

20+ yrs ago I was doing some predator control w/ pellet gun, pump up kind. Had 4 or 5 pumps one it. a 22 cal. Thenm intended target was gone. I shot a large oak tree (18" and 40' away) and the next thing I know was the pellet hitting the eavstrough just above my head. yuk..

[Hog Hunter]

Never liked the thought of shootin steel. Think ill stick to shootin dirt through a peice of paper or cardboard.
Glad your ok and it wasnt worse.

[TheKlawMan]

I am fine and it probably was a piece of a clay target that hit me. I can't even see where it barely cut my along the dorsal sufgace of my hand. The point is if it hit an eye and I wasn't wearing protection that would have been very bad and the feedback out I got out of this little incident from experienced shooters is that they have been hit with target shot and if it has happened to them I will observe safety precautions because someday I will be hit.

[Ltriker]

Shot a tree with a 25 pistol once, the bullet bounced back and hit my belt buckle...not even deformed from either impact.
Shot some plywood with a shotgun, some of the pellets bounced back and hit me...nothing serious.

Got a BB in my left shoulder from my younger days, and a hole in my right shoulder from an idiot with an M1 at the range. Range was called COLD and several of us were walking out to change targets. Guys shows up an dis removing his garand from a soft case, grabs the trigger and fires off a rd of FMJ....knocked me down and I thought I was on fire. Rushed to hospital and survived with a hole thru me(I was less than 30feet from the shooter) and I thought I was going to suffocate as it was nearly impossible to breathe. That was several years ago, now I am suffering from rotator cuff problems due to bone splinters...

The range insurance paid all my med bills and loss of wages, I did not sue anyone. Guy offered to give me the M1...

[RoscoeC]

I shoot at two different clubs, and at both, if you are in the right spot and the wind is howling you will occasionally get peppered with pellets. Wear eye and ear protection at all times.

On one occasion my son and I were shooting plate racks with 9mm pistols. I have been doing this without incident for many years. All of a sudden, while he was shooting I felt a sting on my forearm. I looked down and there was a trickle of blood. It was a shard of copper jacket from an FMJ bullet. I said, "Hey, dude, you just shot your old man." I don't know what happened, maybe it hit the edge of a plate and sheered off, but strange things happen.

Point is, had that fragment hit me in the eye it could have meant blindness.

WEAR EYE AND EAR PROTECTION AT ALL TIMES!!!!

In this case, you really can't be too careful.

Ltriker, what happened to you is one of my fears when I shoot at those types of ranges. A good range officer is invaluable. I have served as range officer a few times and it always amazes me that you have to remind folks to keep their hands off of their weapons when people are down range. It should be common sense, but apparently it isn't.

[TXGunNut]

Yes, ear and eye protection @ all times. Damage in these areas is often permanent and almost always preventable. Got dinged shooting a plate match years ago as a PPC side match. We were too close, my second shot grazed my neck and I missed the next two plates... but got the last two! Good thing they gave away t-shirts @ matches in those days, I needed it.