Shooting Thru Steel? Is that possible?

[user 34300]

I watched a friend shoot a chunk of steel with '06 black tip ball at about 10 yards. The carbide penetrator came back and sliced his shirt collar. Not a lead ball but high pucker factor. As stated once you get a dent in the steel it works like a parabolic mirror to direct the lead fragments back at you.

 

[hangfast]

I have never had lead come back at me it just splatters when it hits steel. May Be I should have never said never.

I have... on multiple occasions, usually in the context of a pistol match where the steel targets had craters or mounted on a flat steel "foot".
My wife caught a piece in her neck that was touching her jugular vein.... that was "fun".
Saw another guy get his teeth knocked out by a full diameter 38 super bullet that came back from a crater exactly like the one in this video.
Another guy got a frag in his hand that severed a tendon and required surgery.
WHEN it happens... don't be surprised

DON'T BE A DOPE..... NEVER SHOOT DAMAGED STEEL. (or lawn mowers, cars, metal trash etc)
AR 500 steel is a shooters friend.

 

[Tanglefoot]

One of my Dad's friends (and mine) was a retired Marine Master Chief who was a combat veteran and former small bore instructor at Annapolis. When he retired he built a single lane small bore 50-foot range in his basement and shot there regularly. It had a heavy steel plate behind the target frame, slanted to deflect fired bullets into a deep sandbox trap. One day he was firing his custom Remington rifle from the prone position, fired a round, and something struck him in the forehead just above the bridge of his nose. He later reconstructed what happened --- Apparently he had worn a deep dimple in the steel plate by striking it repeatedly in the same place over time --- in a spot aligned with the X-ring. It eventually wore through and a fired round came straight back, angled just enough higher to clear the barrel and sights and hit him in the forehead. It was flattened greatly and so gave him a bad bruise, a contusion, and a headache, but didn't penetrate his skull. So yeah ... it's possible to shoot through steel, even a
3/4 inch thick plate. He replaced the backing plate and continued to use his range, but he checked it regularly after that.

 

[Tenring]

AR 500 steel is all that’s aloud when we shoot PRS, And I like it so much because it’s got a cool ring to it when struck, I ordered some certain sized shapes for my own personal use last year but as always when shooting solid targets keep your distance.

 

[yellowhammer]

i read in a forum somewhere, a feller was deer hunting and shot a deer. he walked up to the deer and it was still alive, so he pulled his ML revolver and shot the deer between the eyes, the round ball bounced back off the deer's head and hit the man on the shin bone! he was jumping around and cussing! LOL,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I personally witnessed a man shoot a deer, wounded by a pass-thru arrow and lying apparently unconscious, with a .22 revolver right between the eyes with the muzzle touching the fur. The deer jumped up and ran off like a bat out of Hades, and we never found it. Last blood spot I could see was over 200 yds from the head shot.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Interesting. I wasn't sure it would happen with a free swinging target. I used to manufacture and sell steel silhouette targets. I did a lot of testing. On 1/2" T1A nearly immovable targets and some hellasious loads I would make big dents but never went through. Word of advice: if you try it, do not shoot at real close ranges. I have a scar on my elbow that reminds me of that advice not followed.

 

[yellowhammer]

i read in a forum somewhere, a feller was deer hunting and shot a deer. he walked up to the deer and it was still alive, so he pulled his ML revolver and shot the deer between the eyes, the round ball bounced back off the deer's head and hit the man on the shin bone! he was jumping around and cussing! LOL,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I personally witnessed a man shoot a deer, wounded by a pass-thru arrow and lying apparently unconscious, with a .22 revolver right between the eyes with the muzzle touching the fur. The deer jumped up and ran off like a bat out of Hades, and we never found it. Last blood spot we saw was over 200 yds from the head shot.

 

[hangfast]

 

[BadDaditood]

I purchased a steel hanging silhouette target that was designed for .22 caliber rifles. Thought it would work for my .32 caliber flintlock. The round balls went right through it at 25 yards. That surprised me.

Could be velocity had something to do with it?
I’ll bet your little .32 is steppin out at well over 1800 FPS

 

[hanshi]

Just some thoughts I guess I'll share about the subject. I once shot my 5mm pellet rifle at the wood door of an out building; it was at least 25 yds as I remember it. That pellet came back and hit my dominant eye's EYE lid! Scary close call from my teen years. Some years later a .38 spl WC came back and hit me in the chest. No idea what made it do that on a paper target?? Didn't hurt, just felt the same as when you might slap your own chest.

If a prb load happens to have the ability to penetrate metal at all it will do so quite well if the metal target is solidly anchored in place. A swinging metal target absorbs much of the prb power when it swings. However, anchoring a metal target is really asking for trouble. Any metal target should be mounted to swing or at least placed on an easy to topple off surface. Fifty yards should be the minimum distance from target to shooter. Just food for thought.

 

[olskool]

when i was a kid my dad told a story he heard of a man around here shot a bulldozer blade feet away with a 30-06 and it came back and killed him! don't know if the story was true or not. but when i was a kid they had the master lock commercial on where they shot a lock with a high-powered rifle, so i thought i might do the same. i had a model 99 300 savage, i shot a lock from a very short distance and shrapnel came back and hit mt in the arm and chest, i picked it out with tweezers! i didn't dare tell my dad he would have, well lets just say he would have! i was very stupid and learned my lesson!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Bushfire]

I personally witnessed a man shoot a deer, wounded by a pass-thru arrow and lying apparently unconscious, with a .22 revolver right between the eyes with the muzzle touching the fur. The deer jumped up and ran off like a bat out of Hades, and we never found it. Last blood spot I could see was over 200 yds from the head shot.

Sounds like he missed the brain. I've seen that happen more than once.

 

[appalichian hunter]

One of my Dad's friends (and mine) was a retired Marine Master Chief who was a combat veteran and former small bore instructor at Annapolis. When he retired he built a single lane small bore 50-foot range in his basement and shot there regularly. It had a heavy steel plate behind the target frame, slanted to deflect fired bullets into a deep sandbox trap. One day he was firing his custom Remington rifle from the prone position, fired a round, and something struck him in the forehead just above the bridge of his nose. He later reconstructed what happened --- Apparently he had worn a deep dimple in the steel plate by striking it repeatedly in the same place over time --- in a spot aligned with the X-ring. It eventually wore through and a fired round came straight back, angled just enough higher to clear the barrel and sights and hit him in the forehead. It was flattened greatly and so gave him a bad bruise, a contusion, and a headache, but didn't penetrate his skull. So yeah ... it's possible to shoot through steel, even a
3/4 inch thick plate. He replaced the backing plate and continued to use his range, but he checked it regularly after that.

Marines don't have Master Chiefs.

 

[Timber Wolf]

Who are you and what have you done with Mark. We all know he does not use a tight fitting ball or range rod.

 

[Absoroka]

"Maniac's" comment on thin steel made me curious. The silhouette that my 32 penetrated completely was 1/8 inch thick. I shot it five times before checking it. Three shots penetrated completely. The other two were "doubles" that glanced off/through the edge of two other holes already in the silhouette. Obviously soft metal.