What is flying back at me?

[hawkeye2]

Wow Clyde, great idea!

 

[coloradoclyde]

Glad to help and glad I was understood!
Now! if it is the gun, and you extrapolate it further by encasing the shooter in a box with a ground cloth you should be able to recover the fragments and identify whether they are lead or cap fragments.
The first step in solving any problem is proper identification of the problem.

Good luck and be sure to share the results. :v

 

[wpjson]

I am going to move the targets a bit further away, also.

 

[garry robinson]

Your probly right on that. I shot my remington at a steel truck wheel about 15 yrds away once. Big mistake too because it flew back and hit me right in the shirt pocket. It didnt do any injury and i barely felt it but i learned a verry valuable lesson. These old style revolvers can be every bit as dangerous as a modern one. I just was blessed to have it hit easy. I was using 30 gr fffg goex with soft lead out of a 8 inch barell.

 

[wpjson]

I only use 15 grains when I am just shooting targets close in. Last weekend I did find a spent ball lying on my shooting table. Probably the one that struck my arm a couple of weeks back. No damage, just a bit of pain. I am going to place them further out and I think that will take care of the problem.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I've had flattened balls and conical slugs fly back at me from steel targets hanging from chains.
one actually landed on a comrades leg he was sitting on the ground. it was quite hot he said.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Sounds like a good range warning sign;

Caution, catching flying bullets can cause severe burns. :shocked2:

 

[frogwalking]

I have seen several bumper stickers that said "Protect your right to keep and arm bears". Perhaps it has happened and the bears are shooting at you. If so, I would not worry too much. I don't think a bear would be very good shot, and besides, where would a bear get a nice gun?

 

[wpjson]

two bears have been hanging around my cabin this fall, but I seem to have a lion now. I do not know how good a shot a lion would be, but they have better night vision, :hmm: so I have to keep an eye out when I go to the outhouse. All the bells I have to wear to protect myself seem to drive away game and makes hunting more difficult. :haha:

 

[99whip]

Do you guys think ricochets are common with lighter loads and smaller calibers? Have shot rifles for a while but I'm interested in my first BP revolver and looking at the entry level versions which always recommend using lighter loads, particularly the brass bodied models. I guess lighter loads probably also mean closer shooting range?

I consider my shooting style more of a plinker and occasional shooter.

 

[Zonie]

Welcome to the Forum.

I don't think a BP revolver will be any more likely to have a ricochet than any other handgun.
They all do it if they are shot at a shallow angle at something.

As for the light powder loads recommended for the brass frame pistols, they are far from being weak.

For instance the 15 grain powder load recommended by Dixie for their brass frame .36 cal revolver produced a muzzle velocity of 668 fps in a Lyman Black Powder Handbook test.
Likewise a 20 grain powder load in a .44 cal revolver tested by Lyman had a muzzle velocity of 640 fps.

 

[99whip]

Thanks Zonie, this is a great site, I'm glad I found it and thanks for your tips.

 

[Poor Private]

A friend of my got shot by a steel sink. Yep thats right a sink. He was shooting at a junk sink in his back yard from his porch, and it did the circle thingy. In the side(it was laying on it's side) and followed the curvature of the sink back and up and towards him. He got shot in his cheek. It must have been an interesting report that was filled out at the hospital and police dept. "Man Shot By Sink"

 

[AZbpBurner]

I've read several reports over the years of folks shooting the little .31 cal. pocket revolvers having ricochet problems, especially when shooting at plywood.

But I've never had any problems with either .36 or .44 cal balls, even at lighter target velocities.

 

[TFoley]

All the bells I have to wear to protect myself seem to drive away game and makes hunting more difficult. :haha:

Aren't they the kind of bells that they often find in bear doo-doo?

tac

 

[FishDFly]

"But I've never had any problems with either .36 or .44 cal balls, even at lighter target velocities."


I was shooting a .44 and had a portable target stand in front of a firewood stack as a backstop.

My wife came out and said the balls were bouncing off the firewood and hitting the house. Sure they were and went back to shooting.

Shot again and heard the ball bounce off my pickup truck, ball dented the door.

Lots of dents in the end of the firewood and no balls in the firewood in some places.

Lesson learned.

 

[99whip]

What kind of range were you to the firewood? Must be a weird feeling to be shooting at something in front of you and hear the lead balls hitting things behind you.

Kind of reminds me of my days fishing on the flats in Florida during the summer when storms are prevalent. When you suddenly stop and realize that humming sound you are hearing is your rod tip singing with static electricity, it could have already been too late.

 

[FishDFly]

"What kind of range were you to the firewood? Must be a weird feeling to be shooting at something in front of you and hear the lead balls hitting things behind you."



Measured 25 yards with a tape measure, getting ready to go to Phoenix for the Nationals.

Did not know until the wife told me what was happening.

 

[FishDFly]

Kind of reminds me of my days fishing on the flats in Florida during the summer when storms are prevalent. When you suddenly stop and realize that humming sound you are hearing is your rod tip singing with static electricity, it could have already been too late.


Yep, been there, at least you can see the clouds, and hear the thunder.

Many years ago I was sitting in a tree deer hunting with a pistol, the thunder seemed to be close it seemed. Lightning struck the tree next to me, my end of sitting in trees.

Thank you Mr. Darwin.

 

[99whip]

Yea, that is pretty scary stuff. One of the times it happened I was lucky enough to be with my dad, who is hard of hearing. I'm calmly suggested he put down the rod and we make a move.