.22lr ricochet

alan123

I was out shooting rabbits the other day and when shooting I occassionally heard that "ping" as you do in the movies from ricochet. I was shooting into a ploughed field and figure the bullet was ricocheting off a stone in the earth. What are the implications of this? Can it be prevented? How dangerous is it... could a bullet ricochet off at a right angle and hit a house or car 100 yards away? How much energy would be in the bullet, could it break glass or cause injury after this type of ricochet?


(clearly I am new to rifle shooting)

ivanthehunter

Clearly:D What sort of ammo are you using
I'm new to this my self;)

alan123

Sub sonic, hollow point CCI

cooperjeff9

alan123 wrote: »

I was out shooting rabbits the other day and when shooting I occassionally heard that "ping" as you do in the movies from ricochet. I was shooting into a ploughed field and figure the bullet was ricocheting off a stone in the earth. What are the implications of this? Can it be prevented? How dangerous is it... could a bullet ricochet off at a right angle and hit a house or car 100 yards away? How much energy would be in the bullet, could it break glass or cause injury after this type of ricochet?


(clearly I am new to rifle shooting)

Well, there is a lot there. Firstly it is possible that the bullet will travel in an unwanted direction but high velocity rounds will reduce the possibility of ricochets. It could possibly break glass or cause injury and regarding energy it would depend on whether it is a full round ricocheting or just a fragment. Probably just a fragment in most cases but difficult to tell unless you can recover it. Yes it can be dangerous which is why the use of eye protection is recommended while shooting. If you want to minimise the possibility of ricochet , use high velocity ammo,try not to shoot at a shallow angle i.e. prone shooting at rabbits, try to angle the shot down i.e. shoot from an elevated position or shoot downhill if possible, be particularly careful shooting early morning as the chance of rounds ricocheting off wet/dewy grass is increased. Hope this helps. Shoot safe.

bitemybanger

Should always be shooting into some kind of backstop that will catch the bullet. i imagine after 100 yards, a 22lr bullet would still have enough power to do serious harm to someone(after a ricochet that is)

Mellor

The impact will remove some of the energy from the round, how much depends on the angle of impact.

alan123

Yes that covered a lot. Im not so concerned about the eye protection for myself, but more about the chance of breaking a window and losing my licence! Not to mention horror stories like the child that was hit with the bullet up north last year.

I even shoot at a 'do all' spinning target and every hit pings, but I just presume the bullet deflects into the ground as a design feature of the target.

I just want to shoot without worrying about hurting someone or livestock a field away.

ivanthehunter

I take it that the higher speeds of high velocity rounds will reduce the possibility of ricochets due to the rapid disintegration of the round.
So even lower powered rounds would be more prone to ricochet.
What about taking suspect shot with a heart/lung style shot to rabbits body, surely the chance is now much less

alan123

bitemybanger wrote: »

Should always be shooting into some kind of backstop that will catch the bullet. i imagine after 100 yards, a 22lr bullet would still have enough power to do serious harm to someone(after a ricochet that is)

I am safe in that.. the shot that ricocheted was in the middle of a ploughed field on an incline, so all around the target was earth and for 50m to the left before reaching the ditch and several hundred meters to the end of the field. My fear would be that the bullet would ricochet off at an angle and through the ditch 50meters away, and as we all know, anything or anyone can be on the other side of the ditch. Are my concerns unfounded?

alan123

ivanthehunter wrote: »

I take it that the higher speeds of high velocity rounds will reduce the possibility of ricochets due to the rapid disintegration of the round.
So even lower powered rounds would be more prone to ricochet.
What about taking suspect shot with a heart/lung style shot to rabbits body, surely the chance is now much less

Heart, lung, head is irrelevant really. Its the clear miss thats the problem. Even if it only happens once in a blue moon, nobody ALWAYS hits the target. The high velocity round will penetrate into the earth rather than bounce off it and if its hollow point it will fragment/disintigrate. But thats not much use if Im using a moderator (that requires sub sonic rounds).


(open to correction from the rifle experts!)

meathstevie

Try to get the most frangible ( easy break up on impact ) , highest powered ammo you can get your hands on that's suitable for the job. Even if you miss chances are that the bullet shatters. I suppose that's fairly hard for a .22lr unless you get high speed hollow points that reduce the effectiveness of your moderator.

In the meantime keep your angles as high as possible and make sure you have a decent backstop. Sitting on your behind is better than lying down and if you can use a fencepost or a tree to support your rifle while you shoot standing is better again.

thehair

hi lads i shoot .22LR rimfire. ok can anbody help. 1 how far .22 round can
travel with no wind say stright line down the middle of the field
any idea thank steve:cool:

meathstevie

This one looks like it's fairly comprehensive to answer your questions. You have to put in a fair few variables yourself though.

http://www.ajbinc.net/cgi-bin/cd.cgi?Al_Bal_Ballistics_Calculator.zip

Rovi

thehair wrote: »

hi lads i shoot .22LR rimfire. ok can anbody help. 1 how far .22 round can
travel with no wind say stright line down the middle of the field
any idea thank steve:cool:

Check out this thread for an overdose of obsessively detailed information.

Here's the .22LR bit:
Winchester Rimfire .22 LR, 40 gr. Super X PowerPoint LHP
The maximum range of your Winchester Rimfire .22 LR, 40 gr. Super X PowerPoint LHP at 1280 Feet per Second is:
1635.5 yards at an elevation angle of 29 degrees.
Maximum altitude: 842 Feet @ 1075 Yards downrange
Velocity at point of impact: 257 Ft/Sec
Energy at point of impact: 5.9 Ft/Lbs (8 Joules)
Flight time: 14.4 seconds

cooperjeff9

thehair wrote: »

hi lads i shoot .22LR rimfire. ok can anbody help. 1 how far .22 round can
travel with no wind say stright line down the middle of the field
any idea thank steve:cool:

Assuming a shot fired from the shoulder, the bullet will drop 63inches at 220 yds. Based on CCI 40gn hollow point subsonic and a 50yd zero. High velocity CCI Stinger will drop 31inches at the same range based on 50yd zero. winchester Superx High Velocity will drop 48 inches at 220yds.

300yds will put all of the above in the ground fired from the shoulder with the CCI subs dropping a massive 133inches at 300yds. I would think that most .22lr ammo would be pretty similar to the examples above with minor variations.

thehair

thank rovi and copperjeff9 for informant on .22rinfire.
i cant wait to show a shooter with lots of bal.ls and no cop on.
socall shooter telling aaaaaaaaaaaa a.22 is only good for target under
100 yards and dont let anybody tell you any difference .
i ask shooter what type of rifle he had over all the 23years shooting.
ans no no i only have me dad shotgun dont let that put you off.
i will SHOW YOU HOW TO SHOOT A RIFLE./
i think i might ask the head doctor to go to next club metting
and pay him to sent him to the nut and bolt hospital;)

pestshooter7

When the bullet ricochets it will be "tumbleing" so its velocity is greatly reduced! Id day the max for a 22lr after ricochet is 200 yrds ond has very little power! Doubt it would break laminated glass but theres always a possibility!
Just take safe shots all the time and if in doubt, just dont fire! The rabbit/crow will be there another day!

alan123

Thanks lads.

thehair

meathstevie wrote: »

This one looks like it's fairly comprehensive to answer your questions. You have to put in a fair few variables yourself though.

http://www.ajbinc.net/cgi-bin/cd.cgi?Al_Bal_Ballistics_Calculator.zip

thank meathsteve for the link. steve:D