Ricochet/Skim

spideog7

I was out shooting rabbits at the weekend with the .22wmr and I was taking one shot where I was about 80yds to left of the rabbit (from his point of view). He was sitting a good way out from the ditch so he was pretty much in the middle of the field.

The field is on a nice hill sloping to my left, down to a public road, also to my immediate left there's a house at about 50yds (neighbours). I'm shooting across the hill and up it at an angle of a 15 degrees or so. So I'm shooting almost parallel to the road but a little bit away from it up the hill.
I'm slightly below the rabbit but resting on a ditch and shooting into a big ditch behind him, and the hill obviously.

Now I hope you get that image !!

So I fire at the rabbit and I can see the bullet hit's a good few inchs left (which was odd cause I was on the button at that range), I can see the puff of dust off the ground and next thing I hear the bullet whistling off, in either a ricochet or skim, givin the hard ground these days. Now presumably givin the hill It would have ricocheted off to the left towards the road.

It gave me a fair fright considering it was the most questionable shot I had taken all day, given the proximity to houses, but I was fairly confident it was a safe shot. I wonder would it be a bullet fragment, those V-max have polymer tips that could probably fragment quickly enough if it hit a stone or anything. Or possibly a skim, I was high-ish up on the ditch but because of the hill the ground was rising up to the bullet.

Vegeta

Shooting into a hill with a good backstop, the only extra thing you can do is try to work it so that the round, if it ricochets, poses as little threat as possible.

You're dead right though it is scary because no decent folk using firearms like the thought of rounds going astray

Everyone has seen the video of the dude with the .50cal and the hearing protection yeah.

Mellor

spideog7 wrote: »

So I fire at the rabbit and I can see the bullet hit's a good few inchs left (which was odd cause I was on the button at that range), I can see the puff of dust off the ground and next thing I hear the bullet whistling off, in either a ricochet or skim, givin the hard ground these days. Now presumably givin the hill It would have ricocheted off to the left towards the road.

To give you some sense of relief (maybe), the angle of ricochet is dependant on the angle of the surface it hits, but it is also affected by the speed of object, as the bullet is so fast, it will tend to continue in the same direction, straight on. If it does go off at an extreme angle, if will lose alot of her power.

Vegeta wrote: »

Everyone has seen the video of the dude with the .50cal and the hearing protection yeah.

I haven't? Linky?

expressway

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

revan23

i saw a documentary years ago about a kid in america who was killed by a 9mm pistol round that missed a range backstop, went thru the side of the clubhouse, richocheted/skimmmed off a styrofoam roof tile of all things before hitting him, you never know what can happen.

Rew

revan23 wrote: »

i saw a documentary years ago about a kid in america who was killed by a 9mm pistol round that missed a range backstop, went thru the side of the clubhouse, richocheted/skimmmed off a styrofoam roof tile of all things before hitting him, you never know what can happen.

I saw that, he was incredibly unlucky to be hit let alone killed.