Bouncing balls...

[KABAR2]

Bouncing PVC pipe (filled with concrete).

I would not believe this unless I saw it.

I was firing the 4.5" at LOW angle (about 15 degrees elevation), aimed to hit the trees on the 100 meter berm.

Perfect hit on a 4" diameter tree about 20' high.  It FLEXED and tossed the round to the left hitting a 3" tree, WHICH FLEXED and tossed it back over to a 10" pine - THUNK.

I was right out of the cartoons.

It happened.  I saw it.  I don't expect ANYONE else to believe it.

So what your saying is the trees were having a badminton game going.................... Don't worry CW we believe you........ 





Actually I do believe it, trees have a lot of spring that high up I have cut enough of them down to know.

[Cat Whisperer]

It was a volley!  And I served the next one too.   

[Victor3]

 Maybe I'm totally off my rocker, but I'd think that tires - especially when shot at in the steel-belted tread area - would be nearly as bad as shooting at reenforced rubber (oh wait, they's the same thing).

 The only advice I've ever heard concerning shooting at tires (other than cops trying to stop a fleeing vehicle) is don't.

 Filling a stack of tires with dirt would only make them more resiliant to flexing inward as a bullet hit, resulting in more, not less bounce.

 I can't buy into the tire backstop idea unless it could be guaranteed that only high-powered rifles would be shot at them.

[dan610324]

here we just use a 45 degree gravel slope covered with a 2 foot layer of sawdust
its self healing, just need some more sawdust now and then (every third year or so)
absolutely nothing bounceing back from that

[Cannoneer]

How about an athletic support?

rc MD

As my mother used to tell me: You've got the devil in you; Rich, you're incorrigible!

[belt fed frog]

Victor3
i guess the shoot houses that the swat/special ops/SEAL`s  use are lethal  to those practicing in them with 9mm/shotgun 00 buckshot especially in very tight quarters , i have not ever caught any back spatter in one during trainning and for that matter so are the public indoor ranges that use cut tire tread edge on  to trap the pistol /rifle rounds  are dangerious too  NOT the only thing that has ever bounced off my back stop is fine shot below #4 in size what i get bouncing back is #7 -#9 shot ,22LR/short you cant even tell where it went in as it seals back over now a .25 acp i might worry about because it is so under powered but any thing from there up no problem
tires have been in use  safely for a long time with the added benefit that all the lead is trapped in them or the first layer of tires  to reduce lead contamination to the enviroment and make clean up easy just remove first layer with the dirt filling them and dispose of in the proper dump site
now a 1.723" cannon ball i would not risk cause i know it would bounce back instead of penetrating

[Victor3]

"Victor3
i guess the shoot houses that the swat/special ops/SEAL`s  use are lethal  to those practicing in them with 9mm/shotgun 00 buckshot especially in very tight quarters..."

 Well, as I said, maybe I'm nuts. Never shot at tires with handgun, .22 or shotgun; Pops always forbid it when I was a kid and I've carried that into adulthood. A few gun rag articles I've read over the years also advised against it. Seemed like good advice.

 On another note, I was hit square in the forehead (only got a tiny cut) by a large flattened handgun bullet at an indoor range once. I showed the bullet to the owner who said, "That's why we wear eye protection." He figured it had hit one of the I-beam roof supports.

[KABAR2]

Since we digress in to general shooting I have found at my local pistol ranges spent bullets behind me by the wall, when sweeping up my brass,
one range has a very short distance to the backstop, I was being peppered by copper from the guy shooting a 44mag in the stall next to me,  I let
him know about it and he stopped shooting the hand cannon. I also let the management know they should be limiting the use of the range as far as that
caliber and also not let people use +P ammo, I don't know if they took me seriously but I have not been to that range since, also it attracted the Gangsta
wanabe's which I really did not want to be around for safety reasons.

[GGaskill]

While I was shooting Cowboy, some of the self-styled experts were recommending the use of wimp loads (I was using 7 grains of Unique in a .44-40 which is OK but not max) and soft lead bullets.  I was hit by rebounding pieces of soft lead a couple of times although it caused no injury.  I coundn't convince them that hard bullets would shatter on impact and that they needed to balance the steel targets so that fragments were deflected downward.

[Cannoneer]

i need to figure out something to stop steel balls . as at nealy 2 bucks per it would be nice to recover my bouncing balls .....some anyway .....

to date none have been recovered .

Years ago when I was seriously into pistol shooting, and couldn't get enough of it, I bought a steel trap that was made of about 1/8 plate meant to handle .22 LR, and set it up so I could fire lengthwise across my basement. I hung two army surplus wool blankets in back of it to catch any flyers, and never had a problem with any lead coming back at me.
Gary, if you, or T&M came across a large/thick enough piece of steel plate, and can get it at a bargain, couldn't you set it up (propped up on posts, at an angle that would direct your steel shot down into the dirt) at the spot where you shoot in Colorado, (that is if you usually shoot in the same vicinity) and just leave the trap there, instead of lugging it back and forth?

[Victor3]

i need to figure out something to stop steel balls . as at nealy 2 bucks per it would be nice to recover my bouncing balls .....some anyway .....

to date none have been recovered .

Years ago when I was seriously into pistol shooting, and couldn't get enough of it, I bought a steel trap that was made of about 1/8 plate meant to handle .22 LR, and set it up so I could fire lengthwise across my basement. I hung two army surplus wool blankets in back of it to catch any flyers, and never had a problem with any lead coming back at me.
Gary, if you, or T&M came across a large/thick enough piece of steel plate, and can get it at a bargain, couldn't you set it up (propped up on posts, at an angle that would direct your steel shot down into the dirt) at the spot where you shoot in Colorado, (that is if you usually shoot in the same vicinity) and just leave the trap there, instead of lugging it back and forth?

 An angled steel plate is probably a good solution. An 11 ga sheet should make steel balls stay closer the target area (and would be easier to transport than plate). Thinner material wouldn't be as apt to bounce a steel ball since it would dissipate some of the energy. Might punch a hole at closer range though.

 On .22 targets - A while back I set up a ~12" x 18" stainless steel electrical box at 75 yds and shot it with my Ruger MKII. The bullets stopped dead and slid down the face of the box into a pile. I thought that was odd 

[KABAR2]

i need to figure out something to stop steel balls . as at nealy 2 bucks per it would be nice to recover my bouncing balls .....some anyway .....

to date none have been recovered .

Years ago when I was seriously into pistol shooting, and couldn't get enough of it, I bought a steel trap that was made of about 1/8 plate meant to handle .22 LR, and set it up so I could fire lengthwise across my basement. I hung two army surplus wool blankets in back of it to catch any flyers, and never had a problem with any lead coming back at me.
Gary, if you, or T&M came across a large/thick enough piece of steel plate, and can get it at a bargain, couldn't you set it up (propped up on posts, at an angle that would direct your steel shot down into the dirt) at the spot where you shoot in Colorado, (that is if you usually shoot in the same vicinity) and just leave the trap there, instead of lugging it back and forth?

 An angled steel plate is probably a good solution. An 11 ga sheet should make steel balls stay closer the target area (and would be easier to transport than plate). Thinner material wouldn't be as apt to bounce a steel ball since it would dissipate some of the energy. Might punch a hole at closer range though.

 On .22 targets - A while back I set up a ~12" x 18" stainless steel electrical box at 75 yds and shot it with my Ruger MKII. The bullets stopped dead and slid down the face of the box into a pile. I thought that was odd 

I think a steel plate may work depending on soil..... if you have hardpack clay or soil with rocks you could still get some unintentional bounce back in your general direction.