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22 rim fire target

dipits
Buddy wants to hang a 1/4 inch steel target but wants to catch the lead & splatter.
I told him that aprox. 3 feet in all directions should catch it .
What do you think?

I also advised him to MAKE SURE NO ANGLE SHOTS !!!
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Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • brier-49
    If it is a swinger most splatter goes down. BUT ricochettes will come off it at the strangest angles for seemingly no reason. The more you shoot it the more craters and more ricochettes.
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  • lts
    Put a box under the target, run 10 and see what's in the box. An old sheet or blanket will also work and covers a larger area. Use thicker hardened steel so hits will pancake and drop. If the steel is soft or moves, lead is going everywhere, including back at the shooter. When shooting jacketed ammo, found the jackets coming back as far as 40+ yards.
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  • Fatstrat
    IMO shooting at steel plates is an outdated, possibly unsafe practice. Unless your range is in an EXTREMELY isolated location.
    In my neck of the woods, it is getting harder and harder to find suitable rural places for informal target shooting. It just that hard to get away from homes or livestock. And all public ranges are near enough to high population area's that steel plate shooting is a bad idea.
    You may be willing to risk a possible riccochett hit yourselves. But can you be certain there is no one, or property that might be hit within range. Let's say 2 miles.
    Safe shooting dictates that you are reponsible for EVERY BULLET you fire. Even if that bullet does unintended damage.
    We had a case of a police officer who shot at a snake in a tree, and killed a young boy who was fishing a mile away.
    I know this get's away from your original question. And you are attempting to determine how safe shooting at steel plates can be.
    But IMO, unless you can absolutely certain that riccochetts are fully contained. Or that no person or property is within extreme possible range. I'd shelve the idea of shooting steel plates.
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  • Mobuck
    So far, I've not had any 22lr backsplatter. I've had some from 38&9mm cast lead bullets. The bottom edges of my swingers are only 9" from the ground and the splatter chews up the dirt pretty good. If I wanted to trap some of it, I would weld a small lip around the front edge of the swinger. I designed my swingers to hang at a slight angle diverting most of the splatter down. If your plates are mounted solid and verticle, you will get more stuff coming back. I would not shoot centerfire at less than 15-20 yards.
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  • dcs shooters
    Angle the plate at a slight forward angle so any splatter will go downward. We shoot centerfire pistols at these all the time, and none comes back at the shooters. If you need to catch splatter, put a wooden box under it with some sand in it.
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by Fatstrat
    IMO shooting at steel plates is an outdated, possibly unsafe practice. Unless your range is in an EXTREMELY isolated location.


    While I agree in principle that shooting steel plates is potentially hazardous, I think there is a big difference between shooting plates on a level range with a backstop and shooting a bullet into the air!

    So long as you don't shoot into the air, I don't see how you are endangering anyone on a level outdoor range with a backstop (eg a dirt berm, or whatever). At *worst* you're only endangering yourself and the others on the range, and even that only if you aren't being particularly safe with your targets.

    As mentioned, there are plenty of ways to reduce the possible risk of splatter/ricochet: Angle the targets forward a bit, use soft lead bullets, and most important, make sure you aren't shooting steel targets that are really close to you!

    And yes, you shouldn't shoot them at an angle either, though I think on many ranges, it would be practically impossible to do that unless you deliberately set the target out at an angle.
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  • dearchaser
    If we insisted on the same safety standards for our cars, as some do for our guns, we would not be able to drive.
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