Down below a ways Huey mentioned being hit by a ricochett ..
I wonder how many here have had that happen?
The first time for me was when I was maybe 6 or 7. Dad was in the basement and was testing an old .32 S&W. He shot into a 4x4 and the bullet came back and hit me in the leg. I kept that bullet for many years. Proud of it.
Years later, living in Oracle, AZ, I was loading some 255 gr. round nose in the .45 Colt with light loads. I stepped out on the porch and fired one into the end of a piece of firewood. The bullet turned in the grain and came back and hit me in the big toe. I was in my bare feet and it raised a heck of a blood blister on the end of my big toe!
A few years ago I was in the shop, shooting my little S&W Model 340. I had some .38 Specials loaded with about 1.5 gr. Bullseye and a wadcutter. Shooting into plywood some of the bullets would bounce back and hit me in the chest. Coming back they were going slower than a BB gun shoots. I could see them coming. They did not hurt .. just "THUMP."
That's just a few of the times. I am not counting being shot with full power loads or taking shrapnel from bullet jackets etc.
I've shot myself three times like that.
Once testing an old Break Top S&W .38 with Pyrodex and a 9mm cast bullet. It hit the 1/2" plywood and then hit me in the chest! Scared me.
Then as a youth I shot the crotch of an old Black Jack Oak out my bedroom door with a 1858 Remington clone and a 150 gr. RB ahead of about 30 grs. FFFg. It came back too fast for the eye to see and hit me in the shin. Then it hit my sliding glass door so hard I thought it broke it. It also alarmed everyone in the house I was into mischief, soliciting all sorts of chaos and questions while I surveyed my peril. Lovely.
Another time (you might take note) I shot a plastic 55 gal. drum with a shotgun and pretty big pellets (#5?) at around 30 yds. Actually the patterning target was in front of the sand filled drum. The pellets, a lot of them (!) bounced right back and peppered me and the barn pretty well. I got at least one in the face. While I wear thick glasses, they are no substitute for safety specs.
In high school one of the guys shot a steel car wheel with his .357 JHP and the bullet fragmented with at least 3 pieces hitting him hard enough to penetrate and garnered him a hospital stay. I remember that.
Be careful what you shoot at. Testing on an old demo derby car we found that a .357 (can't remember the ammo) may or may not penetrate one door. It depends on what it hits in that door frame. It can go through both sides or not even make it through the first. Is the glass rolled down? (a barrier) or fully rolled up? (clear sailing). Glass too was very dependent on the angles. So many variables, be careful!
three I remember well
I am sure there were others BBs and such, My first and most memorable 13 years old got a hold of my uncles 22 LR shot a really big manznita trunk it shot be right back left cheek an inch below my eye, NEVER shot a manznita anything since.
Defending my peaches from marauding rats with a sling shot and steel ammo the tree branch it was sitting on shot me back forehead this time again NEVER again.
Had shot my 357 at steel targets A LOT, one day while out teaching my 15 year old daughter how to drive 2nd time out(I was coffered a lot by my kids while learning to drive during hunting season)just so happens to be where the shooting range is this time, I snuck the 357 in the blazer, And just happened to use repainting the gongs as a reason to stop and play at the 700 yard target it is about 50' up a hill so we can see it clearly, I was just below the gong at 30' away shot it 5 times no problem number 6 was followed by a sharp pain to my knee cap and two more spots on the leg, I was afraid to look, Luckily just two real nice instant bruises and a few choice names I called my self. My daughter was more composed than I was, She was figuring out how long a drive it would be to the hospital or at least cell phone range at 25 MPH that was as fast as she had driven at the time, NEVER again....
Well if we are all telling on ourselves, here goes
Years ago I did a lot of groundhog hunting, normally with Larry Farley with our "long" range rifles. Mine was a Remington 700 in 22-250 Improved. One fine day whilst I was meandering thru our favorite ground hog field I was by myself as larry was actually working for a change. I had bought one of the Thompson Center Patriot pistols. It is a single shot black powder pistol.
![[image]](images/uploaded/202012081943305fcfd762abd3a.jpg)
It is a 45 caliber single shot cap and ball. The area was full of ground hogs so I decided to give my new Patriot pistol a go.
Driving around the large field in my Jeep I had spotted several hogs but before I could get the gun cocked and out the window of my Jeep the hog was gone. So I decided to be smarter than the hog and cocked the gun and set it on the seat beside me. On one of the deeper ruts in the field the jeep bounced and the gun went off. The lead ball hit the steel of the firewall and bounced back and hit me just below the knee. I stopped the jeep and got out (actually pretty much fell out) expecting to see half a leg and everything below the knee gone. I yanked up my jeans leg and was very surprised to see the leg intact, although there was a bloody small circle where the round ball had hit. Shortly after that I sold that pistol and have never ventured into black powder since then.
I angle my targets to the side
So if a bullet bounces back it goes harmlessly into the woods. I learned long ago, toy can’t tell where a ricochet will go.![[image]](images/uploaded/202012081619575fcfa7ad95e13.png)
![[image]](images/uploaded/202012081620235fcfa7c7ca6b4.png)