Indoor gun range question

[mac1911]

OK so why is it some clubs have a no jacketed ammo rule for indoor use. Wouldnt jacketed ammo cut down on lead dust a bit? Just thinking

 

[Rob Boudrie]

The thinking is it is less damaging to a backstop. I shot an indoor match that had different groups setting rules. The club rules for open range time was "lead only to save the backstop", but when matches were on the other group set the rule to "jacketed only to keep the smoke and lead down". (much of the smoke is from the lube, not lead).

My home club was a "lead only, 1000 fps max" indoor range until the club president and I tested the backstop with some FMJ 28 super ammo and found out that it did not do any damage (we spraypainted the impact area first so we could examine the hits to see if we were damaging the backstop).

There is a goos chance whomever passed that rule did so on faith, rather than actual testing.

 

[Chrisg67]

i was under the impression that some clubs have this policy so they can gather the lead and sell it, or use it to reload.

 

[mac1911]

I could see velocity? there is a no 17hmr rule @ our club. This has been debated over the years. I quess the manufacture of our bullet trap even recomends no 17 hmr

 

[soloman02]

i was under the impression that some clubs have this policy so they can gather the lead and sell it, or use it to reload.

You can still do that with fmj rounds. Just melt the bullets and the impurities will float on the surface since lead is denser than most other metals. Then scoop the impurities away and you have pure lead.

 

[Mass-diver]

At Marshfield, it's no jacket ed ammo apparently for penetration concerns....pretty lame.

 

[Mike-Mike]

WPRC shoot anything except for JHP. The reason is there are rubber mats that prevent splash back and the JHP destroys them.

 

[Woodstock]

It all depends on the backstop metal. Our club had regular steel plate, and hot jacketed stuff would leave a crater. The danger is when another round hits the crater just right, it boomerangs back to the firing line. We upgraded to a more high-tensile steel, and we can shoot jacketed stuff, but no CF rifle and no S&W 500, 460, Ruger 480, etc.

 

[JayMac]

^^^ What he said. Apparently he was typing his while I was typing mine, but since I already made the effort, here's my post anyway!
This was specifically explained to me by a Board Member @ HHRG last week. He told us that, with the type of backstop they use, the jacketed ammo causes divots/pits in the material, and can result in ricochet's from future bullets in the same spot. They've apparently had members report being hit with such ricochets. Not injured, but hit nonetheless.
I'm not sure if that's why every club has that rule, but that's the official reason @ HHRG.
I actually just emailed the club secretary to make sure that CCI mini-mags are OK (gilded nose lead, but not jacketed).

 

[Keystone]

Littleton Sportsman's Club is the closest range to me. A decent indoor range is high on my priorities list for a club, and while they have one, the no jacketed rule would really cut into my use of it, as I don't reload or cast, and have enough trouble finding even jacketed .45 right now...

I may still sign up at some point to shoot .22 there, we'll see.

It is interesting that some places say jacketed only, others say no jacketed. I guess it depends on what their safety priorities are - ricochets or lead exposure.

 

[icyclefar]

It all depends on the backstop metal. Our club had regular steel plate, and hot jacketed stuff would leave a crater. The danger is when another round hits the crater just right, it boomerangs back to the firing line. We upgraded to a more high-tensile steel, and we can shoot jacketed stuff, but no CF rifle and no S&W 500, 460, Ruger 480, etc.

This ties into the only "plausible" explanation that I've gotten at our club, however, it really only applies to 45 hard ball ammo.

I've yet to see any lesser caliber of jacketed ammo leave a mark on the plates.

Rhino rounds like the S&W 500 are a different story, never tested those.

 

[scooter]

At MRA we can shoot everything but 50bmg and black powder inside.We just shot 50AE inside the other day.

 

[Acme.Armament]

It mostly depends on how the backstop has been made and what calibers it can handle without being damaged.

 

[sig2009]

My range says no magnum calibers,no rifle bigger than 22 cal,nothing larger than 45 ACP and no ammo over 1300 FPS. That's it! FMJ ammo does not damage the backstop any more than shooting lead. It's the FPS that does the damage. Doesn't matter much to me anyway because lead is cheaper to reload but I still shoot some FMJ.

 

[George D]

Where I shoot, the backstop can't handle FMJ and it will occasionally come back.