Man killed by a ricocheting bullet during target practice

[fencer]

My bet it that someone else fired the round that killed him.

It should be fairly easy to determine if the round was a ricochet if they manage to find the bullet at autopsy.

I was kind of thinking more along the lines of his buddy shooting at a rock that he was standing a few feet away from, as opposed to his buddy shooting him directly in the chest.

 

[drgrant]

The guy was shooting at a rock?
WTF

If shooting at rocks was uber-dangerous, me and a few of my friends would be long dead by now.

I'm not saying it's a "good idea" hardly, but you'd have to be winning the inverse powerball lottery to get killed from a ricochet off a rock.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

shit happens, had a .38 come straight back from 20 foot shot at a steel drum. right at center mass, more scared than hurt.

Years ago I shot a beer keg in the "belt" area a few times with a .45, it was kinda funny, bullet would make a huge dent in the keg and return at a much lower velocity, with a very loud CLANG noise.

Worst ricochet I ever had was a 230 ball round off a big square of bulletproof glass. Came back and hit me in the wrist, felt like getting hit by a golf ball and stung like a bee at the same time. Never did that again.

-Mike

 

[fencer]

Worst ricochet I ever had was a 230 ball round off a big square of bulletproof glass. Came back and hit me in the wrist, felt like getting hit by a golf ball and stung like a bee at the same time. Never did that again.

AND.... you had to find a different bank.

 

[Kevin_NH]

I've been hit by a ricocheting jacket from a .357 round at an indoor range. Punched me right in the sternum, cut a hole in my shirt but didn't draw blood. Didn't shoot .357 magnum again for over a decade.

 

[Spanz]

Quite the expert.

 

[Spanz]

I have a similar bb gun story from when i was 13. Had to have bb dug out of my cheek(face), not fun.

I had frigin pellet guns ricochete into my face. I think they are worse than real guns for that, for some reason. I always wear safety glasses now if shooting at close targets with a pellet gun.

 

[Coyote33]

Just after midnight. Is that when he was pronounced dead at the hospital later or were they shooting blindly at night?

And it happened around midnight! I bet some drinking was involved.

My bet it that someone else fired the round that killed him.

Starting to sound a little fishy.

 

[20 PAWS]

Dude, hold my beer, while I shoot that rock...

 

[Bonesinium]

I shoot rocks all the time, dude!

 

[Rob Boudrie]

I was kind of thinking more along the lines of his buddy shooting at a rock that he was standing a few feet away from, as opposed to his buddy shooting him directly in the chest.

I saw someone take shrapnel in the face when running the line at a local club (no, I was not the shooter). Funny thing - he was so shaken up he totally forgot who fired the round that bounced back at him.

I took him to the ER where they carved 16.5gr lead out of his lip. His hometown PD contacted his wife the next day, got the story on what happened, and that was the end of the police involvement.

Just after midnight

In the old days (1990 +/-) they had USPSA matches at the indoor club in Weymouth on Friday nights. I remember reserving a shoot time of something like 2AM, and going out to breakfast as the sun rose on the way home.

 

[josh2600]

In the old days (1990 +/-) they had USPSA matches at the indoor club in Weymouth on Friday nights. I remember reserving a shoot time of something like 2AM, and going out to breakfast as the sun rose on the way home.

That is cool.

 

[NickW85]

shit happens, had a .38 come straight back from 20 foot shot at a steel drum. right at center mass, more scared than hurt.

Similar thing happened to me but I was hit in the neck. scared the poo out of me.

 

[drgrant]

AND.... you had to find a different bank.

This guy that ran one of the bowling pin shoots gave us segments of the stuff. Somewhere I still have a chunk of it, and it has 40 JHPs stuck in it, it in the first layer. The .45s would just bung up the first layer and bounce off it. The other chunk I had was turned into dust basically, I shot it a few times with a 308 at long distance and it just turned it into rubble.

I still wish I had the bullet that bounced back, I lost it at the range. It was a 230 FMJ round that had basically turned itself into a mushroom shaped disc.

-Mike

 

[cekim]

Not a lot of info. I've been hit by plenty of spall shooting steel at close range and some rock chips. I'm having a hard time imagining a common caliber coming back with enough force to kill you off a rock. I've seen videos of .50 causing shrapnel to come back at the shooter, but that's a pretty high energy round.

I'd like to here some more detail on this case. I'm feeling a bit dubious about it.

Suspicious story is suspicious. Rifle at close rock though is a different beast though, still that is a lot of energy to maintain with a 180 change in direction. This is why metal targets are angled or move the way they do...

 

[fencer]

This guy that ran one of the bowling pin shoots gave us segments of the stuff. Somewhere I still have a chunk of it, and it has 40 JHPs stuck in it, it in the first layer. The .45s would just bung up the first layer and bounce off it. The other chunk I had was turned into dust basically, I shot it a few times with a 308 at long distance and it just turned it into rubble.

I still wish I had the bullet that bounced back, I lost it at the range. It was a 230 FMJ round that had basically turned itself into a mushroom shaped disc.

-Mike

Cool story

 

[beerjeep]

I have a similar bb gun story from when i was 13. Had to have bb dug out of my cheek(face), not fun.

Ralphie?

 

[Robert1]

At indoor matches, I used to constantly get hit with "something" I frankly don't know if it is a casing, because it is too dark, but is feels smaller and sharper than that. It hits my protective glasses, my hat, my cheek. and I am with the watching crown in the middle of the pack in the back. One night I got hit 4 or 5 times. I am used to get hit by casings, it does not feel like that.
Quite often I find bullet fragments when I am cleaning up.

 

[noxin]

At indoor matches, I used to constantly get hit with "something" I frankly don't know if it is a casing, because it is too dark, but is feels smaller and sharper than that. It hits my protective glasses, my hat, my cheek. and I am with the watching crown in the middle of the pack in the back. One night I got hit 4 or 5 times. I am used to get hit by casings, it does not feel like that.
Quite often I find bullet fragments when I am cleaning up.

What are you shooting at? Id expect that with steel, even with 22. If paper and its going into an appropriate backstop, then something bad is happening