target shooting gongs...

R

ruger22

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
87   0   0
Location
BC, sunshine coast
In the light of there is no such thing as a dumb question...

I shoot 9mm and 357/38. Always wear saftey glasses.
Shooting gongs at 25 yards is fun. My question; are all bullets safe regarding being hit with splatter i.e. FMJ's to wad cutters to hollow points?

Target loads and factory stuff?
 
Depends on the condition of the metal. A heavily pitted or dented target may send material uprange. 25 yards should be pretty safe for handgun. IPSC rules have pistol steel not being closer than 10 yards if I remember correctly. Shooting steel with centerfire rifle any closer than 50 yards is just asking for trouble.
 
basically yes. they all splatter to some extent when impacting metal. if you are shooting heavy loads, and the gongs are heavily pitted, torn up, or improperly designed, then there is probably more risk involved, but the actual bullet design itself likely won't affect much at handgun velocities. if they are in good shape, and you are shooting from 25 meters and wearing safety glasses, you shouldn't have too many issues.
 
It basically depends on the target condition and material, and the style/design/mounting of the gong. At 25 yards it is very unlikely you will ever have any problems with anything you are shooting.
 
Max Owner said:
Angle the gong so the bottom sits further away from you than the top. Splatter travels down.

Might work.
Click to expand...

This is what I did when I built some center fire spinning gong targets. Now to get them out to the range - haven't tried them yet.

Also I have seen FMJ bullets fly around alot more than lead. I have never had one come back and hit me, but I have seen them rocochet around a little at the end of the range and I have seen more than a few laying around about half way downrange, which leads me to believe they are bouncing back half ways. I don't see the lead bullets doing this.
 
I have one good up to .44 mag. The maker says only lead bullets should be used although I have used .44 and .41 JHP before.
The hot JHP's did splatter at 25 yards but it did make me a little nervous doing it.:) I'll probally stick to lead in the future as I don't need another thing that might lead to flinching.

My gun club has angled armered steel plate as a backstop in our indoor range. When I took my CCW qualifier there some years ago part of the firing was at 5 yards, 6 shots fast and a reload and six more.
I put myself to the far right of six shooters and didn't feel comfortable with all six of us shooting into a steel wall ten yards in front. All 72 rounds went into the hopper as planned but a couple got some splatter too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom