A strange event at the range

[Egldriver]

I had a strange things happen at the range today and I was hoping to get some theories on what caused it. So I am shooting at CZ 75 TS, 115 gn SNS coated bullets behind 3.9 grains of titegroup. Load chronos at about 1122 FPS pretty much a low end of the range for this particular powder/bullet combo. Groups nice out of both my CZ and Glock 34, nice recoil nothing bad. I am shooting at a steel tree from 25 yards with a dirt berm behind it. No problem getting hits. So I fire a shot with a two handed grip arms fully extended. I feel something hit my leg, look down and see a very small cut with blood squirting out. Yikes! By the color of the blood I got a vein so something penetrated. Some pressure with a towel and everything is under control. So I have no idea what happened, but I was hit as soon as the gun went off. I am questioning a richochet because of my distance from the target. I obviously stopped shooting that gun, when I get it home I disassembled it and gave it a thorough inspection. Everything is intact, nothing odd looking. I picked up all the brass I could find and nothing looked odd, all intact. So my thought is a bullet fragmented leaving the barrel and perhaps hit the ground causing something to fly back at me and hit me, although I saw no dust, actually I noted nothing unusual when the gun went off (except getting hit of course). Could a fragmented bullet come back at me leaving the barrel? This seems impossible to me. I guess a fragment could have come back at me during the extraction of the shell out of the ejection port, but I got hit in the shin so that seems pretty unlikely.

So, any theories or similar experiences that you figured out?

Dave

 

[patience0830]

Piece of bullet came back and bit you. It happens. 'Swhy we wear eye pro.

 

[SSGSAD]

Nice first post ..... and 2 .....

 

[SEIndSAM]

I have been hit several times with lead bouncing back from steel targets...Never enough to draw blood though...

 

[Hop]

A friend got hit in the top of the head by a piece of copper jacket when shooting pistols @ ~20 yards. It didn't bleed but made a pretty good mark on her scalp. I told them they were too close. Everyone moved back after she got hit.

 

[TheBoss930]

Most likely a splash back. Maybe jeans can solve the problem, along with angled targets?

 

[88E30M50]

I was hit on the chin enough to draw blood from a fragment coming from the pistol bay next to the one I was shooting in. That had to be 25 yards and over a berm that's at least 12 feet high. It's not enough to wear glasses when you are shooting. Wear glasses and a hat when anyone is shooting near you.

 

[EyeCarry]

............................Wear glasses and a hat when anyone is shooting near you.

And if the glasses have side shields, even better. For people that already wear glasses either get a pair of safety fit-overs or buy a pair of actual safety glasses with side shields and your Rx. Nothing ruins your day worse than an eye injury. Two ears and two eyes. That's all you come equipped with.
I have seen some pretty big pieces of lead come back into the bay from shooting steel. Either someone was using different projectiles or the plates were not angled correctly. Stay safe...

 

[Egldriver]

Ok more common than I thought. I definitely had glasses and a hat on. Long pants make sense but doing an action shooting match in the summer humidity...ugh!

thanks for all the replies

 

[TheBoss930]

Ok more common than I thought. I definitely had glasses and a hat on. Long pants make sense but doing an action shooting match in the summer humidity...ugh!

thanks for all the replies

The child in me has to ask.... What did you do between now and 2010?

 

[Egldriver]

The child in me has to ask.... What did you do between now and 2010?

Not much

 

[Spike Jones 5 2002]

I have to ask, Was there people shooting in different lanes?

 

[wtburnette]

Had the same thing happen at MCF&G. 88 and I were shooting there one Friday morning in a bay and we ended up moving the tables to around 10 yards. Shot steel fine for around 30 minutes and after one shot I felt a sting on my forearm and looked down and was bleeding. Often while we're shooting from under the steel awning at 25 yards back we'll hear stuff hit the awning, so it's not surprising.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

You can make the backstop out of anything, including cream puffs, and pieces of projectiles will come back at you.

 

[Egldriver]

I have to ask, Was there people shooting in different lanes?

Nobody even on the property.

 

[MarkC]

Not exactly on point, but I've been hit in the face by tiny bits of lead from a slightly out-of-time (probably) revolved shooting on an adjacent lane. However, that was back when we were shooting a) lead wadcutters, and b) really old revolvers. (The state had to be fiscally responsible, you know.)

However, in this situation I have to agree with the majority- a tiny bit of projectile or rock or backstop (tiny rock?) came back with enough force to create the (fortunately) minor injury.

 

[Egldriver]

My new standard of protective gear...

 

[HoughMade]

Pffft

 

[warren5421]

I have had blood draws at two different SASS KY State shoots. Both times women shoot me, I told them it's the husband that is to do the shooting. Cause was wrong angle of the steel targets and using low power lead rounds.

 

[2old2bfast]

Years ago I took a hit from splash back out of a bullet trap. Like the previous comments, it happens. Inspect all steel targets for dents or pock marks or any defects that could return fragments back towards you. Don't shoot damaged targets! You want smooth faced targets angled so splatter is directed downward. Have fun and stay safe!

There's always one person that wonders, "will my high powered rifle shoot through that steel target?"
Those people should be banned from the range! IMO