scary range visit

[jfowl31]

Well, we took out my buddies unissued Yugo sks after cleaning all the cosmo out of the damn thing, to put about 200 or so rounds through it loosen up the rest of the hidden cosmo, and break her in nicely.

Everything went really well with the Yugo. The guy who owns it is just getting into guns and can't do much as far as groups go, but is learning very quickly. I shot 1 10 shot 1" group with the rifle at 50 yards, and he said he's going to hang it on his wall... An amazing shooter.

Now another buddy was out there with his little brother and his new (to him) m44 mosin. Well, we had found some 1 1/4" steel plate in their barn a few weeks ago, and decide now was a great time to shoot it... We shot the hell out of it with he Yugo at 50 yards, and the little brother was wanting to see what kinda damage a M44 would do to the steel. So he puts 15 rounds down range and cant hit the damn plate. I took the rifle in put the first round right in the center of theplate, It cratered out and got stuck in the plate. I put another round right next to it with the craters overlapping, and this round ricocheted DIRECTLY back at us. It went between me and the guy shooting the sks about 5' away from me, and a REALLY fast rate of speed, and sounding like a freaking UFO or something. Spinning like crazy... you can imagine the zing that it made as it flew just a few feet from out heads.... REALLY scary... definitely wont be shooting steel from that close ever again with anything high-powered

Ive been hit by shrapnel from a 357 mag and the likes before, but this was plain freaky compared to that. Definitely something to think about for anyone else who shoots steel from a distance of less than 200 yards. BE CAREFUL, and if possible, position the plates so they deflect the bullets down when hit.

stay safe
Jordan

[bullseye]

I had something similar happen with a 20ga slug hitting a solid concrete block. I saw it coming and before I could move it was in my cheek. Cool thing was I saw it coming the last 50 yards. :)

[rpmfly2]

The center of a steel plate is like a trampoline! Was it mounted solid? They work best if they are suspended and swing up to deflect projectiles down.

[jfowl31]

just stabbed in the mud... not held really stiffly, but enough to send a bulet back at us. we started out with the angling towards us so the bullets would be deflected down, but after it got shot up aparently we shot the top back, and the angle was directly back at us.

Either way... it wont happen again... I assure you that! we normally dont shoot steel from that close as it just ruins the stuff really fast, but with this massive chunk we had just found, we just couldn't resist! btw, it was some really tough stuff too... 50 yards with 762x54R machine gun ammo, and it only cratered maybe1/8"-1/4" deep. we'll be transporting it to south TX where we shoot long range and making it the 1000 yard target.

[SteelCore]

Even hitting a rock can do the same thing. Ice, water, all can have unexpected resutls. The first time we did 'shotgun bowling at my buddy's range, we shot a group of 10 pins at about 20yds with #6 birdshot. you could hear those little buggers bouncing back off pins and going "ZZZinnnnng! " past your ears. We switched to heavier shot, with better results.

When we shoot steel at 50yds, we put it against the berm, top suported by a 2x4 going into the berm, up-angled to deflect upwards, since the plate (as you observed) does get hammered into the berm.

If you think the M-44 did a job on that plate, get a Mosin 91/30 and shoot the same ammo from the same dist...it is a magnitude more powerful. Get some of the Czech 172gr. "Tz" steelcore, and you'll shoot rite thru that on the first shot! :)

[cbear]

I shot a pistol bowling pin match last weekend. During a reset I was picking up brass, and found a 45 FMJ slightly deformed by my feet. Me and the guy at that station before me were shooting 45. Wear your eye protection guys. I have a shooting buddy who had his Kimber go off out of battey recently. He'd be blind in one eye if he wasn't wearing safety glasses.

[SteelCore]

"Everything went really well with the Yugo"
-->I love my Yugo SKS. I've never had a misfeed, jam or anyprobs with it. Not picky with any ammo type or manufacturer.