Quote:
Originally Posted by autotech6506
hey guys I'm a member at Westshore sportsmen and I was walking around checking out the ranges that I haven't been to before. One of the ranges just had a bunch of hanging steel plates and there was a "safe distance" line that was about 15 feet from them. Can I shoot jacketed bullets (.38and .45acp) at them safely? i've always been told to be careful about richochets and this range set of some red flags to me? what do you guys think?
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i have personally experimented with this and have found that when the bullet hit the plate, as long as the plate could move upon impact, that the bullet simply stopped dead and fell. a friend and i were shooting an old oil tank that had a heavy steel door on the side. we opened it and placed a pallet against the back of the tank, about 6 inches from the back of the door.
every single shot looked like a bird hitting a window. it hit the door and fell straight down, while the door simply swung 6 inches back, hit the pallet, and returned. hope this helps. i would say simply feel it out.however, i would not suggest disobeying the range's "safe distance" rule. good luck.
edit to clarify: while i said the steel door was heavy, it was still thin enough to sustain indentation from the rounds, therefore absorbing some of the energy, if it were so thick as to not be marked it may very well have ricocheted.