Cross Firing at the Range - Myth or Real Hazard?

[1832]

I have seen range rules that prohibit cross firing from rifle range positions. My question is: Has anyone ever seen, heard of, or read of an instance where two bullets actually intersected down range. Given the complex of variables, it would seem that this would be highly unlikely, if not impossible. Thanks for any info.

[pennlineman]

It's possible. You might have a better chance at winning the Powerball than actually having it happen.

Some pictures.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&....0.mEa8dtQup-4

[JStem1283]

IDK about 2 bullets colliding, but I have pot holes in my 3/8 AR500 target where some Dbag shot across the rifle range with his Mosin. Had me fuming!

[Brick]

I don't think it is because of the chance of two bullets intersecting. On indoor ranges, I think it is more likely because bullets don't always act like pool balls when hitting a hard impenetrable surface. Sometimes on hitting a surface they'll follow the surface 2 or 3 inches above it. So firing across lanes might defeat the angle of the backstop or send the bullets into the more lightly armored sidewall.

[dkf]

Oh its real....

[wanneroo]

Yes it has happened in war, especially WW1. The Australian War Memorial in Canberra(one of the best war museums in the world IMO) had a few examples.

In the civilian world I would say it's unlikely to happen and if it did probably not a hazard to those on a firing line.

[egon12]

It is not necessarily about two bullets colliding, but more about where the shot placement is on the backstop. In some cases the backstop cannot handle an oblique angle from a bullet fired across the range. It is more about a liability issue rather than bullets colliding in mid air.

[Delkal]

At the Gettysburg museum they have on display two .69 cal. muzzleloader bullets that hit each other in the air and fused. They also had barrels full of bullets and I am sure they just found a fraction. Get 160,000 people, set then 500 yards apart, and have them all start shooting at each other and it will happen............

Like someone else said......The liability for crossfire at a gun range has more to do with the construction of the backstops.

[Rosco the Iroc]

It has more to do with were/how it will hit the backstop. It's also inspires carelessness. You would be removed from NRA/CMP matches if you do it on purpose.

[RockIsland]

It happens.

Emmons loses gold medal after aiming at wrong target

By Steve Rivera, Gannett News Service
MARKOPOULO — With one bullet left to shoot, all Matt Emmons needed was a score of 7.2 to win his second gold medal of the Olympic Games. On his first nine shots in the finals, Emmons' lowest score was a 9.3. He took careful aim, fired ... bull's eye.
Only Emmons' shot pierced the wrong target — known as a crossfire — resulting in a score of 0.
Instead of gold, Emmons, 23, of Browns Hill, N.J., was left trying to explain the rare mistake that left him in eighth place.
"Stuff happens," he said. "That's the Games, that's just sports. In all honesty, I was the best guy on the line. I can go away with that and be happy. I had a gold-medal performance, and that's all that matters. I don't know if I can make up for this, but I'm looking forward to Beijing. I'll live to shoot another day."
China's Jia Zhanbo won the gold, finishing with 1264.5. USA's Michael Anti (1263.1) won the silver, and Austria's Christian Planer (1257.4), whose target Emmons hit, ended up with the bronze. Emmons finished with a score of 1257.4.
Emmons, who won the prone rifle gold on Friday, said he felt fine going into his final shot. He said he was more concerned with calming himself down rather than looking at his target.
"Every great once in a while, that will happen," Emmons said. "Six or seven years ago was the last time I crossed-fired."
Anti gave Emmons a sympathetic hug.
"It must be devastating for him," Anti said. "He's the best shooter I've ever seen. It must have been a mental error. I've seen it happen before, but I can't believe it happened to Emmons."
Emmons fired at the target in lane three while he was shooting in lane two. When no score appeared on the electronic scoring device for his lane, he turned to officials and gestured there was some sort of error.
"I shot," he appeared to say with a quizzical look as three officials in red blazers approached.
The officials went back and huddled briefly before announcing that Emmons had cross-fired — an extremely rare mistake in elite competition — and awarded him a score of zero.
Emmons explained he usually looks at the number of the target through his viewfinder as a reference point and then lowers his gun to hone in on the target.
"On that shot, I was just worrying about calming myself down and just breaking a good shot, and so I didn't even look at the number," he said. "I probably should have. I will from now on."
When judges checked the wrong target, they determined Emmons had scored an all-for-naught 8.1.
"Honestly, when I shot the shot, everything felt fine," a stunned Emmons told reporters. "I looked down at the monitor and I didn't see a shot. On those targets, sometimes every once in a great while, it won't register. The shot just doesn't show up, so that's what I thought happened."
"For like a half-a-second, I thought, 'Maybe I cross-fired ... no, no, I didn't do that.'"
At the time it happened, it allowed China to tie the United States for the most overall gold medals in the Athens Games at 20.
Emmons' errant shot also overshadowed what had been a successful Olympics that made him one of the feel-good stories of these games.
After discovering earlier this year that someone had apparently sabotaged his rifle, Emmons used a gun loaned to him by a training partner and won the gold medal Friday in the 50-meter prone rifle competition.


http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sport...g-emmons_x.htm