If you’re going to shoot a .50 cal rifle?
You’re going to want to make sure that the target you’re shooting either
1) soft enough to totally absorb the round’s kinetic energy, or
2) is at a distance at least 60% of the weapon’s maximum range.
More or less. Depending on the risk you’re willing to inherit.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZedaT-JHDLA[/youtube]
Keeping in mind that a .50 cal round can not only go a long way out, it can also come a long way back. And even tumbling down to rest? Would sting like a mutha.
(H/T to GEO06 for the vid)
He should have prefaced the shot with “Hey y’all…watch THIS!”
Good grief. Someone add some chlorine to the gene pool. Quickly.
Watch it…..them could be my relatives you’re talkin’ about!
Wow…..cold shudders.
Remind me to tell you why dh doesn’t hunt with Daddy…..sometime
d
Chlorine… I think we need bleach for this one.
We used to always shoot armor plate at about 1000 meters. You get a really nice flash off it when it hits the target.
“That’s the last one of them we’re doing!”
My nomination for understatement of the year.
Anytime you hear something whistling thru the air and gets louder- that is normally a BAD THING on range.
There’s a reason for all those simple gun safety rules. A valid reason, usually.
Yikes!
The very first rule is that you better be smarter than than the equipment you are operating. And any weapon is about a dumb as a rock, what exactly does that say about Bubba?
Marine6 Sends
Hehe..wasn’t it alleged that a formerly nuanced presidential candidate of Gaulish extraction received similar results in a feat of arms with the 40mm M79?
“That’s the last one of them we’re doing!”
The pause right before he said that is the best – The split second when his brain registers “Holy S**t, I’M STILL ALIVE!!”
What I wonder is how the rest of his range day went…..
Couldn’t have got worse.
Just guessing he was shooting at an iron gong or something similar. It’s not uncommon to have a bullet bounce straight back from them, whereas punching paper with a soft backstop behind rarely gives one this sort of, ummm… “negative feedback.” Yeah, that.
Made me wonder too — ya know how if you shoot a bullet straight up it falls back at terminal velocity, generally not enough to kill you but probably enough to hurt like the dickens? Well, we’ve heard about Iraqui’s shooting into the air after they won their soccer match and
the last count was 4 dead and 17 wounded in this spree. Probably firing at an angle, a few of them. And I notice we never hear about these sorts of things from journalist-approved AAA fire? I mean, if it goes up 30,000 feet it’s probably going to come down in a hurry, right? Probably leave a mark, at least?
Hmmm… Time to write the DoD, see if I can borrow an old 40mm Bofors. Purely, you know, in the interests of furthering scientific knowledge. Troop safety. And a guest shot on “MythBusters.” Yeah, that’s the ticket.
– Max
Max, I’d love to see you on Mythbusters!
Keep us posted (grin)
d
After I gave up on trying to shoot the local Grackles with the pellet rifle (they were too clever for me) I tried to amuse myself by shooting at the house. Dang’ pellet bounced right back and popped me one, right over the eyeball. I went and got my glasses before shooting again.
Shot better after donning the glasses, too. Should not have made a difference with the peep sight; maybe I was just more scared, or more careful, or something, after that.
I don?Ǭ
I don´t know how someone can have such bad and good luck at the same time, but he did.
About shooting straight up, as I recall from my classes, the bullet will reach the ground ate the same speed it was fired. And that is not good.
See – hearing protection is a good thing on the range!