22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

[charlestondiving]

How safe is it to shoot .22 rifles/handguns at ar500 steel. trying to put together some steel shooting safety rules for our small gun club.

Are 22's more likely to bounce back off a 66% ipsc ar500 target?

What is the recommended minimum safe distance for shooting steel with 22's?

 

[wksinatl]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

We shoot a lot of Steel Challenge matches. Even the rimfire rounds seem to disintegrate when they hit the plate.

The closest targets are 7yds (Smoke & Hope and Roundabout). I've never seen or heard of any issues. When you hit the steel you can see the splash/spray fan of lead parallel with the plate, on the ground.

I have had lead come back and hit me from centerfire rounds. That I have seen many times. That's why eye protection is a MUST around steel plates.

Keith

 

[Nocalphoenix]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

Porta Target and Action target both officially recommend 10 yards for a minimum safe distance for steel. Lead bullets of any kind are pretty much dropping at the point of impact, either splattering into fragments or holding together in a little blob and bouncing back less than a foot.

The most critical aspect of safety with steel targets is the surface you put them on. In my experience most of the splatter that impacts the shooter are fragments coming back off of the ground, target frames etc, not the impact with the actual steel target.

 

[tomme boy]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

Angle it so the rounds will go down when shot.

 

[11B-B4]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: tomme boy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Angle it so the rounds will go down when shot. </div></div>

+1 on this.

I was at a high threat shooting course once and one of the instructors was putting on a fam fire show with the students in a horseshoe configuration. I thought it was odd that everyone was so close to the steel ~5 meters...

Its usually not a hazard for the shooter... but it can be for everyone else at odd angles to the shooter.

Needless to say a nearby instructor caught a piece of lead in the neck and started bleeding like a stuck pig. I'll give it to him that he was professional enough to do an about face and walk towards the medic. Nobody really noticed. We then backed up to around 15 yards. This was with 9mm FMJ.

A couple months ago in iraq I was shooting some steel on a flat range and a buddy of mine caught some spall in the face from 25m back on a steel range, we were shooting 9mm FMJ.

That is very unusual though.

I would think 15meteres is pretty safe. and even if you get hit with spall at that range its not going to hurt you. But you dont want it getting in your eye.

 

[charlestondiving]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

Roger that, thanks for the advice.

 

[Jerz_Subbie]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

I shoot steel no closer than 8-10yd, centerfire pistol and .22lr. If it's angled downward or swinging/falling you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Tim C.]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

The one factor that will screw up all others - craters or dimples on the steel surface of your target. It can make both rimfire and centerfire at all ranges do really odd things. Keep your target surfaces in good repair.

 

[cmh2007]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

the lead will go splat and flatten out into a pancake about a half inch in diameter

 

[ivanthesane]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

Also depends on how the steel is set up. Free, hanging on chains, it will give even less ricochet compared to something solid and fixed in place.

 

[JoeMartin]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The one factor that will screw up all others - craters or dimples on the steel surface of your target. It can make both rimfire and centerfire at all ranges do really odd things. Keep your target surfaces in good repair.
</div></div>

This is true as I have had it happen once from a 50 yard 3/8" swinging gong. A fragment did come back and hit the bumper of my van a few feet away from where I just started shooting.

I was puzzled as to why this would happen so I walked down range and looked at the metal swinger I had just shot at. Sure enough you could see a bright mark at the top and bottom of a bullet crater in the metal. I figure this is where the .22lr 40 grain bullet made its turn - sending a fragment back towards me since it was the first shot (on a dull gong) I had taken that morning to start warming up my barrel.

Since then I stopped using the local range's gongs and purchased my own from Quality Targets. Which I'll say at this time they provided me with great speedy service in getting me my gongs.

Overall I feel shooting metal is safe if not pot marked and set up as a swinger or angled down a bit if it's not a swinging gong.

Shooting metal is lots of fun. Safety glasses is always a good idea. And,,, if other people are shooting pot marked metal - stay away from them.

 

[charlestondiving]

Re: 22 rimfire on AR500 steel. safe?

Thanks for the advice. Since most of the guys at our little gun club havent shot steel before we are going to put up signs with the minimum ranges for rifle, handgun, etc. Hopefully no one will ruin the targets.

I'm hoping the steel will cut down on the number of cans and other trash people tend to plink at for reactive targets.