Thread: it can happen to anyone! Please be safe

It is exactly this scenario that lead me to develop my suppressed 410s, the build up of small blocks, needing to get rid of pests but with reduced noise and minimal range and risk of ricochet

I have sold hundreds and they still seem to be popular as people realise the risks associated with the old 22

.22 is one of the worst for ricochet danger, I have had them come straight back past us when shooting chicken falling targets with target (hard lead) ammo. I don't think a lot of shooters are really aware of how careful you have to be and to be fair, the firearms safety handbook only talks about the cone of fire in front of the muzzle. The other one that is a bit surprising is air rifles, I was having fun with a co2 air pistol at 15m catching the pellets in my shirt pocket shooting the target stapled to the end of a 100x100 H4 fence post offcut. Could easily see them bouncing back at me, and I got about 14 out of 20 in my pocket!

When I was a teenager sighting in my 10/22, put a bit of cardboard in front of a house brick. Went back 25 paces. Into prone position and squeezed off 1st shot, zip into the ground 6 inches from my elbow! Very careful about what I'm shooting into ever since.

That said last night as it happens I was at a local sporting clay range (Licensed) and we were shooting 5 stand. A rabbit target was set up between 2 and 3 going away. There happen to be 2 Y posts about 30 yards in front of the stands that are sometimes used to help shield a trap.

Shooter on 2 let the rabbit go a fair way before shooting it, pellets must have hit the y post, ricocheted and hit me in the shins (I was on 4)

Very good example why it's important to wear eye protection whenever appropriate.

You wear eye protection on your shins!!!

a good mate of mine was telling me just yesterday of a minor accident he had last week
he lives on a big farm, and he can safely zero rifles just behind his house in the gully he has one of those little steel 22lr swinging targets he uses to quickly check his 22 without needing to set up a target

he shot that with a subsonic 22lr round at 50m and the projectile came back and hit him in the chest it didn't hurt him or even leave a mark, but he felt something bounce off him and fall on the ground he picked up the projectile from between his feet
this is a very safe and experienced shooter so it really can happen to anyone

be careful out there guys

Originally Posted by Cyclops

Apologies to anyone reading this who is or was a member of the police.

It is my observation that being a policeman / policewoman doesn't guarantee proficiency in either firearms safety or firearms use.

But it should

Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

mate a frontline copper with no firearms training apart from the day or two they get at police school is an absolute danger not their Falt they just don't get enough training


however, the fact that this guy is or was a copper is pretty immaterial if he's shooting bunnies, he's a FAL holder (unless he has gone to the other side of the law)
this means he has more experience than his basic police training

Obtaining a FAL doesn't require actual shooting experience.
It isn't a requirement to be an experience shooter before obtaining a FAL.

I'm an example of that. I obtained a FAL then learnt how to shoot (and how to shoot safely).
So a police officer with a FAL may not have any more experience than the occasional police training.

In keeping with the thread title - when I first got my FAL a couple decades back, the firearms instructor running the test told us all the the previous instructor had to quit as he'd accidentally shot his mate in a hunting accident (non-fatally), thinking he was a deer. I think he thought it was a useful example to share, however it didn't instil a lot of confidence that being a firearm safety 'expert' made you any safer in the bush...

Originally Posted by Maca49

But it should

And it better, if they end up armed, like many apparently (from Cahills lips, so...) want.

Whats the difference between say a 36gn 22cal air rifle slug doing north of 1000fps and a 36gn 22lr bullet doing the same- ish fps?

One is propelled by compressed air; the other by the combustion of an explosive charge.
Do I win the chocolate fish?

I noticed that 0.22lr ricochet turned my 7 wires fence into a guitar string every so often,
it got me thinking, what was the chance of 0.22lr projectile hitting 1 of the 7 wires?
After few hours on youtube and Google, it turned out that all my 0.22lr projectiles shattered into smaller pieces when it hit the target (gong).
Not sure if this is worse or less lethal.

In the 70s I read a Reader's digest story about a woman driver who started veering off a highway.

A cop following her noticed it and stopped. She was disoriented and died. During autopsy they couldn't find anything until someone noticed a pink spot behind her ear.

Further investigation found a 303 bullet in the brain stem.

They dis all the simulations and concluded that the bullet entered from a ventilator (old molde car) and must have been fired from a long distance.

Finally it was proved that the shot came from out at sea where a guy was doing target practice on a buoy.

Even more strange is that they knew each other.

Here's one for yi's..
It was aways back during that crazy meat hunting era eh.
Myself and a good mate were heading through the Makarora area to the Coast.
As quick as a flash the windscreen shatters and everything glass is covering both our knees.
Sitting amongst the bits and pieces was a battered .22 pill...reckoned it was a 50grn job at the time.
We can only speculate where it may have come from.............one thing we do know is that it had to have been nearing it's journey from some distance.
Anything can happen any time eh.

Originally Posted by Nakihunter

In the 70s I read a Reader's digest story about a woman driver who started veering off a highway.

A cop following her noticed it and stopped. She was disoriented and died. During autopsy they couldn't find anything until someone noticed a pink spot behind her ear.

Further investigation found a 303 bullet in the brain stem.

They dis all the simulations and concluded that the bullet entered from a ventilator (old molde car) and must have been fired from a long distance.

Finally it was proved that the shot came from out at sea where a guy was doing target practice on a buoy.

Even more strange is that they knew each other.

I remember reading that story to, as I remember it he said was shooting a shark, but still the the odds of working it out!!!