...Target, Backstop, and Beyond...FAILURE = Death

[Tinpig]

Ultimate example of why you need to careful about downrange:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amish-...ith-stray-gunshot-will-serve-30-days-in-jail/

I remember reading about that case a few years ago. As I recall, the hunter was "unloading" a muzzle-loader by shooting it upwards. No sentence will ever bring back the young woman, but 6 months suspended to 30 days and probation seems awfully light for an absolutely avoidable negligent homicide.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

That's well and good for those directly involved. For the rest of us, it's about statistics and measures to prevent it from happening again. We can't help those that are already dead. I'm not making excuses but if we're gonna get bent outta shape about people dying, methinks it would be best to address the BIGGER issues first. Especially when they're so easily remedied. It's unfortunate but on issues such as this one, politics play a larger role than they should. It's not about how many people can be saved but what group is the easiest to victimize in order to get our desired result. Everybody drives and everybody uses cell phones. Shooters and hunters are easy marks because they're easily demonized.

Last I checked, we don't do cell phone and driving safety on this forum. We discuss gun-related issues such as gun safety, use of backstops, target identification, etc. If you wish to address those other problems, I am sure you can find another forum where they are salient.

 

[CraigC]

Last I checked, we don't do cell phone and driving safety on this forum. We discuss gun-related issues such as gun safety, use of backstops, target identification, etc. If you wish to address those other problems, I am sure you can find another forum where they are salient.

I was addressing the media's propensity for over-exposing any issues related to guns and shooting relative to other things. Thought that was obvious.

 

[armoredman]

I've never thought launching a .22 caliber bullet skyward was a safe thing to do yet squirrel hunters do it constantly. I never want to pull the trigger and wonder if I may accidentally hurt someone.

Actually watched that on Duck Dynasty of all things, Phil shot almost straight up with a 22lr and dropped a squirrel. City slicker squeaked, "Is that safe?" and Phil said, "For the squirrel? Not so much." Funny at the time, thought provoking later.
My range has a traditional dirt berm backstop, I think 10-12 feet high, backed up against a range of small mountains about 800 feet high.

 

[sugarmaker]

Fire 20 7.62 tracers into your backstop at night. I have learned:
1. Gently sloped (20 degree angle) Rocky backstops (fist size and up) do a poor job of containing bullets
2. Once the deflected bullet clears tree top level, trees are very ineffective
3. Angle of deflection from hard objects can approach 30 degrees
4. After scrubbing the surface of smooth, gently sloping ground (8% grade grass field) for 3 up to 20 or so feet, bullets become airborne and come back down in about 600 yards. They do not reliably stay in the ground, so your backstop includes 1/3 mile of land in a 20 degree cone behind your target in this case

 

[Robert]

Seems we have lost sight of the original case for the thread.