Re: Steel targets and spall
Be aware, when shooting steel targets, of the possibility of spall coming back to(toward) the shooter. If the round doesn't penetrate the target, the target will deform as it is disintegrating the bullet. It will then restore itself to (near) its original shape, and hurl bullet fragments back off of its surface. When the target is on a swinging suspension, the impact will swing it off of vertical and you can see the spall impact the ground in front of the target. If the target is heavy, the swing will be small, and the spall will impact nearer the firing line.
If the bullet is steel-cored, as in most GI .50 BMG, the spall contains big pieces that can come back a LONG way. I've seen .50 spall impact 200 yards in front of the target. Fortunately, I was shooting from 300!
I've seen steel cores from 7.62x39 come back 85 yards, with enough energy to raise a welt.
The NRA moved the small-bore silhouette chicken targets back from 25 yards to 40 yards because spall from .22LR was often hitting shooters.
I've even been hit by spall from a particle-board wooden target backer, shooting old, weak, .22 Short from a revolver. The bullets were compressing the particle board, but not penetrating it, and the board was throwing the bullets back at the shooter. Too many details to go into here, but the bottom line is Be Aware!
Wear your shooting glasses!!
Mike
