I need info about how tall a berm should be behind steel targets

[GARD72977]

Im wanting to run some drills at the range with some new steel I bought. I don't know about a hit to the top part of the target and a ricochet from hitting the top of the target with half the bullet. What Kind of angles could you expect and what distance would a lead bullet travel after it ricochets off the top.

[ZackJones]

Don't know the answer but I do have a suggestion - place a small board or something behind the rear legs of the target stand so that the target is angled towards the ground slightly. That would help redirect flying lead towards the ground and not over the berm.

[GARD72977]

Im not worried about direct hits. Its the near miss that just hits the top of the seel that worries me. The berm is about 9ft tall with tress growing all around it. There is a road a few hundred yards behind that. I could place the targets waist high and close to the berm. I know that no one can say for sure what will happen but I want to make sure im not doing something that is unsafe. just looking everything seems fine. Im just not sure what angles a bullet can come off the top of steel.

[jester121]

I don't think it's possible to responsibly answer your question. Projectiles do funny things -- especially when they hit steel. Poppers don't have 100% perfectly true edges once they've been used, so there are an infinite number of angles that a frag could take on an edge hit. As far as distance, that has to vary widely, based on bullet speed, weight, and even shape of the material. If they're rear falling, even more variables enter the equation, if someone drives it down subsequent rounds could skid off the face of the popper and travel a significant distance -- but I don't have a number for you.

[a matt]

I thought the same but this is what we found out. It needs to be 3 ft higher than the bullets impact. (go figure that) You shoot it, you own it. I just spent 6 mo fighting for my range. This is not legal advice. this is what my county requires. Please check for you're self. The NRA has info on range requirmants. Your county does too.

Edited June 8, 2014 by a matt

[kellymc]

I believe jester has the correct answer. The only thing I could come up with to shoot steel at my range was to have a 12 inch wide wood roof over the plate . We make this work over a couple of falling plates per stage but is not possible for stages involving a lot of steel.

[ToddKS]

^{What caliber are you planning to shoot?}

^{What height will the top of the targets be?}

^{My gut feel is that anything other than poppers on the ground and I would not be comfortable with a 9' berm.}

Edited June 11, 2014 by ToddKS

[GARD72977]

Im shooting a 9mm at around 130 PF with different weight bullets. I was thinking of making the stands about waist high or lower. The pistol range is sloped up hill so at 3.5 ft it would be like aiming at a target that is head high. I guess I could go lower.

[shred]

We used 30 degrees from horizontal as a rule of thumb, thinking that bullets deflected at a higher angle would likely be deformed enough to slow down rapidly. I can't say how accurate that is, but it's worked so far.