NY: Parma Man Accidentally Shot from Half Mile Away

Ammoland ^ | 25 January, 2018 | Dean Weingarten

[katana]

Your Jersey transplant neighbors don't happen to look like this, do they?

[dis.kevin]

I target shoot at my local sportsman’s club.

[PAR35]

He ought to sue them for everything they have and they should never be allowed to touch a firearm again.

Because some folks are just too stupid to shoot.

[going hot]

Depends mostly on the elevation hold and ricochet off the ground.

If shooting fairly low, the bullet ought to hit the ground closer. If it is still in flight for one second while holding higher, it may be 2500-3000 ft away when it first hits the ground.

If it then bounces off, it can travel further, repeating, until it runs out of velocity.

Obviously no backstop will work if accidental discharge at a elevated angle or simply having the sights set too high to begin with

Mostly shoot as if your Son, daughter or best friend is standing somewhere downrange, and take steps to prevent your rounds from reaching them by having adequate barriers in between.

[libstripper]

If it's a .308, you're looking at a lethal range of about 3 miles. A .308 has pretty much the same performance as a lot of rounds used in WW I. Machine gunners quickly learned they could do a lot of damage to people they couldn't even see. All they had to do was use their weapons as barrage weapons by aiming them toward enemy lines at an elevation that allowed the bullets to fly as far as possible. That way soldiers who were even a mile or two behind trench lines would get hit and often killed or injured .

[oldvirginian]

Thats a good one. :-D

No they are actually from southern Jersey. More red neck than “Family”.
Good conservatives too.
After the last election they were screaming about idiots from up north bringing their politics south.
Good people.

[GingisK]

That depends on what the intervening material is between you and the horizon. In this case, some sort of backstop would have been appropriate.

It is not OK to shoot into the woods, it is OK to shoot against the side of a bluff. In both cases the horizon is obscured.

[cpdiii]

“First rule of shooting at targets - ensure that there is a solid, 100 percent reliable backstop. Like a hillside, dirt pile, concrete wall, etc.”

Good post. I have a rifle range on my land and use it often. It is 16 feet tall. Behind my rifle range is 3000 feet of range land. We hunt on my land but there are some houses within 400 yards of my land. Most hunting shots are taken from an stand and thus pointing into the ground. There is zero chances of a bad shot that could cause harm. Rarely a shot is taken from a bench and it is only taken if a miss would land on the range land. Since we are shooting a flat trajectory in all probability the miss would land on my land and not the range land behind my house. Anything that would be in the trajectory of any homes those many yards away is a forbidden shot. From my bench to the deer feeder is toward open range land.

I am very skilled at shooting and the three people that are allowed to hunt on my land are equally skilled if not superior to my skills. We have been hunting on my land for 12 years. Each deer taken has been one shot one kill. We are ethical hunters. If we pull the trigger it will die painlessly. The kill shot is right behind the ear at rather short range. The deer drop on the spot and do not even know what happened.

They taste delicious.

[backwoods-engineer]

Stupid people. Should be charged with negligent manslaughter. Or more. This wouldn’t happen if we had mandatory rifle training in schools.

[Oatka]

My boy, a fisherman, sent me this video (starts at :37)

Dayum, I would have hit the deck as you don't know if those dips would have gotten pist off at being yelled at and tried to take those guys out.

[trebb]

The shooters were incredibly stupid and negligent. I wonder why the victim didn’t have a clue - you can tell when something like a .308 is shooting your way and it should cause enough concern to make one want to clear the way - had to tell some neighbors to stop shooting a few years back because part of my property was in their line and I was out tending to it...they were firing .22s but at 200 yards 9with brush in between) I could tell they were firing in the general direction.

[marktwain]

I believe he had on hearing protection because of the lawn mower he was riding. The mower was hit before he was. He said he heard a “tink” when it was hit. The shooters were almost a half mile away.

The responders said they could hear distant gunfire.

[Hot Tabasco]

A bunch of years ago myself and two buddies were rabbit hunting a wooded area that turned into a line of fire by some knucklehead who set up a target in a field behind his house.....We got out of there fast then stopped at his house to remind him about safe shooting.

[trebb]

Thanks - I can picture it - but even at a half mile, a 308 pointing your way makes a bit of noise.

Sorry deal all the way around.