.50 cal ricochet

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Anyone who has spent ANY time at a range knows that even a much smaller powered bullet can come right back at you if the stars line up just right (or wrong).

I'm not saying bullets can't bounce back, I'm saying they can't bounce back 1000 yards.

 

[4down20]

Anyone who has spent ANY time at a range knows that even a much smaller powered bullet can come right back at you if the stars line up just right (or wrong).

I had a bb pistol gun do it to me when I was a kid. I had a target on a tree, the bb hit the tree and bounced back hitting me in the forehead.

Obviously it didn't have enough velocity to break the skin(probably not enough even before the ricochet), but still scared me enough not to shoot it at hard trees.

I'm not sure you can get any smaller powered than that.

 

[4down20]

I'm not saying bullets can't bounce back, I'm saying they can't bounce back 1000 yards.

That's all a matter of velocity. In my bb gun example I mentioned, the bb actually bounced back at a higher and further angle than what I shot at.

If I had fired the gun and hit a target at about it's maximum distance where it would have much lower velocity, probably not coming back all the way.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

That's all a matter of velocity. In my bb gun example I mentioned, the bb actually bounced back at a higher and further angle than what I shot at.

If I had fired the gun and hit a target at about it's maximum distance where it would have much lower velocity, probably not coming back all the way.

Right, that's the biggest thing here. The video says "1000 yards". Absolutely no way it's happening at 1000 yards. Even at 100 yards I'd have serious doubts.

A bb actually makes a little more sense because a BB doesn't explode when it hits. It's made of steel and is circular. It doesn't have enough force to penetrate most things so it bounces back; especially off metal. I've had bb's bounce all over the place as a kid. I hit a tree and had one bounce and hit a window on my parents house. Luckily it didn't break it. But even with a BB gun, you're not going to stretch it out to it's almost maximum distance and have it bounce all the way back at you.

A .50BMG is likely just lead, so the lead would just denigrate on metal target or punch through it. There's no bouncing back there. If, by chance, they had some steel core ammo - that's punching through the metal plate, that's not bouncing back (like a steel BB would). So, again, I just don't see it.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

That's all a matter of velocity. In my bb gun example I mentioned, the bb actually bounced back at a higher and further angle than what I shot at.

Also, it's physically impossible for something to bounce back with equal or greater force. The .50 could have bounced higher and at a greater angle than originally shot but it isn't going to come back with the same force. No bullet is going to travel 1000 yards, hit a plate and then bounce back 1000 yards. A 50BMG has trouble shooting 2000 yards from just the rifle; let alone traveling 2000 yards after hitting a steel plate and reversing direction.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

I'm not saying this is fake or not fake. but if it is fake making it hit the ground in camera shot & knocking off his ear protections is an amazing feat.
Now as far as your straight lines. you have to know that bullet wouldn't have shot in a straight line from your #1 to your #2 on a ricochet. Now picture an arch from #1 to #2 & I am sure there is a scenario where you get the bounce for #2 to #3.
My 1st thought was no way until I saw it ricocheted from the ground. Didn't noticed that the 1st time I watched it. Like I said if it is fake that timing of the dust up to knocking the gear off his head would be an amazing feat.
But I do agree in the 1st video is not a 1000 yd shot. That would be impossible.

None of them would actually be straight lines. It was just a basic drawing to show a general bullet path. In reality, after the first hit #2-#3, the bounce would have to be at a significant arch in order to even come back any great distance.

People are putting way too much evidence in seeing the bullet "hit the ground" or having his ear protection knocked off. If you were actually there when it happened then I'd say fine but video editing is pretty easy to do and simple video tricks like this are done all the time. How many fake videos are on the internet trying to get people to believe they're real?

For all we know a guy off camera just shot at the ground, while another guy yanked his ear protection off with some fishing string. Add in some sound effects and you've got yourself this video.

 

[fordman84]

Also, it's physically impossible for something to bounce back with equal or greater force. The .50 could have bounced higher and at a greater angle than originally shot but it isn't going to come back with the same force. No bullet is going to travel 1000 yards, hit a plate and then bounce back 1000 yards. A 50BMG has trouble shooting 2000 yards from just the rifle; let alone traveling 2000 yards after hitting a steel plate and reversing direction.

How do you figure? The bullet isn't dropped from the end of the gun. Physics would say if it is dropped it can't bounce back further than the initial drop point. It does not address something that is projected from its initial drop point.

If you are correct and it is "physically impossible for something to bounce back with equal or greater force" then you would never be able to bounce a ball over your head.


I'll agree that the 1000 yards is incorrect. That video has been around for many years and no one has been able to prove it fake. It could have been re-titled any number of times.

 

[fordman84]

None of them would actually be straight lines. It was just a basic drawing to show a general bullet path. In reality, after the first hit #2-#3, the bounce would have to be at a significant arch in order to even come back any great distance.

People are putting way too much evidence in seeing the bullet "hit the ground" or having his ear protection knocked off. If you were actually there when it happened then I'd say fine but video editing is pretty easy to do and simple video tricks like this are done all the time. How many fake videos are on the internet trying to get people to believe they're real?

For all we know a guy off camera just shot at the ground, while another guy yanked his ear protection off with some fishing string. Add in some sound effects and you've got yourself this video.

That scenario was presented in another forum I read when looking to see if this is fake. Then the guy in the video spoke up and was a member of that forum with many others vouching for him. They stated none of them were in the video editing business.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

How do you figure? The bullet isn't dropped from the end of the gun. Physics would say if it is dropped it can't bounce back further than the initial drop point. It does not address something that is projected from its initial drop point.

If you are correct and it is "physically impossible for something to bounce back with equal or greater force" then you would never be able to bounce a ball over your head.


I'll agree that the 1000 yards is incorrect. That video has been around for many years and no one has been able to prove it fake. It could have been re-titled any number of times.

What I mean is that the bullet can't come back with the same force than it originally had when it was shot from the gun.

In the case of something like a bouncy ball, when you throw it at the ground it's bouncing back up with less force than it had when it left your hand. The same physics still apply no matter if it's dropped or pushed with force. I think what you're thinking of is if you simply drop a bouncy ball it will never get back to the original drop point, which is true, but those same laws exist for a projectile. (not that it won't get back to the original point but that it won't have the same energy coming back)

It's maximum energy is when it first leaves the barrel, from there on it's constantly losing energy. Unless you're shooting a bouncy ball out the end of a gun barrel, there's no way you're hitting a metal plate with a metal object and having it bounce back 1000 yards. Even 100 yards would be seriously questionable IMO. Unlike a bouncy ball, lead absorbs the energy and either shatters the projectile, punches through the target or seriously deforms. It does not have enough "bounce" to make it come back. If it were steel, like a BB that bounces, it would punch through any metal plate one would be shooting at. Any fragment of either of these simply wouldn't have enough force to bounce back that far.

This is why you hear about people in indoor ranges or shooting from a short distance experience some splash from a bullet, but having it bounce back probably more than 25 yards is pretty much out of the question. Just my opinion on the matter.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

That scenario was presented in another forum I read when looking to see if this is fake. Then the guy in the video spoke up and was a member of that forum with many others vouching for him. They stated none of them were in the video editing business.

I'm not in the video editing business either but that doesn't mean a simple fake like this couldn't be achieved by even the most amateur of video people. Anyone with iMovie could probably pull this off.

IMO the only options for this video are:
1. It's from a MUCH shorter distance than we're aware of
2. It's a fake

 

[fordman84]

What I mean is that the bullet can't come back with the same force than it originally had when it was shot from the gun.

In the case of something like a bouncy ball, when you throw it at the ground it's bouncing back up with less force than it had when it left your hand. The same physics still apply no matter if it's dropped or pushed with force. I think what you're thinking of is if you simply drop a bouncy ball it will never get back to the original drop point, which is true, but those same laws exist for a projectile. (not that it won't get back to the original point but that it won't have the same energy coming back)

It's maximum energy is when it first leaves the barrel, from there on it's constantly losing energy. Unless you're shooting a bouncy ball out the end of a gun barrel, there's no way you're hitting a metal plate with a metal object and having it bounce back 1000 yards. Even 100 yards would be seriously questionable IMO. Unlike a bouncy ball, lead absorbs the energy and either shatters the projectile, punches through the target or seriously deforms. It does not have enough "bounce" to make it come back. If it were steel, like a BB that bounces, it would punch through any metal plate one would be shooting at. Any fragment of either of these simply wouldn't have enough force to bounce back that far.

This is why you hear about people in indoor ranges or shooting from a short distance experience some splash from a bullet, but having it bounce back probably more than 25 yards is pretty much out of the question. Just my opinion on the matter.

Happens pretty regularly. The muzzle velocity from a .50 cal has to be enough to ricochet and come back 100 yards. 1000 I agree is questionable.

 

[haydav49]

No, I'm no expert and it was more like 4 years ago at this point. Since then I've shot a lot, including some practice with my uncle shooting from 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 yards (with his competition rifle); which is where I'm basing some of this off of. Plus, this really doesn't have to do a lot with shooting - it has to do with simple physics.

A 1000 yard shot bouncing back would be impossible. For one, the bullet would simply not have enough energy to stop and bounce all the way back FARTHER than it came from - it's made of metal, not rubber. That amount of force causes the bullet to shatter, not bounce. Secondly, as I said, the bullet drop coming back would be at minimum about half of what it was going to the target (assuming any bounce back had half the energy that the original bullet had being shot out of a gun).

So assuming we're on a flat surface the entire way, and he's shooting from about 3 or 4 feet off the ground, he's lobbing that bullet about 20 feet higher than the target to get there (1000 yards away). To get back, the bullet would have to be (at minimum) lobbed 40 feet in the air to get back. Unlike it's shown in the video, it simply wouldn't be a straight shot back. Even if it did make it far enough to hit the ground in front of him, it would plant itself in the ground because it's coming from 40 feet in the air. But alas, there's no way in hell that bullet is hitting a steel plate at 1000 yards and coming back another 1000 yards.

Really.......4 years! Time flies. Anyway, you can't predict what a bullet will do when it ricochets. No telling what it hit when it came back at the shooter. It looked real enough to me.

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

This looks real too...

 

[fordman84]

This looks real too...

First time I saw that I could tell the motions weren't right. Also, it was proven fake within days of being released.


This video has been out and around the internet for many years, and still nothing to say it is fake.

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

First time I saw that I could tell the motions weren't right. Also, it was proven fake within days of being released.


This video has been out and around the internet for many years, and still nothing to say it is fake.

Oh, I know, but at first glance, looks pretty real...

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Happens pretty regularly. The muzzle velocity from a .50 cal has to be enough to ricochet and come back 100 yards. 1000 I agree is questionable.

At 100 yards I still don't believe it and here's why - you're right, the muzzle velocity is pretty ridiculous out of a 50 BMG and because of that, it will punch through almost any standard steel plate at 100 yards; especially using steel core ammo. In that case, it would chew through the plate and land softly in the dirt behind. There would be no bounce. Unlike a smaller round that may deflect off the plate. If there was something, say a giant boulder, that they were aiming at the velocity of that round would cause it to denigrate. There would be no bounce. There might be some spray around the rock, but that's about it. Nothing with enough reverse velocity to come back 100 yards. But you can clearly hear it hitting metal in the video, not rock. So if the video were real, there would be a hole in that plate and a bullet dug into the ground behind it somewhere; not bouncing back and hitting them conveniently in the hearing protection.

I just think it's a fake and one that's easy to fake at that. For instance, here's a great fake from the slingshot guy that "looks" real but isn't:

I simply just don't think it's possible. The original video is a cool video but I just think it's fake unless done at a much shorter distance.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Really.......4 years! Time flies. Anyway, you can't predict what a bullet will do when it ricochets. No telling what it hit when it came back at the shooter. It looked real enough to me.

Yup, that makes you feel old doesn't it? My Grandpa died in like 2009 I think? That's when I inherited his 30-40 Krag. I got my P95 in 2010 or 2011 I think and then I just built my first AR15.

The 30-40 is still the most fun to shoot but it's expensive as all hell. It's like $40 for a box of 20 now days.

 

[fordman84]

At 100 yards I still don't believe it and here's why - you're right, the muzzle velocity is pretty ridiculous out of a 50 BMG and because of that, it will punch through almost any standard steel plate at 100 yards; especially using steel core ammo. In that case, it would chew through the plate and land softly in the dirt behind. There would be no bounce. Unlike a smaller round that may deflect off the plate. If there was something, say a giant boulder, that they were aiming at the velocity of that round would cause it to denigrate. There would be no bounce. There might be some spray around the rock, but that's about it. Nothing with enough reverse velocity to come back 100 yards. But you can clearly hear it hitting metal in the video, not rock. So if the video were real, there would be a hole in that plate and a bullet dug into the ground behind it somewhere; not bouncing back and hitting them conveniently in the hearing protection.

I just think it's a fake and one that's easy to fake at that. For instance, here's a great fake from the slingshot guy that "looks" real but isn't:


I simply just don't think it's possible. The original video is a cool video but I just think it's fake unless done at a much shorter distance.

Could it be fake? I wasn't there so it could. Would it have been outed by now as fake, pretty likely. Lead bounces off steel and comes back regularly. All it would take for a ricochet and not a straight through punch would be not hitting the steel dead on. Any angle in the plate could cause that, and then depending how the bullet hits it could go any direction.

So yes, it could be fake. I don't believe it is, and I can't find anyone that can prove it is fake or even makes a solid case.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Could it be fake? I wasn't there so it could. Would it have been outed by now as fake, pretty likely. Lead bounces off steel and comes back regularly. All it would take for a ricochet and not a straight through punch would be not hitting the steel dead on. Any angle in the plate could cause that, and then depending how the bullet hits it could go any direction.

So yes, it could be fake. I don't believe it is, and I can't find anyone that can prove it is fake or even makes a solid case.

If the bullet hit the steel in any way, the direction of the bullet would go forward as it's a 50 cal, not a .22lr. It would take a large amount of steel to stop a .50 let alone turn it around and bounce it backwards. Even then, the bullet would just embed into the steel. If the bullet didn't hit the steel, it would have just ended up in the dirt. Bullets do bounce, but I'd be shocked to see a .50 cal bounce backwards in any way other than if the bullet exploded and a few fragments came back a few yards. Ricochet almost exclusively happen in the direction the gun is being fired. Splatter is almost always what "comes back" at the shooter. That's limited to a pretty short distance. I just don't think it's possible, sorry.

Just type .50 vs. steel into youtube and you'll see that there's no way this would happen.

No one's confirmed one way or another about this video because no one seems to care that much.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

999 times out of a 1000 you could be correct about the bullet blowing through & not ricocheting at 100 yds. in fact you would assume that people shooting plan this way. Thing is with ricochets is unless the shooters are dumb. it is an anomoly. If you think something might ricochet when target practicing you dont shoot it.
So if a bullet did ricochet (again I am not gonnna argue fake or not) it easily could have bounced back 100 yds with force.
Think about it. it can make a kill at a mile & half. it could easliy travel 300 ft. & ricochet back over 300ft. with plenty of umf. to spare.

I am sure it should have went through the plate. But for whatever reason ricochets do happen when they shouldnt.