Do plated bullets splatter like lead on steels

RegisG · May 6, 2015

I am interested in shooting some steel targets rather than just paper. Have heard that lead is better than copper because there is less chance of ricochet (sp). Do plated bullets flatten just like plain lead bullets when they hit hard surface or do they hold up more like copper bullets?

Thanks,
Regis

bigggbbruce · May 6, 2015

I've recovered some of my 45 230gr Xtreme coated after steel. They weighed over 200gr. Flattened. I have found them 30-40 yards from the target if not hit straight on. I find my lead ball also but smaller pieces.

BC38 · May 6, 2015

In my experience shooting steel targets with my Xtreme plated hand loads the plated bullets usually seem to splatter pretty much like lead.

I was shooting some loads to chrono the other day and was about 10 yards from the target - which was leaning away from me at about a 15-20 degree angle. I think I must've hit one of the 2 or 3 bullet holes my buddy had punched through the target with his rifle because a chunk of one round bounced back and hit me in the shin!

Fortunately it was a pretty small chunk and I was wearing heavy canvas pants (like Carharts). So, no damage to me or even to the pants, but it still stung a little. It made me thankful I was wearing polycarbonate glasses and also made me a lot more careful about where I was hitting the target - to avoid hitting those bullet holes.

RegisG · May 6, 2015

All these cautions make me re-evaluate. Maybe light loads?

Thanks for the input,
Regis

drummer007 · May 6, 2015

I use a 12" steel challenge round steel plate as a target to practice my double action revolver fast draw against. I shoot it from a distance of anywhere from 4 to 10 feet. I have used lead, plated and powder coated bullets in .22 LR and 38/357.

I have shot 1000s and 1000s of rounds doing this with no backsplash hitting me other than an occasional dust sized particle. The most important things for safety are to make sure your plate is 1) of proper hardness, 2) not dimpled and 3) properly angled - the top of the plate should be closer to you than the bottom of the plate. This angling of the plate directs bullet fragments into the ground at the bottom and to the left and right of the plate stand.

If your plate becomes dimpled, it was not of proper hardness and must not be used for close work.

So, in my experience, yes, plated bullets and lead bullets both fragment similarly when hitting properly hardened and properly set-up steel challenge plates.

John R · May 6, 2015

Most all of the plated bullets I shoot at steel seem to just turn to dust, I guess they could bounce back, but I've never had it happen.

I don't shoot steel at close ranges.

RegisG · May 6, 2015

John R said:
Most all of the plated bullets I shoot at steel seem to just turn to dust, I guess they could bounce back, but I've never had it happen.

I don't shoot steel at close ranges.

John,
Do you use a particularly light or heavy load? Or commercial load?

Thanks,
Regis

ISCS Yoda · May 6, 2015

Unless you are shooting steel plates at REALLY GOOD DISTANCES you shouldn't use heavy loads. Even at cowboy action matches we've all been hit by splashing lead and there the requirement is basically lighter loads replicating Old West power factors.

If you're going to do it with handguns learn to place your targets at suitable angles such that most, if not all of the splash, goes downward into the ground. CAS targets for handguns, which are close in, are usually angled slightly towards the ground in order to force splashing lead down so as to not hit competitors or bystanders. Still, I've had huge chunks of lead come straight back at me after bullets were fired from my own guns.

I think that jacketed bullets are a problem because the jackets tend to shear off and fly around.

aurora40 · May 6, 2015

RegisG said:
Do plated bullets flatten just like plain lead bullets when they hit hard surface or do they hold up more like copper bullets?

In my limited experience, even jacketed pistol bullets basically disintegrate, leaving only a few thin flat pieces of the jacket to be found. You can also watch the ground by the target, sometimes you'll think you hit the dirt but really it's the lead shrapnel hammering the ground in a line parallel to the plate. Shoot it more than a few times and you'll see a channel cut into the dirt from this.

As mentioned, ideally the steel is angled or swings such that it deflects into the ground.

Perhaps hard-cast lead would be more likely to stay intact, but I sort of doubt it? I don't shoot much of that, and it wouldn't be at low pistol velocities where I could shoot the steel I have anyway. You are worried about shrapnel, or about a solid bullet ricocheting back?

Nevada Ed · May 7, 2015

As a safety message.........

Don't shoot 38 148gr lead wc target loads at tires laying around. They can rebound off the rubber and come back at you. I had one strike the front grill on my pick up truck many years ago, that was just behind me.

Stay safe.

Nemo288 · May 7, 2015

In my limited experience plated bullets (including some of the Speer Gold Dots) are softer than many commercial "hard cast" bullets.
Some plated bullets you can put a thumbnail into.
This is one reason they can be accurate at lower velocities as they easily "bump" to throat dimensions.

===
Nemo

Do plated bullets splatter like lead on steels

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