Vlad,

I echo everyone's best wishes for a speedy recovery. You were indeed blessed that you didn't receive lasting or debilitating injuries from that BIG slug.

I hope all on the board learn from your experience! I no longer shoot steel under 50 yards with a rifle after an experience with the dinky .17 Remington. At 35 yards or so the little 25 grain bullet was almost penetrating 1/2" steel. I thought just a little closer would do it and set the steel just 15 yards away. At the shot I felt a sharp sting in my belly. I passed it off as a biting insect, but a time later I looked down to a blood spot!

Almost half of that little .17 jacket was stuck on the surface of my belly and required disloding with my pocket knife.

I guess the moral of this story for us all is that even the littlest or fastest of our rifles are not safe on steel up close. I thought the fragile little .17 disintergrated to vapor against steel But It didn't.......

BigRx