Chris Sweetman:
Looking for a couple of tips for recording bullet by's and ricochets, I've been looking at a pair of Mkh60's or DPA 4011's placed about 150/200 yards along the intended trajectory of the bullet to capture by's and a combination of Mkh 60 and acu-sound contact mic for bullet impacts/ricochets

Having never actually recorded bullet by's/ricochets (I have recorded firing of weapon's previously ) I'm unsure of what kinda results to expect..

Randy Thom:
22 caliber rounds are nice because the muzzle blast is quiet enough that you can get a cleaner recording of the whiz-bys and riccos without silencers, which are hard to come by. Try distances between 25 and 150 yards.

You'd be surprised what good riccos you can get by simply firing into flat hard dirt about 50 to 100 feet away, placing the mics about another 50 or a hundred feet farther on. In my opinion the kind of mic you use isn't nearly as important as your willingness to fire LOTS of rounds to get a few really great bys.

Thread "Weapon recordings " Dec 12, 2001 at Sound Design discussion list

Film Sound Question & Answers