je its the generally known problem with ricochets.
most people thing that such a strong bullet, shot in the soft ground wont never ever come back as a boomberang.
ca.15-25 percent of the projectile energy stick in the spin from rifleing. on longer weapons the effect of disturbing the projectiles flight is even stronger since they are longer, compared to the diameter.
what happens can be easily "felt" by moving a running a drill (this power tool for making holes) out of the rotating axis.
who ever shot an automatic weapon by night with tracer ammo is btw aware of that. (or a complete idiot)
look the pic:
Attachment:
Ricochet_with_Tracers.jpg
see how flat the angle is and how steep the "bunch of flowers" raise skywards?
btw: riccochets are dangerous. a bullet that just fall from the sky (without any else acceleration, just falling) can kill you.
so ths sucker was kinda lucky.