I was cleaning out a storage area and burning things which were not worth keeping.
I did not know that a box had a few .22lr rounds in it. I was standing around the fire when one went off. The case hit me right between the eyes.
It hurt just a tiny bit and left a red mark which went away in a few hours.
Basically, I guess if it hit you in the eye, it could damage it but even then probably would not put it out.
Yes, it is the casing that flies, not the lead.
It makes sense that the casing would fly rather than the bullet (if in fact anything flew at all). The casing is much lighter.