Posted: 11/14/2004 3:17:53 PM EDT
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Okay, Im on a mission to make some steel targets that wont get chewed up by my AR (the AK is awfully nice to the mild steel) and possibly a .260/.30-06. 1.) I have some scrap tracks from a dozer/tracked vehicle. Is it hardend steel of any kind... at least harder than mild steel? 2.) Is there any "Do it Yourself" methods to treat steel and make it any harder? |
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ph14 stainless. Pretty tough, makes an excellant target backer. We have some that we use to shoot at with our AR's M1A's and M1's. We put them as close as 200m and out to 500m. They get dinged up pretty good when shot at with the larger 30 cal rifle, but overall make good target steel. We got ours at a local scrap yard for .45 cent a pound. We ended up with 8- 12"x14" plates. |
1 -- No idea. Try running a file across it and see if it cuts. 2 -- Depends what kind of steel it is, You can heat it until it's not magnetic anymore then quench it in either oil, water, or saltwater. Oil will harden it the least, saltwater the most. Some alloys aren't going to harden much even in brine, others might become brittle when cooled too fast in air. If you have a few pieces start by taking one yellow hot then quenching it in water. Then shoot it and see what happens. If it shatters try only heating red hot then quenching the next one. If it's still to hard try again with oil ,then air cooling. You can also try hardening them then tempering then in an oven 350F for an hour or so to relieve some of the stress from hardening. |
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There are basically 2 types of steel: those that can be hardened and those that can't. If it's building steel or some type of structural steel, then it can't be hardened much if at all, carbon content is too low and it's carbon that makes steel hard after heat treatment. Structural steel includes angle iron, tubing, channel, I-beams, plate (not armour) and so forth. Hardenable steels are usually steels that are used in some type of tool or as springs. High wear items, such as your cat tracks, may also have higher levels of carbon and therefore may be hardenable. As someone suggested, take a file to it and see if the file can wear the surface. If it can't, it's already hardened. If it can, it may still be hardenable steel, just tempered at a low hardening level. To see if steel is hardenable, the easiest way is to put it on a grinder for a second and look at the sparks it throws: if it throws single sparks, it's not hardenable. If it throws sparks that have a "burst" at the end of the spark, then it has enough carbon to make the steel hardenable. If the steel is not hardenable, then there really is no treatment that can make it hardenable; the surface hardening mentioned early will only go a few microns thick and won't do anything as far as using the steel for a target. I hope this helps. Merlin |
Dozer cleats make great targets. That's about all our club uses. They are made from AR 400 or 500 steel. You don't have to do anything to make it harder, trust me.  They will stand up to any 30 cal ball, even at short ranges. |
| You need 1/2" 500 brinnel ballistic steel, Heflin steel and Blackwater target systems are sources, you can google them. As for dozer treads, They are hard but how hard I dunno, more power to you if they are hard enough. There is no way to harden common steel for this purpose, it has to be an alloy. |
Hmm, okay that helps a bunch. So there is no way to add carbon to a steel? I swear I saw something on TV (nerds version of "hold my beer and watch this") about medevil type swordsmiths heating up their swords for long periods of time and quenching in water to add carbon... |
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Medieval swordsmiths - would heat the steel in a charcoal/coke forge, placing the blade directly into the charcoal/coke. Over time, enough carbon will diffuse into the surface to harden it yat still leave a low carbon (softer but tougher) steel core. For a sword, that's all you need. For a target that's going to get as many 30-06 bullet strikes to cut it to Swiss cheese, you want a through-hardened steel, but not so hard as to be brittle. Brittle = fractures/shatters very early. |
