Posted: 3/8/2003 11:16:38 PM EDT
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Have a gong that I made that swings for shooting rifles. I made it from 1" AR500 steel and it is great. Shot it with everything from the AR's up to 300 Win Mag. just dimples and splatter. I want to make some knock down types for pistols and 22lr. I figure 4 targets @ 15-25 yards and make them 6"x6"x1/4" from AR500. Too thin? I can get 1/2" but want to keep them light as I will be carrying them to the woods to shoot etc. Won't be shooting anything fatser than 9mm and 45 auto pistol and 22lr. Also how best to build them to fall when hit? Put them on a hinge and have a pull rope to reset them? TIA! |
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WTF? I see them being shot at from 7 yards with pistols pretty regularly and done it myself, with eye protection of course. I understand that jacketed bullets are a bit more likely to bounce back at you but from what I understand cast bullets just splatters. I shoot cast from my 1911 anyway. |
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Better safe than sorry, I've been hit by lead frags. when standing 25 yard away. You just never know when and where that stuff is going to go, so why take chances? Most range officers won't let you shoot any closer than 15 yards for that reason, regardless of caliber or bullet composition. |
| My bad experiance was 50 yrds with jacketed bullets. The casing came almost straight back, & hit my pinky finger on my grip hand, then spun down & cut through my thick sweatshirt cutting into my right side about 1/8". I also wasnt wearing safty glasses, & it could have been a lot worse, praise God it wasn't. |
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We shoot steel in IPSC competition (pistol) all the time. Rules state no closer that 11 yards. I have only seen one accident from splatter. That was due to a cratered spot in a pepper popper that sent a small fragment into the shin of a range officer when I was on the line. Once steel starts to crater, it will cause problems. We have shot steel plates with rifles, but onlt at greater distances. Our rifle plates get beat up and cratered pretty quickly. We shot plate racks all the time with .22s and pistol rounds. Never had a problem. |
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Drake My uncle is a welder for an excavation/contractor company. He repairs mostly heavy equipment and as such is always replacing the teeth or cutting edges on loaders and hoes. He sometimes gets the scrap stuff left over. Usually gets 1/4", 3/8" 1/2", 1" and 1 1/8" is the max. He got me a piece 6"x24"x1/4" for the pistol plates I'm gonna make. You should be able to find some at a simliar type shop around you. My grandfather has a full equipped welding shop at his garage so I just do all the cutting and welding there. I'm still trying to figure how to put these on a rack that can be reset by pulling a rope. Beats walking back and forth! |
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The 1/4" AR500 will be fine. I would even think that 1/4" AR400 would be fine for pistol and .22lr. I've used 400 brinnel 3/8" and it stands up well to 5.56x45 and 7.62x39 ball. 25 yds and a bit closer isn't a problem with pistol rounds - **wear glasses** at all times. A friend of mine made his falling targets like this: Plates were half sized sihhlouetttes [:D] about 16"x12". For the base, he took 2" steel square tubing, cut it into ~ 6' lengths, then cut a channel across the tube, midpoint of the legth, running parallel with the end cuts, about 3/4 of the way through the tube. When the plate is inserted, it can tilt towards or away from the shooter - doesn't matter. 9mm sometimes takes two hits to knock them over. Takes quite a few hits to knock them down with .22lr. Have fun. |
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[url]mgmtargets.com[/url] they're the best steel targets out there... I shoot their autopoppers with... 9mm .40 .45 .223 .308 00 and 000 Buckshot never been splashed They're 1/3 sized IPSC sillouettes with a heavy duty spring that allows the sillouette to fall and spring back up...no resets. They also sell every kind of target imaginable. |
| We shoot steel all of the time at 10-15 yards. We also mandate body armor and eyes, too, and frangible rounds for .223. I have eaten more than my fair share of bullet jackets from steel; it just goes with the territory. Winchester Ranger (Black Talon evolved) can make for some really sharp little fragments and lots of little bloody spots after an afternoon of blasting steel. We are currently using Simunition's Greenshield stuff at $170/500 for the .223 frangible rounds. Anyone know of cheaper frangible stuff for training? |