Steel targets

for swinging paddles, and centerfire pistol/rifle, action target's dueling tree is the only bullet proof option. i've had one for ten years and it's withstood many PRS style matches with hundreds of shooters hitting it with everything from zippy 6mm to 300wm

for auto reset popup targets, that's a bit more challenging. although there are some expensive options (i.e. over $5k / target) with cool features like programmable, the moderate option is probably the larue target. i bought several from a company that's no longer in business, so unfortunately that's not an option anymore

there are some members here with very cool homemade setups. do a search in rifle country

i didn't say it was cheap. it's fairly expensive. if you saw it in person you'd understand. the center stand is angled, so bullets typically strike it at a 45* angle and are unlikely to go right through it. mine does have a lot of divots though. don't think anyone ever hit the feet.

what makes it better are two design features. one is that the plates have no welds and are shaped in a way that impacts are unlikely to break them. the other is that most other designs allow the hinge to get clogged up with spalling and bullet fragments, dirt, whatever. this is common with plate racks too, but resetting plate racks is usually human muscle pulling a cord, so it can overcome the added friction. with horizontal swinging dueling trees, the challenge is calibrating them so that centerfire pistol and rifle can knock the plate to the other side, whether it gets hit on the far edge of the plate for more leverage or closer to the hinge. it requires as little friction as possible, otherwise the plate will get stuck 90* behind the stand and not swing the full 180*.
in my experience, every design with springs or tubes works fantastic when new and clean, but becomes very unreliable after a few hundred to thousand rounds. the AT design gets minimal friction by having two rings that have relatively tiny contact patch with the plate, and a lot of clearance. so it doesn't collect spalling, and can easily jump it if it does.

i'll try to find some close up pics

Here’s a pic of the front from this past winter. it’s not the important part but you can see how the stand and feet have held up

Tilos said:

You could buy the paddle kit, the mild steel for the tree/feet, AND a 110v flux core wire welder for less than the cost of the action targets'+ shipping cheapest dueling tree.

Click to expand...

The cheapest dueling tree on their site is $200. The most expensive is $520. The cheapest Harbor Freight welder is $140. So, yeah, I'm not seeing the ability to save a ton of money building it yourself. Especially if you use AR500 steel for the entire thing. And it will weigh a ton. But to each their own.

A cool little alien for the .22 LR range

This one is at 118 yards, five targets in one.
The smallest one will be a little challenging with the .22.