AR 500 steel target question?

[cowtownup]

I enjoy shooting steel targets. I am in the process of starting to stretch out my 308 and get into some midrange shooting (300-500 yards). Ultimately I want to go farther out than that. I need help deciding what AR500 steel target to start with. I see the IPSC targets in varying sizes (50%, 66%, etc) and then I see the various size gong targets. I want a target large enough to allow hits and be able to see if I'm low or high or whatever, but not so big as to reward me with NOISE after each shot.. I have a welder and enough fabrication skills to build a target stand, I really would like advice on choosing a steel target... Thanks in advance.

 

[MErl]

Size needed is based on your skill, 8-12" gong is pretty standard and 3/8" thick would be fine. I'm sure you'd be able to hear an impact on near any size. It is the smaller ones that might not ring as well as they just flip away.

 

[hartcreek]

I just use cheep steel plate but I spray paint the steel. The color choice is yours but I use white or dayglow orange. It is really easy to see the impacts

 

[cat_IT_guy]

I will report my experience to maybe help you out. I purchased steel targets about a month ago. With my .308 with 12x scope, 12" round at 200 yards (longest range I have access to) was a joke - way too easy. 25% IPSC at same range was still pretty easy. I also put a 3x5" diamond at 100 yards and had no trouble with it as well. With open sights on my AK, a 40% target at 100 yards wasnt easy, but was able to hit it pretty consistently. The 12" round at 200 was much more challenging, I think I only hit it once or twice.

I think the 12" would be right for 400-500 with a scoped .308. Im sure there are better shooters out there that would argue that too easy. I have limited time and funds for shooting, so I like to hit my target from time to time. For open sights, Im considering a 16" for 200 yards - granted AK sights are hardly precision instruments - Im sure a good shooter with better sights would have no trouble with the 12" at 200.

Hopefully that helps.

 

[cowtownup]

Well I went with a 12" gong and a half size ISPC target... These should allow me some hits now as I learn and get some trigger time and hopefully become challenging at longer distances.. I will also be able to move these up and run the handguns on them also... I went with Target man for this purchase...

 

[BruceB]

A similar thread has been running in the last few days.

I have a full-size IPSC silhouette cut from 3/8" AR500. In tests, it is impervious to service-level .308 and .223 softpoints and Matchkings, even at 100 yards.

My "target stand" costs about ten dollars and needs NO fabrication.

I drive two five-foot rebar stakes (3/4" diameter) about a foot into the ground, maybe four feet apart. Then a 1" iron plumbing "tee" is slipped over the top of each stake, so that a third piece of rebar (or a chain) may be passed through the tees, and also through a square-section 1" tube welded across the back of the target.

Thus the target is suspended between the posts, and is free to swing a bit on the through-bar as well, which helps "cushion" the impacts a bit.

I recommend using 3/4" rebar, as thinner rods tend to flex under an 80-pound target like mine. Cheap, quick, takes down flat for transport, easy to "repair" if a component is hit...it works great.

A T-post driver makes very short work of driving in the posts. When finished, a scuff of a foot erases all trace of where your target stood.

 

[cowtownup]

Great idea on the rebar and plumbing tees... I've got all of those items at the shop...

 

[DanTheFarmer]

A question on placement of the attachments (hooks, box tube as listed above, etc.) of the target so it can be hung on the supporting frame.

Do you place the attachments so that the target tips forward a little bit? Do you just attach at the top and let it swing?

My thoughts are to attach it so that it tips forward, thus ensuring any ricochet is directed downward.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Dan

 

[cowtownup]

That is a good question. Its one thing to be shooting these with a rifle at 100 plus yards and another shooting them with handguns at 10 plus yards... I was thinking of hanging them with chains, one from each side and down to the AR500 plate. The only thing that bothers me about that is hitting that IPSC target in the area above the chains with a handgun round at closer range. Do you think you would experience a direct ricochet back towards the shooter with a target hung as pictured in the link:

http://shootingtargets7.com/store/m...33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/p/ipsc-mount-2.jpg

 

[bainter1212]

I hang my targets like that. I think it reduces the chance of spatter coming back at you.....I have put over a thousand rounds on mine and experienced no spatter. I was shooting anywhere from 3 yards to 25 yards.

 

[bainter1212]

 

[cowtownup]

I put this one together today to try out... I think it will be fine as long as I don't get on ay real hard ground... Might be tough to stomp into the ground then... Made it out of some 3/4" solid rod.. The open area is about 2'-0" x 2'-4" with 8" of leg to stick into the ground...

 

[bainter1212]

That looks nice. If you put a hinged leg on each side that swung back, you wouldn't need to pound it into the ground.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

the problem with chains is some clown always shoots them. i got some thick rubber conveyor belt scrap. i use a strip of it about 5" wide and bolt the steel to it. after a hit, it always returns perpendicular. the rubber material holds up very well and can take a ridiculous amount of high misses before it needs replacement.

 

[cowtownup]

Great idea.. We may need to get together sometime and send a few downrange Neuservrrat... I'm just up the interstate from you a bit and I could use some good coaching..

 

[bainter1212]

Good idea with the rubber....I didn't think about that. I never shoot the chain LOL

 

[cowtownup]

I got a little family of them now... LOL

 

[Riomouse911]

I made my the IPSC targets from 1/2" AR500 using a plasma cutter. Despite being heavy, they are tough as nails. At the last session they took 7.62x54R, .30-06, 5.56x54 and 7.62x51 FMJ rounds at 90 yards all afternoon with tiny pits as the only damage. Softer steel plate would be swiss cheese. I also have two 12" circles of 3/8" AR550. These are also tough as nails, and shrug off the rifle rounds even better then the AR500.

For the heavier targets I make target stands out of two 48" tall x 3/4" black pipe, one 24" long x3/4" black pipe, two 3/4" elbows, two 3/4X1/2x1/2" tees, and four 12" long 1/2" pipes as the feet. The target is held with high-test chain, and they look a lot like the ones above. (For lighter/smaller plate I use all 1/2" pipe and elbows.) You can also use 60" pipe, 36" pipe, 24" pipe for the legs, whatever you want.

Set a sandbag or rocks on the feet, and it is stable without having to drive it into ground. The biggest plus is when you hit a pipe (which you or someone shooting with you will do at some point) all you need to do is replace the broken part (if it breaks, with handguns it just dents). No cutting and welding, feet are removable for travel, they're cheap and easy to fix, no worries.

 

[Icky The Great]

I found a local source for ar500 and they give me a super good deal on their end cuts. Most of it is 7.5" wide and up to 28' long. I once found a 6"x6" and a 13.5"x9" pieces. I gather 'em up and spread them out. Working on making a portable stand I could walk in to some of the fields were shoot for distance. Three 7"x 10" targets get quite heavy carrying them out 800 yards or so.
Also found a guy on ebay out of Georgia who had a 3 piece set 6,7 and 8" round with mickey ears to hang them for about $35 plus shipping. Got some of those for the pistol range. I hang them off sheperds hooks. You can find them at hardware store to hang plants on.

 

[barnetmill]

benatilstate I will report my experience to maybe help you out. I purchased steel targets about a month ago. With my .308 with 12x scope, 12" round at 200 yards (longest range I have access to) was a joke - way too easy. 25% IPSC at same range was still pretty easy. I also put a 3x5" diamond at 100 yards and had no trouble with it as well. With open sights on my AK, a 40% target at 100 yards wasnt easy, but was able to hit it pretty consistently. The 12" round at 200 was much more challenging, I think I only hit it once or twice.

I think the 12" would be right for 400-500 with a scoped .308. Im sure there are better shooters out there that would argue that too easy. I have limited time and funds for shooting, so I like to hit my target from time to time. For open sights, Im considering a 16" for 200 yards - granted AK sights are hardly precision instruments - Im sure a good shooter with better sights would have no trouble with the 12" at 200.

Hopefully that helps.

Relative to size of target and how easy it is to hit, are you shooting off a bench or offhand, kneeling, sitting, and prone.
With a decent AK, good ammo, and normal eyesight 16" should be doable from a bench or prone without a lot difficulty. My WASR with chinese ammo will shoot 3 MOA last time I checked for 5 shot groups off of a bench. I do not myself normally shoot at 200 yards and use closer distances that are more realistic for what the AK is intended for. At 33 yards a 3/8" inch AR500 plates started to get chewed up on the edges. Center impacts caused no damage. I suspect that the edges had lost their temper during the cutting process. I will in the future use a half inch thick 12" plate and move back to 50 yards for safety reasons. The twelve inch place is similar to hitting the torso of a human. I practice shooting by switching from one shoulder to the other shoulder offhand and will in the future practice this shooting around corners and various positions. I going at a fast pace through a small co-witnessing aim point sight. Accuracy is intended to be "minute of man". No too hard to miss the 8 inch plate for an average shot like myself under such conditions. I will reserve that smaller plate in the future for pistol shooting for a closer distance.

 

[Justin]

A general rule of thumb for shooting rifles under field conditions is that targets should be around 4MOA.

So a 4in target at 100, 8in at 200, etc.

I think this creates a decent level of challenge, and as you get better at hitting these targets you canchange it up by trying to hit them faster or shooting from other positions.


If you just want to keep it simple, stick with 8in or 10in circular plate targets. These are quite easy to hit at 150 or under, but will get more challenging the further out you go.

For 500 yards and beyond, a steel target the size of a standard USPSA target will work quite well, especially if you can hook it up to one of those slick strobe light indicators.