how to: steel plates?

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Reefinmike

Reefinmike

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Here soon, im going on my twice a year trip with friends down to deep in the hollers kentucky to do some camping, shooting, and 4 wheeling. In past trips, we've hung beer cans, set up clay pigeons, paper targets etc etc. while this is fun and all, im looking for more permanent targets. I shoot about 200 rounds a week, mainly home cast and reloaded 38spl, so im planning on bringing about 1k 38 spl, 200 357, 250 380's, and a handful of 22's(suckers are expensive compared to the rest) and shooting them all off over the period of a couple days.

problem is- I like reactive targets that are set it and forget it. I will be mainly shooting with my taurus 66 at 25ish yards, and my pocket 380 and 357 snub at 12-15 yards. I was thinking 6" dia steel plates because i can easily get 95% of the shots out of the 66 at 25 yards on a 6" target, and 6" for my snub and 380 should be challenging enough.

looking on how to do this. Id like to have 6" plates that can swing, attached to a large screw threaded end that I could drill into a tree branch for easy setup and removal.

I have access to a welder, and many tools, just not sure how to go about this
 
Widener's has a good selection of steel targets for sale. Sounds like this one might suit your needs. http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=100000204&dir=1020|1023
If I were you I'd build some sort of hanging stand for the target, so that it hangs with a sloping angle to deflect bullets into the ground, and not back toward you. You may also want to check the minimum safe distances to shoot steel. I think that the distances that you give sound fairly safe, but it's always better to check than to lose an eye or break a bone.
 
meh, ricochets dont hurt that much lol. i was hit by my first shot out of my first 22 rifle when i was about 14. mom was gone at work, and i snuck a few rounds from her closet, went out and shot a big osage orange tree and the boolit hit me in the chest. didnt hurt at all, but I still have the thing to this day- first shot fired out of my own gun. then a year ago when i made the smart decision to shoot at a chunk of concrete. 38spl hit me in the leg. almost hurt. both of these incidents were at less than ten yards and ive become much more aware of gun safety since ive become a gun nut in the past year

however- back on topic. the plates looked like they would work OK, but I think something that swings on a hinge would be nice. only one direction to go and shoot at it head on. hanging a steel plate with two holes in it from a tree could be a PIA to get it to face the way id like it to.
 
You'd be wise to take advice to build your targets with the danger of ricochets in mind. I've been hit by .38 rat shot, 9mm jacketing, lead splatter, and had a few zip by my head. If they connect, they hurt.

Two weeks ago l left the range with bleeding wounds on my arm and shin. Lead fragments don't always get you 30 feet from a steel target, but they did that time. Hit my face too. My targets all spin or are angled down, but l still caught lead.

Then there is a guy l know locally who went to the ER last winter with half a bullet stuck in his finger after shooting too close to a steel target.

Don't screw around when shooting at steel.
 
I've been shooting steel swingers at 25 yard for years using cast bullet handloads and also 22 LR. Handgun only. I've never had a bounce-back come back and get me. The plates are angled down and you can see the splash in the dirt around the plate. You also find a lot of really thin lead discs scattered around the plate. Too bad the bullets disintegrate so completely. There is nothing left to salvage and use to re-cast.
 
I've been shooting steel swingers at 25 yard for years using cast bullet handloads and also 22 LR. Handgun only. I've never had a bounce-back come back and get me.
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Count yourself lucky. I was at a steel match at the club last night and got hit with splatter several times. The one cowboy match I was at, I was hit by shotgun slapper repeatedly. Always wear safety glasses. Most of the time, the spatter doesn't hurt, but it would probably really ruin your day if it hit you in the eye.
 
i would not recommend hanging plates for pistol. get fixed plates instead.
 
Reefinmike,

AR500 armor steel is used in professional steel target production because of the hardness of the surface.

Plates should be angled to allow ricochets to be directed to the ground. Whether you're hanging plates or mounting them fixed, making sure to angle the face slightly down towards the ground is important for your and other people's safety.

For those of you who've never been injured by ricochet or splatter, you're fortunate. I've been hit with fragments and while the majority of them have done no harm it is unsettling to have to pull a jacket fragment out of your cheek. Don't assume your personal anecdote of invulnerability or luck makes for good advice for others. We practice all shooting safety methods because of the one in a million case where we'd pay too high a price if we didn't.
 
I have a question. How much tilt do you want when creating a steel target? Say an AR500 plate mounted about chest high and shot with a pistol at 15 yards.

Oh and, yes, riccochets hurt. I caught a 7.62x39 that came back from about 20 yards. T'was scary.
 
This post gave me a chuckle: 1st .22 @ about 12 I shot a golf ball at about 50 feet with a .22 short. Slug bounced back & hit me in the shoulder. Lucky it was winter & I had on a heavy jacket. Didn't hurt but taught me a very good lesson about firearm safety
 
How much tilt do you want...
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Not much is required to be effective. I don't know if there is a specific range of angles (ex. 3°-4°) but I would guess that only a few degrees are good. When I shoot/set up a steel challenge match, I can't tell that the plates are mounted at any noticeable angle to the bracket that mounts them on the 2x4 post. It all looks like a solid 90° angle to my untrained eyeball. But what makes them end up slightly canted is their weight pulling forward on the 2x4 post and the lack of level ground that the stands are on.
 
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I have been hit with a piece of lead from a 38 special fired at a concrete block from about 20 yards away. It went through my tshirt and was stuck in my skin. Right in the tender love handle zone. It hurt like the dickens and I thought I had been shot.

Dont take any chances, it's not worth it.
 
Thanks CoRoMo.

It looks like I am going to be setting up my own steel range on some state land (not permanent) as the local private range I am a member of is excessively "fuddy" and won't let me set them up there. I am going to start with 3 of the 2x4 toppers from your link, so double thanks, I guess.

Can't wait to see what the shipping will be!
 
hso, first bounce back I got hit with skipped back up the range and smacked me in the "wallet" as I was crouched down facing away from the range getting into my bag.
The second was a very lightly loaded 38 Spl that bounced back off a bowling pin and nailed my in the twins. Dropped me like a rock. Years later, it's hilarious, but at the time I was in agony.
I won't use my swinger closer than 25 yards with pistol. You can see the splatter in the dust in front of it, before it starts to swing.
Just observe the dust splatters and ignore the rest of the cheesy video - I am still learning how to do movies. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-_5S6-1zyU&feature=plcp

I HAVE a hanger, designed to go on a 2x4, and hang at a down slant to control ricochets and splatter. No 2x4 and no place to put it yet.
 
I've been hit in the shoulder with a Super Colibri after it bounced off a skateboard. It had very little umph to it.
 
well, a lot of thinking to do on the whole "im impervious to ricochets". Im looking to slap steel mainly with 38 spl 158gr home cast reloads at ~800fps out of a 6"bbl, maybe a few 22's out of my 10/22. possibly some 125gr plated 357 mags clocking in at 1250fps.

coRmo- I really like the plates you posted but darn those are expensive. easy to transport, but $180 for three at different ranges- my blood runs with lead, not gold. maybe alchemy can fix that haha.

my main question, will a stationary steel target such as that make a distinct sound report? they're useless to me at 25 yard ranges unless i can hear a hit.

Thinking of a cheap route- what about something along the lines of the plates that slip onto a 2x4, but just have some 6" and 8" plates with a couple holes drilled in them and bolt them into a tree? will this make a sound report if they were bolted in tightly into a tree at an angle of course, or should there be washers or something else spacing them off the tree to get that "ding"?
 
Yes, stationary targets also make a sound - a guy on the line with us today had a stationary target on a post, made the same sound as mine does.
 
Plates should be angled to allow ricochets to be directed to the ground. Whether you're hanging plates or mounting them fixed, making sure to angle the face slightly down towards the ground is important for your and other people's safety.
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TAKE THESE AS WORDS FROM GOD! i mean absolutely no disrespect to God, either. being hit by a bullet, even a ricochet is no laughing matter. and at least triple as serious out in the back country, where medical help can be a long way off. i have been hit by a couple of bullets, that were stuck in a stump. when my bullet hit, it knocked them out. one broke the skin, and i ended up with a nasty infection. now, think about a bullet coming back at you, and hitting you in one of your more tender, or vital spots. say, maybe, an eye. 3/4 of an inch from your brain is no place for an infection! of course, then there are the tender parts. you do not want to have to tell the little woman that you have an infection there, DO YOU? you do not think for one minute that she is going to believe it is from a RICOCHET!
 
If your range is open to the public or people you don't know, don't leave your plates out there, they will get destroyed.
 
It'd be kind of a PITA to get them to hang from a tree just right, a few of my buddies and I tried the same thing back in high school. What we ended up doing was using my old man's welder and I welded up a few spinners out of scrap 1" steel, and a rebar frame. We cut off 3" long sections of 1" steel pipe, slid it over the top piece of rebar, then welded up a base and a square frame with a "leg" coming from each of the top corners to dig into the dirt and keep it from kicking over. Then I welded the steel plate to the piece of pipe, put down a little bit off a 7016 welding rod on each side to keep the pipe from sliding too far to the sides. That's been several years, but they're holding up great, last time I was in on leave(to the hollers of Kentucky, coincidentally enough), we shot them with everything from a Ruger MK II up to my AK without any damage other than chipping the paint.
 
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