Made some Steel targets - pics

[drumz2129]

Here are some pisc of some steel targets i made. I save some of the liner plates out of a wheelebrator shot thrower that we scrapped out to use as the plates, im not sure of the material but it is very hard. I plan to only use cast lead on them but i have a few extra peices that i may try FMJ and see if it puts dimples or not. The targets are 6x6, the hinge point is protected by the mount tube (with extra plate welded to the front) and angled downward 10deg to direct any lead splatter downward. The targets can be propped up and knocked down or shot from the hanging position to make them swing.
(FYI the targets are level, the ground in front of the berm has a slant to it and makes it look unlevel.)

front view:

Rear view:

15 yards:

25 yards:

 

[critter]

NICE!

 

[Jim Watson]

Nice to have one's own facility, isn't it?
We had two rope reset plate racks at the local club's pistol range... until some jerk chewed them up with a rifle to the point of causing dangeous spatter. Next time we had the berm dressed, the battered plate racks were plowed under.
So we bought some armor plate gongs. And the jerks shot at the mild steel stands until they fell over.
So now we have a vacant range, bring your own targets unless for a match when we unlock our remaining gear.

 

[drumz2129]

Nice to have one's own facility, isn't it?
We had two rope reset plate racks at the local club's pistol range... until some jerk chewed them up with a rifle to the point of causing dangeous spatter. Next time we had the berm dressed, the battered plate racks were plowed under.
So we bought some armor plate gongs. And the jerks shot at the mild steel stands until they fell over.
So now we have a vacant range, bring your own targets unless for a match when we unlock our remaining gear.

Your post reminds me of something i read on the MGM steel targets website:

If some a) clown, b) moron, c) yahoo, d) expletive deleted shoots a hole in one of your targets, or if they shoot it with a shotgun slug, castration is always in order.

Maybe it should be a new range rule?


A very good friend of mine is the only other person i let use my range if i am not there, and he knows only to shoot lead at it. He is the one that helped me build and dress the berm. I have a few peices of the plate left and was thinking about making a gong but havnt decided of how to hang it. I didnt make any type of reset, but i may come up with something one day.

 

[358minus1]

Assuming your targets are steel and you are only shooting "normal" pistol rounds (9mm, 38Spl, 45, etc - no 500 Mags....), if they're 1/4 inch thick, they're going to get beat up pretty quickly - 3/8 inch thick they'll last a good long time - 1/2 inch thick they'll just about last forever.

My club has a plate match once a month and our plates are 3/8 thick. The pics look like your plates may be 1/2 inch thick, but its hard to tell. As long as they're at least 3/8 thick, they should last you a long, long time. We shoot both lead and FMJ and don't really seem to see a large differnce between the two. Wear safety glasses!!!

 

[drumz2129]

The plates are 1/2" thick and i have several extras if one does get damaged. I plan to use no larger than .45ACP on them. I was wondering how they would hold up to FMJ vs Lead. I was told the steel is Armor plating, but im not sure which grade. It has to be very hard to take the abuse of shot blasting machine it came out of. I found out that grinding wheels dont want to mess with it when i tried to dress one of the edges. I have a peice i saved as a test peice, i want to order some cast lead bullets for my 30-30s, i plan to keep the velocity low (under 1500) and am wondering how well the plates will hold up.

I was also told that lead nose rifle bullets are fine to use on plates too... out past 100yards. is this true?

and yes, safety glasses are a must.

 

[bnkrazy]

That setup should last you a lifetime. Very nice.

 

[Sam1911]

You should be just fine shooting jacketed bullets from handguns.

It's really the rifle calibers with their much higher velocities that cause problems like cratering.

The biggest issue with jacketed ammo and steel is that the jacketed slugs sometimes hold together a little better causing the riccocheting chunks to have enough weight to cause some damage. Lead bullets usually disintegrate pretty completely when they hit the steel.

Our range has an 11 yard rule for steel because of that. Cowboy Action shooters will engage plates closer than that, but their slow, all lead ammo doesn't give them the same riccochet risk as a ball ammo FMJ.

-Sam

 

[Archie]

Steel plates

You'll find the plates are holed more by high velocity than by bullet construction (unless it's a dedicated armor piercing round.) The same goes for dimpling or cupping.

You might 'sacrifice' one of the extra plates you have to see just exactly it will stand. You may find it will take more than you think.

It is a very nice set up. I'm envious in a good way.

 

[bill in IN]

If they are manganese, which used to be the material used, they may break.

 

[CoRoMo]

drumz...

What kind of hinge system do you have for each plate? I really can't make out much from the rear pic.

 

[Erik M]

Thats one of the coolest setups I have seen in a long time. I had something alot smalled gifted to me years ago. it was apparrently for rimfire only, because 9mm punched through it like it was made of cardboard.

 

[Sam1911]

Looks like one diameter of black iron pipe welded to the plate through which a smaller diameter of pipe is inserted as the hinge pin.

That's the same system as the plate rack at my club and it holds up pretty well.

-Sam

 

[drumz2129]

Thanks for all the replies...

Sam- thanks for the info. i do have some of the same material left and will do testing.

Bill- do you know how easily manganese is welded to? The reason i ask is because it welded normally but could not be cut by a oxy acetylene torch-It just melted in big globs. I had to use a plasma to get a clean cut.

CoRoMo- For the hinge system i used a piece of 1 1/2" .120" wall DOM tubing welded to the plates (the pates have a full 30deg bevel on both sides with 3 passes per side... i know over kill) the inner hinge is a piece of 1" sch80 pipe. the hinge supports are 1/4" plate welded to a 2x2x1/4" piece of HREW tube. There is a 3" strip of the plate material attached to the front side of the square tubing to protect it and the hinge set up from damage. The front plate also coveres the welded area of the plates since the heat from welding takes alot of the hardness out of the plates. The entire setup is attached to the 4x6 post at a 10deg forward angle to deflect any splatter downward.

 

[Mr.510]

If the material seemed to weld "normal" but torch cut "funny" it's probably a relatively low-manganese steel and will do fine. If it's austenitic (magnet doesn't stick) all bets are off.


Have you tried the targets yet? If I had my own on-site range and resettable steel targets my ammo stash would be gone the first weekend!

 

[bhp9mm]

nice targets

 

[drumz2129]

If it's austenitic (magnet doesn't stick) all bets are off.

magnet does stick

Have you tried the targets yet?

Yes and they work great. I tried a couple dozen rounds of a .40 S&W yesterday to verify that i was happy with the load i worked up before loading a few hundred for this weekend. 180 grn TCFP Missouri Hard Cast lead over 7.8grn of HS-6 left a little lead splatter spot with no dimple at all. Flipped them down just fine and i think with a well placed bottom edge shot it may be possible to flip them back up..... it would be a good challange

 

[Mr.510]

magnet does stick

I'll bet the material is good-to-go for nearly anything you feel like shooting at it then. You should try hitting a piece with a rifle round and see what happens. I'll bet it doesn't leave a mark!

i think with a well placed bottom edge shot it may be possible to flip them back up

You know, I may have just thought of the first actual use for a .50 Desert Eagle.... falling target re-setter!

 

[drumz2129]

You should try hitting a piece with a rifle round and see what happens. I'll bet it doesn't leave a mar

Before i built them i tried 60 rounds of 69gr SMK from my AR at 100 yards- just to see how well it held up compared to the 1/2" mild steel that we used before. it left much smaller craters, but still cratered. Im going to try some 170grn jacketed lead flat nose from my 30-30 and maybe some soft tipped .224" rounds on a test piece this weekend.

 

[paralaska]

Really nice design . . . I wish I had some place where I could set up a permanent setup like that.

"Flipped them down just fine and i think with a well placed bottom edge shot it may be possible to flip them back up..... "

What if you put another plate at 90 degrees behind ** _! ** with a stop to have it stop at verticle to the ground. Then it might be easier to shoot them back up . . .

 

[flying_gage]

That is really a neat design. I am envious. I would also blow through my stash in a weekend with that sort of set up. Hopefully I will have mine up and running in the next year or so, (kids, wife, house, work and setting my shop up take precedence)

On a side note, how much dirt is in your back stop? Looks to be about 30-40 cu yds? Just curious as I am slowllllyyyyyy building my range and that is about what I have out back so far. I keep hoping for a couple extra bucks to have a bomber come out and drop another 20 yds.

For those who have done this, would it be advantageous to offset the set up, (or shoot at an offset) by 5-10 degrees to lessen the chance of splatter and rico's? Just curious?

 

[flying_gage]

Looking closer now, I can see that is great than 40 yds.... Probably closer to 60?

 

[drumz2129]

I had a couple of friends over this weekend to do a little shooting. The plates held up to any pistol round we shot at it. 22LR, 9mm, 38Super, 40S&W, 45ACP. .410 buck (judge)
We shot hard cast lead, FMJ and JHP. The Jacketed bulltes left a smaller spot than the hard cast did. I guess they use a softer lead under the jacket that deforms better.

On a side note, how much dirt is in your back stop? Looks to be about 30-40 cu yds?

Im not sure how much dirt i have there. I had a small pile of sand and rock mix when i bought the place and have been adding to it since. It is now 8-9 feet high, and 35 wide at the base. The top is flat and about 3' thick. As i added to the top i smashed it down with the bottom of the bucket so it is packed in tight.

For those who have done this, would it be advantageous to offset the set up, (or shoot at an offset) by 5-10 degrees to lessen the chance of splatter and rico's? Just curious?

If you are refering to the plates, when in set position are angled forward 10deg. When they fall the hang straight down. The strip accross the front is also angled 10deg forward to deflect splatter to the ground.