Metal pans and cookware as targets?

[StayonTarget]

Have any of you had experience in using metal pans as steel targets? My family, being thrifty packrats, have amassed a large stockpile of used metal pans and I was thinking of reviving them for another purpose.

Since I regularly shoot in the desert, I plan on building a simple square frame and string the pans from the top of the frame. Since the targets will be hanging freely, that should reduce or eliminate any blowback/ricochet from fragments, right?

Any additional advice is gladly appreciated. I'll let ya'll know how it goes this weekend as well.

 

[jjjjeremy]

That sounds alright to me 1) as long as you aren't shooting cast iron, and 2) as long as the pots and pans don't have any funny coatings on them. In addition to being potentially hazardous, the coatings will probably flake off and cause a mess. Even if the flakes blow away, it's not being a good steward to the land. As for the cast iron, send anything you don't want to me. Shipping shouldn't be that much.

 

[hammerklavier]

Yes, I would worry about the shrapnel from cast-iron. For most others, I would expect the bullet to punch right through, so no worries about ricochets.

 

[nalioth]

I highly doubt you'd get any ricochet from cookware.

The ricochet dangers you read about come from using ¼" and ½" steel plate, not the thin aluminum or steel alloys used in cookware.

 

[Steel Talon]

cast iron is for cooking son,not shooting...

 

[taliv]

i wouldn't recommend it. as others have said, i doubt you'll get ricochets but you will basically just be making a mess. the cookware won't do anything interesting when you hit it. you'll just put lots of holes with sharp jagged edges in it which will probably result in tetanus shots for anyone handling your trash

 

[GPSFlyer]

.223 pokes little clean holes in cast iron skillets. One round of .45acp shatters the skillets into tiny pieces that you'll spend a half hour cleaning up...

 

[Blackrock]

I choot the chit out of them all the time. I hae a pipe frame on my private range to hang pans and stuff from plua a shelf across the top for splatter targets like melons and such.

 

[Moose1995]

really depends on what you're shooting. about the only thing that wont punch holes through it are 22 lr.

 

[ChefJeff1]

I´ve shot several cook pans. I shot an All Clad "nonstick" pan.(piece of $100 junk). I think the ammo was Cabelas bulk 38 special semi wadcutters. they hit the pan, formed a nice shiny mushroom and fell to the ground.

I shot up crappy chinese piece of cast iron and it shattered.

I wouldn't dare shoot a nice Lodge or Wagner cast iron, which is all I use to cook by the way, except for boiling spaghetti and cooking eggs white omelets.

 

[FROGO207]

I shoot at aluminum flashing strips or old AL pie plates with stick on targets on them. You can tell if you hit by the sound with a pistol round. Longer distances will not send the sound back easily unless the metal is thick and heavy. I would think of building a set of thick angled targets to hang that will stand up to repeated fire if it were me. Just spray a little light colored paint on them to cover the previous hits and go at it again.

 

[CraigC]

Go for it, cleaning up the mess is just the price you pay for not shooting at paper. Which I only do when I have to. Around these parts, disposing of old shot-up junk is rather simple. Now that I'm paying for rural trash pick-up, all I have to do is help him load it and pay a little extra.

 

[MD_Willington]

Just old aluminium pans, went to the Salvation Army, found some T-Fal flat skillets for ~ 1 ea. Set them out 100m against a huge berm... Hint - The "Palouse" is covered in giant berms.

Cheap Russian .223 rips right through them, the pans are now in my Aluminium pile going to the metal recyclers.

 

[25cschaefer]

I've made a few strainers out of old nonstick pans. 22lr goes through about 50% of the time, #4 steel shot from a 12ga gets stuck in them, hot .357 jhp put clean holes in them, hot 44mag jhp melt 40 cal holes in it (steel splatter on the back side), 40 s&w Win. Rangers put .57 holes in it. All in all, it sounds cool, doesn't make a mess, and really pisses your wife off.

 

[bigfatdave]

I shoot junked pots and pans whenever I can get my hands on them. Only really trashed ones, anything I wasn't using would go to Goodwill/SA, but if I see something really crappy at Goodwill/SA I snap it up and perforate it.

But I wouldn't do cast iron, aluminum or thin steel are the way to go.

 

[taliv]

why not just invest in a real steel target that won't wear out and never makes a mess? Geez, you can get an 8x8" AR500 plate for $18. That's a lot cheaper than buying junk at goodwill.

 

[bigfatdave]

First, if I leave my steel swinger at the range, some asshat will punch a hole in it with something it isn't rated for.
Second, I've retired more myself than I've picked up thrift, and the thrift ones are generally <$5, for which you get a junk pot and junk lid.
Third, I just leave them up on the target stand, where everyone at my range can enjoy the "ding!" from 100 yards if they like.
Fourth, where the heck am I supposed to keep a steel swinger? In the trunk? On the bike? In my nonexistent garage or reloading room? The pans are one-way items and can go to the range on the bike, the 20# steel kitty-cat with a swinger stand is not easily transported, and has no place in my small dwelling (it IS fun to shoot, though ... but .22lr and down only)

I might pay more, but the occasional junk cookware is nothing compared to ammo cost or another gun, and I'm not stuck storing the damn things or bringing a lead-spattered plate into my home ... an acceptable trade-off for me and apparently others as well.

 

[bigfatdave]

Also, an 18" steel wok makes an interesting noise when hit with a .22lr handgun, but not as interesting as the sounds of frustration from the guy shooting a rifle prone next to you.

And just about any old pot/pan is a reusable target if you're just popping it with .22short, and well worth the zero-dollar investment of simply not throwing out a junk item.

"plink!"
"plunk"
"ding!"
"clang!"

Hours of fun, I tell you!

 

[Justin Holder]

I wouldn't be against using old pots and pans for casual plinking targets, but since scrap metal is still going for $9 a 100lbs all of mine are going to the recycling depot. I've actually made pretty good money doing just that.

 

[Frozen North]

All junk gets shot around my place! We are sticking our targets to an old filing cabinet right now. Most of the .22lr bullets end up in the bottom drawers. The junk man does not care if stuff is all shot up.

 

[MD_Willington]

I want to know where I can get AR500 plate, I'm outside a college town and there are only a few overpriced metal places around... What I want is a torso sized silhouette to stick out at ~300 meters

 

[Equestrian]

just did that today soft aluminum is fun and looks cool but be careful of thicker steel pans and small calibers. i always put the cooking side facing downrange and shoot the stove side so i don't have lead funneled back at me. hey its trash anyway and it is worth $9 a pound with or without holes

 

[deadeyedog270]

cookie sheets are fun to hit with the .22 and some times you pound back the back side and shoot more

 

[Ignition Override]

Yes, but first spray it with some orange paint for better visibility.
A friend bought some cheap skillets from the Dollar Store. It's nice to see a cheap target flinch from over 100 feet with the .22.

You can hear the impacts, but don't remember whether larger calibers produce an audible "Ting" on cheap, very light, thin skillets.

A silver metal pot works really well for hearing impacts with all calibers.

 

[Zak Smith]

Personally I would advise against it.