Welding Project for my Dad

[41magsnub]

A bit of back story.. my Dad (an accountant) is taking welding classes so he can weld a metal framework for a bridge at our cabin this summer, He is way more serious about it than I thought, he is on the third class and $6000 into a welder, plasma cutter, and other paraphernalia. He is looking for small projects to do in order for additional practice.

I have one for him which is a metal motion target. What i envision are two A frames connected with a metal bar (basically a narrow saw horse). then hanging from the connecting bar would be metal disks by either chain or more likely metal rods with a loop on one end that goes around the top bar. the disks would vary from 4" to 1". when you get a good hit on a disk it will spin vertically around the top bar, but there will be enough weight on the disk it will stop fairly quickly and come to rest.

Everything on that is easy, but I am not sure how thick the metal on the disks should be and a larger question is would this be safe?

any ideas?

Edit: what would be shot at it would be .22's and .38 wadcutters.

 

[Jim Watson]

Quarter inch ought to do for .22 and .38. But it should be GOOD steel. Splurge for a few pieces of T1 or abrasion resistant bulldozer blade or some such. Mild steel will be dinged by even lead bullets until it starts deflecting pieces back at you.

 

[Omnivore]

Steel targets are a regular accessory at most pistol ranges. Range rules usually specify a minimum distance when shooting them. I believe it is 40 feet at our range. Understand that the bullets will splatter outward, along the plane of the steel, so anything off to the sides will get pelted with high velocity lead fragments. Also, bullets that hit the edges of the steel can be diverted at a high angle, so you have to keep the targets low and close to your backstop, and/or have a higher than usual backstop.

If you're only using .22 LR and .38 Special, the steel can be just about anything, and a quarter inch will suffice. For faster cartridges, you want a good, hard steel. AR 400 or AR 500 is often used, as is T1 and several others I can't remember. Those will hold up to any common handgun caliber fired from a handgun. There are tons of different steel alloys but you're looking for hardness. AR 400 at 3/8" thickness will stand up, with some minor pitting, to the relatively fast .30 M1 Carbine, but even medium rifle loads like the 7.62 x 39 and .223 will crater your steel badly, or even punch through. Cratering the steel causes an extreme hazzard-- any bullet that hits the crater will splash right straight back at you and cut you with multiple fragments (ask me how I know). Always make sure that your target AND any target support structure has no surface anywhere that points to, or remotely near, the shooting position. You will deffinitely hit it at some point and it will direct bullet fragments right at you.

Find someone with experience in such things to help you with the design, or look for ready-made plans. Local range masters would be a good place to start asking also. There has been a lot of trial and error already and you don't want to have to reinvent the whole process.

 

[Omnivore]

OK, I defer to Jim-- No mild steel. None, not ever.

 

[41magsnub]

I was looking at this which might be a better design than a saw horse type set up. http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=92018

I think the claim of "Even a .50 BMG won't destroy this self-sealing polymer Target" might be a little optimistic though.

 

[41magsnub]

Alright, we built this thing over Xmas and it works well. We found a scrap sheet of 1/2" AR400 steel and it seems to be holding up. I put 50 rapid .22 hits into one plate and just had some scuffing on the surface. I'm going to test it with some .38's and maybe a frangible 22-250 this weekend to see what happens as well.

My dad did not believe me at first that we needed the armor plate so he build a 2" rimfire target for it out of 1/4" steel. From a LONG ways back I shot it 3 times with a .22 and it was dented enough to use as a spoon!