Super quick poll. Answers needed now. Thanks!

[BBQJOE]

I'm about to finish painting my Gong. It is round and three foot across.
I'll probably hang it at around 100 yards.

The question that I need help deciding is this:

Black stripes on yellow, or red stripes on yellow?


Poll to follow.


I said Gong, not bong, right?
You do know what a shooting gong is? Yes?

[Chris C]

Most of the "dingers" I've shot at, BBQJOE, have been painted white. They stand out real good at 600/900 yds. At those distances, I don't think you'll even see your stripes.

[RogerDat]

Commercial ones from at least one major manufacturer are white. Makes putting a fresh surface on the gong pretty fast and easy, single can of white paint. Can't see repainting the stripes to refresh the target so I could spot my exact shot as very practical.

[WFO2]

Agree on white and a can of white spray paint dresses them up real nice .So for each session you can see your hits .

[Chris C]

Precisely.

However, my 100 yd plate is an 18", 1/2" thick black AR500 and sits inside my bullet trap. I set a target up right in front of it, so I'm not concerned about the color of the dinger.

[WFO2]

hah Great minds RogerDat . You posted a few seconds before me .

[BBQJOE]

I only expect to paint it this color scheme once for its virgin hanging. Once the paint is toast, I'll probably go with the white.

[Tom W.]

Red and ( Almost ) Gold? Semper Fi!

[mdi]

At a distance red+yellow turns into rust/brown...:lol:

[Digital Dan]

My consultant lost his head but may be you can find some guidance in his wardrobe.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/muddler/coral%20snake_zps2kezsh8q.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/muddler/media/coral%20snake_zps2kezsh8q.jpg.html)

[gray wolf]

A 36" gong at 100 yards ? what are you shooting a sling shot ? or throwing rocks ?
Man that's a big, no, no, HUGE plate for 100 yards.
What ever color you choose you will need to buy it by the case.

White as said above will get the job done with good visibility.

[varmint243]

I think you should paste a life size pic of "she who's name shall not be spoken" on it for it's virgin outing
I'll bet you could find one for free on a poster somewhere

[BBQJOE]

A 36" gong at 100 yards ? what are you shooting a sling shot ? or throwing rocks ?
Man that's a big, no, no, HUGE plate for 100 yards.
What ever color you choose you will need to buy it by the case.

White as said above will get the job done with good visibility.
I have a spot picked out out yonder across a wash. I'm terrible with visual distance. It could be much more than 100yds. I haven't measured it yet. I don't think I'll be shooting it with high powered rifles. Mostly my guess is .44.

[BBQJOE]

Oh, and for those of you curious, I went with red.


168728

[Shiloh]

White.

Shiloh

[Shiloh]

Oh, and for those of you curious, I went with red.


168728

Does look good though.

Shiloh

[Chris C]

What material is that monster made out of? What thickness?

[country gent]

Weve got one guy at the club whos constantly painting the gongs blaze oarnge at 200yds they tend to blend into the sand backstop alot more than other colors, I perfer white as our range faces south so its in the shade of the backstop most of the day. Black tends to blend into the shadows more also. whilte with a red swirl from center to edge would be interesting to say the least. Could be done easy enough paint the red let dry and some wide vynal tape put on in the swirl then paint the white over. A couple coats of clear and its to nice to shoot. LOL

[country gent]

On a gong that big withthat much mass cast some raw earth magnets in the noses of your bullets and youll never miss LOL

[BBQJOE]

What material is that monster made out of? What thickness?
It's definitely steel, has a diamond plate pattern, and measures 1/4 inch thick.

We found it years ago out in the desert in a junk pile. It had a handle in the center, so we guessed maybe it was like a manhole type cover or something.
But yeah, it may be a bit big, and thick, but it was free, and ya gotta work with what ya got.

[Chris C]

Don't be shootin' long-guns at that thing or you'll have a sieve. :kidding:

[gray wolf]

But yeah, it may be a bit big, and thick, but it was free, and ya gotta work with what ya got.
It's definitely steel, has a diamond plate pattern, and measures 1/4 inch thick.


I have to ask, what part of 1/4" is thick ? That diamond plate is asking for erratic bounce back.
Plates should be smooth, if it's mild steel and that's what it probably is it's going to get all kinds of dented, and any decent rifle will go right through it, might be OK for 300 + yards.

[BBQJOE]

I have to ask, what part of 1/4" is thick ? That diamond plate is asking for erratic bounce back.
Plates should be smooth, if it's mild steel and that's what it probably is it's going to get all kinds of dented, and any decent rifle will go right through it, might be OK for 300 + yards.
I guess I'll see what I got once I take a few shots at it.
It's 1/4 at the edge and about 5/16 with the pattern.

I'm also guessing that using reloaded lead shouldn't cause for much bounce back.
If I don't report back within a few days or a week, feel free to send flowers, and a card that says, I told you so.

I really don't know from mild to hard steel, but it was harder to drill than say cold rolled. It took quite a while to drill, and a lot of oil. Even hanging partially off the side of the table, I can tell it's going to have a decent ring.

[Mk42gunner]

You might be okay at 100 yards with cast from pistol caliber carbines, but keep any high velocity jwords away from it.

Diamond plate makes decent toolboxes and floors for flatbeds or trailers; target gongs not so much.

Robert

[OS OK]

Hang that thing inside of an old tractor tire and catch all the lead splatter so you can re-cast those buggers.

[aephilli822]

Hang that thing inside of an old tractor tire and catch all the lead splatter so you can re-cast those buggers.

:idea:

[Tatume]

Red on yellow kill a fellow
Red on black, you're okay Jack

[Chris C]

Hang that thing inside of an old tractor tire and catch all the lead splatter so you can re-cast those buggers.

Yup, dats what I did with my 18" diameter 1/2" thick AR500 plate.

168809

168810

I've got flaps on the inside of both the front and back tires that keep it all inside. Lead, antimony and tin are way too expensive to just blow to smithereens and not reclaim.

[BBQJOE]

Well here we go. I didn't get any pics of the hanging assembly. We put it all in the pickup, locked in the hubs, and drove to the spot I picked. Everything was so heavy, it had to be put together at the site. It damn near killed us getting it hung.
Here's a pic taken right outside my shop door.
Anyone care to take a guess at the distance? I haven't a clue yet.168826

[OS OK]

Hard to say but I'll guess 135 yds.

[Echo]

I make it 137 1/2 yards - I know these things...

[OS OK]

I make it 137 1/2 yards - I know these things...

I dunnoh…?…I used a laser rangefinder!

[BBQJOE]

Well, unless I drink a lot of coffee, I'm certainly not getting out there with a measuring tape. My friend has a range finder,so maybe someday I'll know for sure.
This morning was almost still enough to shoot, so I did anyway. Got a number of good hits using a Winchester 94AE in .44 mag using hand rolled cowboy loads. Also got some using a S&W 629 also in .44.
The bullets shattered, left a splat mark, but no dents.

The sad news is the ding isn't as good as I was hoping for, even though you can still hear it when hit.

I've got some other ideas that I may incorporate, or try by themselves sometime.

[Bullwolf]

I used to paint them all black, figured it was less of an eye sore.

I bought a piece of AR500 plate at a show that had already been painted white...

Darned if that white gong isn't much easier to pick up with iron sights and my aging eyes.

I've re-thought my painting all steel targets black way of thinking somewhat since then.


- Bullwolf

[BigMagShooter]

make sure you hang it so the stripes are diagonal. :)

[45-70 Chevroner]

I' m still totally lost at the purpose of the strips. I think I could under stand a big cross, like cross hairs in a scope or a ten or twelve inch circle centered in the gong, but it's your gong so paint strips, which I see you did. It truly looks like some special road sign, go ahead and shoot all those ugly strips off then paint it white. :kidding:

[OS OK]

Yeah, white with a big 'happy face' on it.

That'll remind you that you are having fun.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I'm guessing 200 yards but it's hard to tell from a picture so I'm just counting the weeds and bushes between the target and the camera.:-)

[MT Gianni]

Solid white, black or fluorescent green.

[2wheelDuke]

Yeah, white with a big 'happy face' on it.

That'll remind you that you are having fun.

I might do that to the gongs next time I'm at my club. I might even grab a can of yellow and really make the round gongs into smiley faces.

[6622729]

I answered black on yellow per the poll but I'd prefer all white.

[robg]

White so you have a chance to see your sights on it

[JeffG]

Bumble Bee black and yellow, however, I've come to realize white is really the best. At most, after painting white, I'll stencil a 2" fluorescent green or orange dot in the center just to draw my eyes there.