Steel rifle targets

[crabo]

I did a search and read a lot of posts about homemade steel rifle targets, but a lot of the pictures have been deleted. I want to make some rifle targets that will hold up to jacketed bullets.

I have made a lot of targets for 22s and cast, but I want something that will hold up to 223s, 308s, ect. I want targets that will encourage my friends to practice with their deer hunting rifles.

I would love to see some pictures if you have any and suggestions for materials. Also portable designs are good.

I tried to post these pictures again, but it said they were too large. In post 7 is some pictures of my knockdown silhouettes.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=57250&highlight=steel+targets

Any ideas?

[runfiverun]

craig: if you want portable and tough, you need to use that armor plate like they use for silhouettes.
hold on to your wallet though.
we use regular ole 1/2" steel cut into bowling pin shapes with feet welded to them at 300 yds you gotta go re-set them after a hit though. and they do get beat up after a while but are pretty easy to make.
i'd just go with squares, circles,and diamonds as they are easy to cut out.
and you could make them 4-12"s so hits were fairly easy/hard. and can be set on the ground a stump etc.

[crabo]

I'm planning on making some croquet hoops out of 1" rebar and hanging them with chain. (the top will be straight and not curved) I hate resetting targets, especially at 100 yards plus.

I thought I read here where someone said that mild steel 1" thick would hold up to jacketed rifle. It would dent and pockmark, and get ugly, but it would take the hits.

[montana_charlie]

Have you seen any of the videos of guys shooting jacketed bullets into steel targets...who wind up being hit by the rebound?
CM

[crabo]

Have you seen any of the videos of guys shooting jacketed bullets into steel targets...who wind up being hit by the rebound?
CM

yes, a very liberal application of common sense must be applied.

Every seen anyone that has been injured by a power tool? Same thing, you can up your injury rate considerably if you do ******* things.

I do appreciate your concern, since you cannot hear the tone of my voice in an email.

[Gunfixer]

Crabo
We made some 4" squares out of 1" mild for a 100 yd offhand shoot. Interestingly a 270 or 30-06 with soft point J-words would put about a 1/4"- 3/8" deep pock ( with REALLY SHARP edges!). While a .223 with 55 gr sp would pooch the off side and you could see daylight. We would just grind off the sharp stuff and weld up the holes. Out of approximately 1000 rounds fired we had zero rebounds from .223 to 300 win mag

[richbug]

You don't want thickness, you want hardness. 1/4" AR500 wil take rifle fire at 50 yards and last nearly forever. We shoot mostly steel targets for our IPSC rifle matches. This means full power 223(some steel core), 308, 8mm...
10,000 of round per month on averag, spread over 40-50 targets.


AR500
AR400
1070 to 1090
when we buy steel in order of preference(from the scrap guy of course).


when we scavenge for new targets,
Big truck springs,
Dozer track(our oldest surviving targets at over 10 years)
Cutting edge from earth moving equipment works well.
Brush hog blades, plow points

[C1PNR]

You don't want thickness, you want hardness. 1/4" AR500 wil take rifle fire at 50 yards and last nearly forever. We shoot mostly steel targets for our IPSC rifle matches. This means full power 223(some steel core), 308, 8mm...
10,000 of round per month on averag, spread over 40-50 targets.


AR500
AR400
1070 to 1090
when we buy steel in order of preference(from the scrap guy of course).


when we scavenge for new targets,
Big truck springs,
Dozer track(our oldest surviving targets at over 10 years)
Cutting edge from earth moving equipment works well.
Brush hog blades, plow points
Ha! Now i've got a use for those old grader blades that used to give me ballast in the bed of the 2wd PU during the winter.:Fire:

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Have shot steel targets for yrs. , 25yd. 50yd, 100yd. 150 yd., 200yd.
1,000 of rounds no problem.
Just angle the plat a little forward when staking it down. All debre deflected down into dirt.
Need about 1" thick for jacked under 300 yds. 3/4 hard plat works well at 300yds.

[briang]

Hang the plates from some chain welded to the back of the plate about 1/3 of the way down from the top. This will make the plate hang with a slight angle and allow the plate to move when hit, plus no resetting. You can hang the chain from whatever is handy, like a tree branch, or you can make a hoop. Most of the time the rebounds that come back at the shooter are from solidly mounted plate.

[Daveb]

Hey! Has anyone tried railroad plates? I "rescued" a few that were in good condition and set one on a berm at 50 yards with the base side up and a slight upward angle. My friend hit it square with his .458 win mag and the round just barely pocked it before going into the berm. He wasn't up to giving it a multiple shot test though- something about having to have his shoulder relocated. Lol! I also mounted one on a rebar frame with chain repair links (the holes are already there) and it lasted for a couple of months before someone shot AP rounds through one corner of it.

[vonfatman]

Crabo,
Sir, the one I use is actually one of four hardened loader bucket cutting edges used on a 100+ cu. yard wheel loader that were BRAND NEW and unused when I obtained them.

These large edges/segments were being "scrapped" as we do with many parts in our business each year (construction equipment sales, service, parts & rental).

We scrap many obsolete parts/components and then take them off the books. Most businesses like us do this (Case, Komatsu, Kawasaki, Cat, Volvo, Deere) and obsolete parts/components are hauled off in scrap bins for scrap prices.

I happen to have put out the word to a couple of the "yard dogs" that I would want to intercept heavy steel for my shooting range...that's how I came upon these four segments....it takes three of us to hang one...I know because every once in a while someone smokes the log chain!

I have used smaller bolt-on edges (like for backhoes or Bobcats) but they are hard AND brittle. Better for handguns...a rifle (or high-velocity handgun) will shatter one.

If you want to locate LARGE THICK HEAVY steel that's up to the challenge, I suggest contacting the heavy equipment dealers, Equipment Rental Houses, Mines, Coal Fired Electric Plants, Quarries, Aggregate Plants, etc...anywhere BIG iron is used, sold or rented in your area. Don't forget to visit with your contractors.

Get to know the service & parts manager. Let him/her know what you need and I expect for the price of a few pizzas & soda for the crew, you will be THE person who gets called when such pieces are being considered for the scrap heap. Used edges are also fine, just not generally as large as they will have been worn down from their original size. You may get lucky and get them handed to you or you may have to pay scrap value, either way it'll be a bargain.

Another suggestion. The crap economy is forcing some contractors and equipment dealers out of business. Look for auctions or sales in your area. Many times the "back" 40 has literally tons of heavy steel lying around that may be what you seek.

The large plate that hangs at my range (2nd from the left) has been up for 8 years. NOTHING has gone through it. Never fired at from over 100 yards. 50 BMG makes a NICE ringing tone! I have more waiting should this one die some day. It's probably going to last forever as it's pretty thick. Remember BIG EQUIPMENT has big/thick wear edges.

Good luck.

Bob

The three "spares" on standby:
http://www.fototime.com/31C7213F8723FAE/standard.jpg

The one on the range...the phone and pliers for scale...over an inch thick:
http://www.fototime.com/BB46E530FC5F85C/standard.jpg

Here's a shot of the entire set-up:
http://www.fototime.com/B719BBE6EBA84E1/standard.jpg

This is an "end bit" for the corner of the blade of a reasonably sized (D-5 or D-6 size) crawler dozer. Also "salvaged" for the range. Well able to handle rifle fire.
http://www.fototime.com/77AB631874E5FC0/standard.jpg

Here's a profile shot of the large plate...note the bulge is toward the shooter after 8 years of high velocity pounding:
http://www.fototime.com/1F13FFCFFED9159/standard.jpg

[crabo]

Very cool! I just came through Kansas City a week and a half ago with a truck load of guns and ammo.

Is this a public or private range? How far away can you shoot?

[Noffsinger]

You may want to try these guys, it is where we get our targets.
http://gttargets.com/targetsandbases.htm

[Old Ironsights]

I got mine here: www.metaltargets.com

Their High Velocity Gongs are 500 brinell armorplate and will handle up to 3000fps at point of impact...

[vonfatman]

crabo,
It's a "backyard range". Private. Send me an e-mail next time you are passing through and I'll give you a tour...of course we'll need to shoot a bit too!

I only have 100 yards for rifle...well, maybe 150, but the bench is at 100.

I had three friends out yesterday and shot a bunch...today I even managed an hour of range time myself...finished off a bit of ammo we did not use up yesterday.

Bob

vonfatmanATyahoo.com

[Texasflyboy]

I did a search and read a lot of posts about homemade steel rifle targets, ....Any ideas?

Our source for rifle caliber steel targets was a local rail yard. The two items we constantly searched for were the box-car coil spring pads that the coil spring on a box car rests on. The best pads were from cars that haul coal all their lives. We suspect, but do not know, that those pads were work hardened. They seem last forever.

A pad retrieved from the scrap pile will be 12 to 14 inches high and about 3 inches thick. It will be about 12" or so wide.

We weld heavy duty chain links to the top back of these blocks so when they are hung by chain they lean forward about 30 degrees or so. Rounds impacting these tilted forward blocks are deflected into the dirt.

Our next favorite steel target is the round ball bearings from large rail tanker cars. These are about 3" in diameter, and about 2.5" thick. They look like a large steel aspirin. We weld a square 1.5" nut to the back of these round targets and they get screwed onto a steel stand that has a 1.5" threaded bolt welded on top of the stand pole. We simply screw the ball bearing on until it stops.

We use both steel targets at 100, 150, 200 and 300 yards. The 3" ball bearings at 300 yards separate those with 20/20 vision from those of us who ain't got that anymore.

In the 15 years I used those scrap railroad targets, we never replaced a single one, except for welding the chain links back on after they would get damaged by stray hits.

They are still my all time favorite target material.

I have a steel table in my reloading room that was cut out of a Navy Ship in 1955 near Pascagoula Mississippi. My dad drove 5 hours to that yard to meet his cousin to pick up those slabs of metal. It's 3" thick and 36" in diameter. I have two. One is the table we used to change U joints on my entire car wrenching career (my youth). I estimate I changed about 3,000 U joints on that table. The other slab we shot at 600 yards for 5 years with everything including a bunch of .30 AP. Both slabs appear identical.

I've dragged both those steel slabs across the USA in moves. Finer steel I've never seen.

On the opposite end of the scale, here is what you can make out of rebar, 1/2" bolts, a 24 oz. Miller Lite Beer Can, chain, and 1/2" steel plate that was formerly a pothole cover in Houston, Tx.

8 sets (two pictured) of manual reset pistol plate racks:

http://i30.tinypic.com/oj3rzn.jpg