Metal hardness for silloutte target

[BSkerj]

I own some land that offers up to a 1000yd shooting. I am currently waiting on a Shiloh Sharps to be made and I want to set up a range before hand. My question is what hardness of metal should I use if I want to make a nice resounding "gong" when hit. I would like to make up a couple for various distances. Thanks in advance:-)

[crabo]

AR500 You can shoot it with a lot of different rifle calibers.

[clodhopper]

A lot of ranges that hold cartridge rifle matches use mild steel. It is quite a bit cheaper than high end steel, and will stand up to blackpowder loads.
They do not allow modern firearms to shoot at them.
My personal choice would be Ar500 OR T1 steel, but cost is a very serious factor.

[BSkerj]

Thanks! I will check out the AR 500 steel Monday.

[crabo]

There is a place here in town that builds ammored cars and I have been going to check it out for years and never have. I'll see what they use to cut it. I heard somewhere that you can ruin the hard qualities by cutting with a torch, making the edges soft.

I'll get by this week and give a report. I want to see if I can get some scraps. A 308 will damage the surface of mild steel at 300 yards. I made some swingers out of 1" mild steel because I bought the pieces fo plate for $15 as an experiment. Make sure when you build them, you allow them to move when impacted. They will last longer. I like to build my targets so I can disassemble them and haul them around. If I had a permanent range it would be different.

[fecmech]

I've done business with this fellow. He's reasonable on pricing and ships in PO Flat Rate boxes.
http://www.qualitytargets.com/servlet/the-Gong-Targets/s/1/Categories

I bought a 12" square plate of AR500 1/4" thick for a 200 yd gong along with some 3/8" thick circles, a 3" and 7" for closer work. Had a friend shoot the 1/4" plate at 100 yds with a jacketed .243 with a MV of 3200 fps. You can just barely feel a slight depression in the plate where the bullet hit, the 3/8" handles anything.

[Kraschenbirn]

The backstop of the indoor boolit trap I use for loading testing and boresighting is 3/8" T-1 set at a 45 deg. angle to deflect fragments down into a sandpit. Jacketed .44 Mags from 10 yds don't even scratch the surface and a full-house 7BR from the same distance left a shallow dimple maybe a 1/4" wide and .020-.030 deep (only tried that once).

Bill

[markinalpine]

Widener's has steel targets in 3/8" and 1/2" 500 Brinell at reasonable prices.
http://www.wideners.com/itemview.cfm?dir=1020

Mark [smilie=s: