Experiences using steel

[newton]

A few years back I found some scrap steel and decided I would set it up as a target to shoot at with my 30-30. It is 8" square, 1/2" thick regular plate steel. I welded a 4" circle to the front/middle of it for a aiming spot, which is also 1/2". Hung it from chains that were welded to the back, and it hangs slightly forward in that position.

Anyways, I have shot and shot that thing. I have even taken it over to a friends house where it was shot with 30-06, .243, and .270. Major pits from those rounds. So I have used it since with no bad things happening with my 30-30 cast loads, and even my muzzleloader loads.

Now I am shooting more and more handgun rounds, and when my brother comes over he brings his handguns. So I was thinking I would get some steel to make a plate rack for some friendly competition. I started looking into it, and good night, prices on "shooting steel"(AR500) is just way out of my price range to have 10 plates. So my mind went back to the mild steel at my local metal place. But all of the guys online are hollering about how dangerous it is.

What I would like to know is some real world experience with 38, 357, 9mm, 40, and 45 cast handloads used on mild steel. Most online stuff is directed toward fmj and factory ammo. I would have them set up at a 20 yard minimum. Has anyone noticed 3/8" steel get bad pot holes from shooting these cast calibers? And, even if they do get a little potted, will them being falling plates vs held in place plates, do anything for ricocheting lead? I keep on hearing about lead ricocheting, but its always from targets that are held in place, not free falling or swinging in one way or another.

Any experiences? No, this is not a 50cal, but if you all must you can go ahead and post the proverbial youtube video of that guy. Never hurts to keep those kinds of things in the back of your mind. To be honest, its in the back of my mind and is why I ask about the steel in question.

[bob208]

use core10 it is a high nickel construction steel. it will not rust if left outside unpainted. cast bullets will bounce off of it. you will have to weld it with low hydrogen rod.
for targets the have to swing or knock over you can not have steel made so it can not move.

[upnorthwis]

If all you do is shoot light loads it will lessen the problem with bounce back. But as soon as someone shoots something heavier and leaves an indentation a boolit can now do a U-turn and send splatter back at you. At cowboy matches they have holders that angle the plate down to direct the spatter into the ground. And people still get hit.

[fecmech]

This fellow has reasonable prices on AR500. http://www.qualitytargets.com/servlet/the-Gong-Targets/s/1/Categories

When mild steel gets pock marked bullets can and do come straight back. While shooting Hunters Pistol Silhouette I had a .38 spl bullet (160@900 fps) come back off a 50 yd pig and land right in front of the RO. Make sure everyone has safety glasses on!

[C. Latch]

I own several AR500 targets and do not believe mild steel to be a bargain even if free. It's just not worth the risk.

[slughammer]

Steel challenge is shot at distances a lot closer than 20 yards. Any divot can ruin your day, stuff will turn around and hit you hard and sharp. I won't shoot a match that has targets with divots, I'll pack up and leave.

Take a look at GT targets, I've known the founder for over 20 years. Great product. http://www.gttargets.com/targetsandbases.htm

[dubber123]

I've shot A LOT at mild steel targets, mostly with .45 ACP and .38 Spl. Many, many thousands of rounds, and present for many thousand more. That said, I have been dinged a few times, and one where I was glad I wear eyeglasses. It's your skin, you can make the choice. I made my practice rack out of 3/8" mild for the same reason you are considering it, cost. I've never been whacked too hard, but if it happened, the price difference might not seem so important.

[c1skout]

I work with heavy equipment. I had a mechanic save me some pieces of large dozer cutting edge to make a swinging target for pistol shooting. I cut them into 4inch squares, the plate is better than 3/4" thick! I've shot them with a 222 and 270 without leaving a mark.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

If using mild steel dont shoot it at close distances. Also, as said above, try to angle it down. My buddy just ordered some targets from shootsteel.com

AR500 would be your best bet. Also, its best to bolt targets to the stands/chains. Welding AR steel will make a HAF (heat-affected zone) and you can lose the hardness of the steel in those zones. Also, welds can crack over time from constant pounding of boolits.

Good luck!

[C. Latch]

Btw I had a ricochet from a divoted mild plate hit the roof above where I was standing. Scary stuff.

[Deep Six]

I have a couple mild steel roosters that somebody had water jetted out of 3/8 plate and hung above the windows of my house before I bought it. My wife hated them so I welded some stands on them and recycled them at the range out back. They hold up to 44 magnum pretty well. I tried my 8mm cast rifle loads (175 GC over 30 gr 4198) and those went halfway through. I'm not scared from 50+ yards. I don't shoot them from closer though.

[NSB]

Real world experience: This happened to me and to a range officer.
I was at a very, very large shoot in Florida and while standing behind the observation line I saw something that looked like a bumble bee heading straight for me at a 45 degree angle. It came from the pistol shooters shooting steel plates at a distance of 25 yards. This "bumble bee" was most of a 45cal bullet splashing back. It hit me about 35 yards from the target. It cut through my shirt and caused a very large, deep gash on my chest. It left a large bruise and bled quite a bit. I didn't require medical attention other than washing it up and putting a bandage on it. Another time I was at another large shoot in Mass. and a range officer was behind the line (again shooting pistols) and a very large chunk of bullet came back and hit him in the face with enough force to completely enter his sinus cavity and require surgery to remove. It was about 80% of a bullet. He was one tough s.o.b., he was back at the match the next day looking like he got hit by a truck. I've had other misc. smaller pieces hit me over the years and twice hit my shooting glasses. I will not shoot at any match using pocked, bent, or damaged steel targets. I don't need anyone telling me it's safe. I personally know better. AR500 expensive? How much for a new eye?

[BattleRife]

There is a whole world of options in steel, you are not limited to soft structural plate or AR500, pick something in between.

I built a duelling tree for my gun club out of 3/8" "QT 100" (ASTM A514) plate. At 25m that stuff could take a hit from a .454 Casull with only a barely discernible dimple. 7.62 x 39mm threatened to punch right through it, but it was never intended for that. This is one of the largest clubs in Canada, that tree got whacked a thousand times on a busy Sunday. The impact plates never deformed to any significant degree, other than at the very edges.

Any boiler fab shop will be able to get you A516 Grade 70 plate. This will have 50% more strength than structural steel at a fraction of the cost of AR500. If you can find a grade 80 or even 90, so much the better.

AR250, 300 or 400 would do you all you ever need. Ditto Astralloy V, Hardox or any of a dozen other proprietary grades of abrasion resistant steels.

If it is measurable on the Rockwell C scale (meaning HRC 20, or higher), it should be acceptable for the cartridges you list with lead bullets.

[MtGun44]

Even flat steel can be dangerous. I was watching guys knocking down rifle
silhouette turkeys with shotgun slugs at about 25 yds, with them set close
to the berm, and we were at about 35 yds, watching and laughing as the
slugs REALLY slapped down those turkeys and occasionally lifted a fist sized
clump of dirt trailing a long grass "tail". After about 5 or six shooters shot
all 5 turkeys, we had another shooter running and heard a "WHIZZZZ - WHACK"
by our heads and the whack was behind us. We looked behind and the 50 yd
target board (1/4" plywood) was about 15 yds back. We walked to the uprange
side (back of it for a ricochet going uprange) and saw an obviously very new
slot in the plywood with splinters uprange - 1/4" wide by 1.5" long !! :shock:

We moved away and decided that shooting slugs on even flat rifle steel was pretty
scary business. Ya'll be careful out there. I have shot and observed many tens of
thousands of rounds of pistol shot on steel, and moderately good stuff will gradually
peen and the front face gets longer than it was, so the plate "domes out". Regularly
got hit with lead fragments standing 25 yds back from steel, occasionally minor cuts.
Definitely requires safety glasses and jeans are helpful, too.

Bill

[BCRider]

Even flat steel can be dangerous......

I'll bet you an e-beer that the targets had flat plates for "feet". The lead doesn't bounce back off the face. It spatters out along the face of the steel. But if some of the high energy spatter hits one of the flat feet then it turns the lead a SECOND time and that happens to be back at the firing line.

I've seen and felt this happen. The cowboy group I shoot with had to scrap a half dozen such targets.

[bobthenailer]

Googel Arntzen targets ! has all the info you need on use of targets and different alloys & there use + reasonably priced targets.

[newton]

Thanks for the conversation guys. AR500 really is out of my price range right now. If I was just wanting one or two targets, then yes I would go that route. But I want 10 plates. That, at the cheapest online site mentioned, would run $300+.

I would love to hear more steel plate, as in free standin/falling, shooting. Seems to me the impact would be absorbed by the plate and it's free movement backward. Also, this is strictly cast boolit handgun shooting. I know copper jacketed stuff, no matter what it is, can do some interesting stuff.

I am not a rocket scientist, and I know shooting anything metal is bad, but physics have to play some role in this. I guess I will start by watching for pot marks.

[bcp477]

Just read this thread....and something occurred to me. The OP said, I believe, in his 1st post, that his original target consisted of a plate about 1/2" thick.....with another (also about 1/2" thick) welded to it. So, approx. 1" of mild steel. That is a very different animal than a 3/8" or 1/2" plate., of any type. I would be very surprised if ANY cast projectile from ANY handgun would dimple a 1" plate, even if mild steel. Many cast rifle rounds would likely not, either. Obviously, FMJ's or other similar bullet types might be a different story.

So, in my estimation, if mild steel must be used....then go THICK. 1" or better should be proof against most dimpling-related safety issues, with most or all cast projectiles....and many j-word projectiles, depending on velocity and exact bullet construction. And DO hang the plates so that they are angled downward, to help the direction of travel of any spall deflecting back.

I, too, have been wounded by spall....and it ain't fun. Took a pretty good sized chunk in my left hand, which deflected from a plate in the next bay at an outdoor range I sometimes use. Dug that out and treated it myself, though in retrospect it was deep enough that I should have seen a professional. Scary stuff.....and not to be trifled with.

[Scharfschuetze]

Years ago we went to the Bremerton Naval Ship Yard and picked up plates of steel that they used for the navy ships. It took a 5 Ton truck to move the plates and back at the unit our motor pool guys cut the steel into both E type and F type silhouettes for our sniper and other advanced marksmanship programs.

I have no idea what the alloy of the steel plates was; but the plate would hold up to most ammo and was pretty long lived when used with our 7.62mm sniper systems using M118 and M852 ammo. We made the mistake of lending many of the targets to a sister SOF unit for their annual sniper train up and they, for some reason, decided to fire several belts of green tip 5.56mm from their SAWs at our well used silhouettes and promptly made Swiss cheese and thus scrap metal out of most of 'em.

Don't tell Uncle Sam, but I still have a few un-damaged silhouettes and they get shot at over in Central Washington at our bi-annual shoot-a-thons from 100 yards out to the 900 yard max range where we shoot.

More years ago than I want to admit to, my outfit sent me to the "Jim Gregg" school of instinct shooting. He used nothing but steel plates in his week long program. When I talked to him about the steel, he said they were slightly rounded (convex) to preclude the issues of spalling or reflected rounds as mentioned in several posts above.

Here's a link to the Gregg shooting school. His technique works in the real world.

http://www.jimgregg.net/

[RJH]

In USPSA and 3 gun, all of the pistol targets are mild steel. We mostly use 3/8", with the occasional 1/2" plate or popper showing up. Use it for pistols and don't look back!