45 auto vs steel

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iblong

New member
45 auto vs steel

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Im wondering how many of you shoot steel plates with a 45 and at what distance.In my back yard range I have a 6x12" 1/2" thick peace of plate steel suspended with rope,that I shoot at 200yds with my 223 and was wondering
would it be safe to use the 1911 at 25yds with a suspended target.I generally avoid shooting hard targets,I would be shooting 230 gr hard cast RN.
My 223 puts serious divits in it at 200yds but its a small bullet travelling fast.
Thanks,Bob.
 
Plates

I shoot falling plates at 40 feet with both 9mm and 45 ACP, usually fmj. There is always a risk of richochette with steel targets. The 45 cal lead bullet will not damage the plate however.

And piece be with you.
 
"...would it be safe to use the 1911 at 25yds with a suspended target."

Yes. You should be safe in to the 10 yard mark.
 
It's important to note here that there is a much greater risk of richochet if your plate is cratered with impact damage from rifle rounds. Plates used for pistol ranges should be smooth and free of damage. Soft pistol bullets can hit a crater just right and turn inside out and come straight back at the shooter. At our range anyone caught shooting rifle rounds at our nice steel plates is drawn and quartered. Be very careful and make sure EVERYONE in the immediate vicinity has eye protection. (Cheap sunglasses do not qualify.)
 
Is your plate suspended by a wire or rope that allows it to "dance" in any direction?

Or, is your plate suspended by a metal rod that only allows it to pivot downwards?

The only steel plates I've shot have been suspended by rebar rods, allowing only one direction for the plate to rotate and therefore pushing the ricochets into the dirt. I don't think I'd shoot at one just hanging from a length of rope.
 
Azredhawk44 made a very important point regarding allowing the plate to swing. If suspended by two cables you really should also have two cables attached to the bottom to limit swinging. I saw a guy shooting a swinging plate and when it got to swinging 90 degrees up and 90 degrees down he fired a shot from a low velocity .44 spl. that impacted at the start of the upswing and the bullet came straight back and hit in the forehead. Fortunately it didn't do much more damage than a thrown rock. He laughs about it now but it made an impression on me. As suggested try to angle your steel so that if a rounds comes off you can control where it goes. Down into the ground is best. Have fun but think about what you're doing and where everybody is standing behind you. If your steel starts to look like the surface of the moon, don't be too close to it when shooting.
 
Some manufacturers of static steel targets make them angled so that bullet splash and ricochets do not go back towards the shooter.
steeltarget1.gif
 
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