Ammo For Steel Shooting?

B

bford

Inactive
I will be purchasing a dueling tree soon but have never shot at steel targets and was looking for some help determining which ammo should be used. The tree will primarily be shot by my G19 and G26 9mm.

I found some people saying not use any jacketed ammo and other people have said they use FMJ ammo without any issues.

I have found some people stating to only use frangible ammo but I don't really know what that is. Others say to use "lead only" ammo.

I know that there is always the potential to get hit with some splatter when shooting steel exceptionally if you’re standing too close but I was looking for some suggestions on what to use and what to avoid.

Any recommendations on specific ammo that is recommended for steel targets would be appreciated.

Thanks for the help
 
Based on my experience, you ought to shoot lead bullets. The targets on the 'tree' should move freely when struck by a bullet. Unless something has changed, you really need to swap out barrels on a Glock to shoot lead bullets.
 
When you find out let us know.

For years nobody thought bullet selection was no big deal of steel dueling trees.

Well, it is. I discovered this about 7 or 8 years ago when I would have the range to myself and I had on electronic ear muffs...Now I could hear wear some of the bullets are going after they hit steel.
 
I prefer plated lead bullets. These bullets are softer than cast and the plating holds them together. So far, I've not had a bounce back using this type of bullet and usually find the flattened bullets on the ground under the steel plates. I have had instances of jacketed bullet fragments rebounding up to 10 yards after striking a hanging steel plate.
 
Shotgun693 is dead on, unjacketed lead bullets are by far, the safest ammo to use.
However, you will need an after market barrel to safely shoot them through a glock.

Lead splatters when it hits steel. Copper jackets tend to remain in larger, jagged pieces after impact and can return to a shooter with enough velocity to draw blood.
 
I found some people saying not use any jacketed ammo and other people have said they use FMJ ammo without any issues.
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At the range I shoot at they have 12X12 covered areas at the front of the bays approximately 8 feet behind the shooting line. The last steel match we shot we found jacketed material embedded in the 4X4 posts that support the covered area. What ever type of bullet you choose to shoot wear eye protection and as well as anyone that may be watching.
 
I've been at a lot of Steel Challenge matches. Getting hit by splatter is common. In a big match, you might get hit 20+ times and not even notice most of the hits. It's almost always harmless. Drawing blood is rare.

About 2 1/2 years ago, I was standing to a shooter's left when I was hit in the arm by the base of a bullet jacket. It stuck just under the skin and I pulled it out with the tweezers from my Swiss Army knife. No damage.

That's why we wear eye protection.
 
i shot 50 rounds of Wolf 9mm and 11 rounds of Winchester PDX1 Bonded at steel plates today

i was maybe 15 yards away and i never got any kind of kick back

i've personally shot regular old FMJ / JHP .22, .380, 9mm, .40, and .45 at the same plates from the same distances and got similar results

the guy who owns the land and the plates shoots all the handguns he's got at them, and that includes all of those rounds as well as .357 Magnum and .38SPL

the only time we've ever gotten anything coming back at us was when we were shooting .223 out of ARs at the same plates, those kicked back a few times

on another notewe also shot probably 150 rounds of .22 at them from 100 yards

really cool to watch those tiny bullets through binoculars when the splatter hitting the target
 
if your shooting lead, you should replace your glock polygonal barrels with ones with traditional rifling like Wolf. polygonal rifeling does not handle leading well.
 
Quality steel targets that are purpose built for shooting with handguns won't really care which of the four mentioned bullets you shoot at them. (lead, plated, jacketed, frangible)

What's most important is that you always wear safety glasses because something can come back at you no matter what kind of bullet you shoot at it -- but this can happen with any target.

Where the real problem comes in with steel targets is if/when you damage the targets with rifle dimples and holes and craters... either by shooting something too heavy at them, or by shooting something heavy enough at too short a range.

Once you've dimpled, cratered or put holes in a steel target, NOW you've got a dangerous piece of metal that will throw bullets in every direction. You should discard the target to avoid someone getting hurt.
 
I'll just add a +1 for I doesn't really matter. I have several steel targets that I've shot only FMJ at with no ill results. Because the paddles swing freely the likelihood of anything coming back at you is low, and the pieces that may won't even get through your clothes. Wear eye protection and don't worry.
 
if your shooting lead, you should replace your glock polygonal barrels with ones with traditional rifling like Wolf. polygonal rifeling does not handle leading well.
Click to expand...

I will shoot 200+ rounds in any given range trip using hard cast lead reloads in my Glocks with the factory barrels and to date I have not had any issues. The gun does get cleaned after every range trip.
 
Our monthly (7 per year) steel shoots typically have about 50 shooters shooting 200 to 300 rounds each and in the past 2 years no one has had a problem.
 
Lead can come back too. Shooting steel is a risk. I caught a bullet impact crater on a deflection plate on a steel rack just right with a .357 cast bullet. It was loaded to approximately 1200 fps. A chunk of that came back and hit me in the elbow hard enough to make my fingers tingle and draw a little blood. Do I still shoot steel? YES. I just make sure I have some good glasses on. OTOH, I've never had any part of a jacketed 9mm bullet come back at me and hit me. If the plates move, and you don't hit something that you're not supposed to like I did, you'll be fine. BTW, some Glocks will handle lead and some won't. If you want to be on the safe side, check out a lone wolf or EFK barrel.
 
Since no one answered this, Frangible ammo breaks up into almost a powder on impact, or little bits. Almost a zero chance of it coming back at you. A lot of indoor ranges make rifle shooters using .223 or up use frangible because it won't penetrate their backstop.
 
However, you will need an after market barrel to safely shoot them through a glock
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Yet another perpetuated myth.

But anyway, I find the FMJ will bounce back in one piece, while LRN tends to send back tiny shards, if anything.
 
You stand more of a chance of getting hit by the fragmented jackets when shooting steel targets than you do when shooting cast bullets. The cast bullets mostly turn into powder. The jackets can break up into pieces that take strange trajectories.

It is a good safety measure to set up your targets so that your bullets encounter the targets at a down angle of about 15 - 30 degrees. This will make most, is not all, of the bullet splash go down.

Sort of like this one is angled:
steeltargetangled2.jpg


I have been hit by jacket fragments many times and had some blood drawn, but never been hit by a bullet fragment.
 
Bford:

Let me tell you about a .45 acp caliber bullet that ricocheted. I was taking a break at my car. I was about 100 yards from the butts. A bullet ricocheted with enough power to dent my car's door. I think that for safety's sake I would use lead bullets to shoot steel targets.

Semper Fi.

Gunneery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
 
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