Pistol Gongs: One or Two Holes?

S

Swifty Morgan

New member
I've never used a gong. I am thinking of getting a couple of little ones for pistol shooting, plus a bigger one for rifles. I assume I'll be shooting pistols at 10 yards to 50 feet.

I figure 6" will be good for the pistol gongs. It's too big for slow fire at 10 yards, but it will work for rapid fire and longer distances.

Question: do I need gongs with two holes, or will one hole do? I was planning to get a two-hole gong for rifles, but it seemed to me that one hole would be fine for little gongs.

I'm not sure what size rifle gong to get. I was thinking 12" would be good, because it would work for less-than-precision work at 100 yards, and it would also be fun for pistols at long range, but for rested shooting, it would be huge.
 
It looks like prices are about the same regardless of the number of holes, so maybe I should get two-hole gongs, mount them by one hole, and see how it goes. My plan is to run eye bolts through the holes and hang them from the eyes so they will tilt forward.
 
Swingers and spinners

If you are set on using these, them mounting and placement is important. Not sure of you setup so I'd recommend the two-holer. It's always best to swing or tilt downwards, This should reduce the ricochet problems. ….. :)

Be Safe !!!
 
Hanging gongs

Get them with 2 holes, single hole swings like crazy when hit. Also hang them with reinforced rubber straps, they can take any hits to them without much damage, unlike chains, I got mine thru Amazon @ good price including hardware. Make sure you get gongs of correct thickness for caliber you are using. Ringing gongs is alot of fun!
 
May I suggest avoiding the two hole bunny eared gongs, because of the inherent weakness of the steel, at the open hole ear extension --- especially with high power rounds of the 30-06 and below crowd --- impacting at the ear area.

Hanging - two holed gongs...make great swingers --- though our outdoor range requires that the swinging gong completely stops swinging; before you send another bullet at it.
 
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Get them with 2 holes, single hole swings like crazy when hit. Also hang them with reinforced rubber straps, they can take any hits to them without much damage, unlike chains, I got mine thru Amazon @ good price including hardware. Make sure you get gongs of correct thickness for caliber you are using. Ringing gongs is alot of fun!
Click to expand...

Many folks like to use old fire hose for hanging steel; check with your local FD; they have to retire hoses every so often
 
Like other have said a single chain plate will move for a long time putting the chain in a piece of hose will really help.If you use two chains make sure they are wider where mounted don't have them hanging straight down.And yes you can shoot a chain off but with handgun calibers they last a long time.And if your plates have square hole and you use carriage bolts don't overtighten them or the bolt heads will pop off when you shoot them
 
I was planning to hang them on garden crooks, like Hickok45, the Youtube guy. My plan B is to use 1" x 1/8" steel bar to hang them. It's the handiest thing on earth.

I ordered two 2-hole 6" gongs plus a steel hog and a steel squirrel.
 
I’ve hung a 12” plate(1 hole) on a crook for handguns, beware the plate with move when hit.

The bigger the slug the more bounce you’ll get, so I’d go at least 10” and then practice hitting a moving target.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Hit a plate, hung on a single chain, off centre in the least and it'll likely spin. Hung by 2 chains it'll just swing no matter where it's hit.
"...at 10 yards..." You can expect bits of bullet bouncing back at you. Buddy of mine required a trip to the ER to have a slice of cast bullet taken out of his forehead hide. The slice went through his baseball hat brim/peak, hit his skull, whereupon the point bent and grabbed his hide. It missed his glasses by a fraction. He was shooting at about 7 yards. Been hit myself from much longer distances.
Don't learn how to do stuff from Youtube.
 
FWIW, I've shot steel targets closer during required training, but 10 yds. is the closest I am personally comfortable using steel targets. Even then, people will get hit with pieces of lead, jacket material,etc., especially since they won't be angled down. I'd suggest two holes, to at least eliminate spinning....
 
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