Steel targets

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PawPaw

New member
Interesting in the difference of two steel targets. My family and I tried out a new target hanger this morning and we hanged two steel targets. Both 9" gongs, one was 13/16th mild steel and the other was AR500 steel by Quality Targets. Earlier this week I had painted both targets with white spray paint and this morning we shot them, at a range of about 150 yards. First, the mild steel target.

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Interesting cratering, and I expected that. It's what I'm used to seeing from mild steel. Then, the hard steel target

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Far less cratering, I also expected that. What I didn't expect was to see the spray paint almost completely gone from the hard steel target.

One last picture, of my daughter-in-law, after lighting up a target with my Ruger 77, 25-06.

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I think that she was having fun.
 
what kind of scope is she a using on your rifle?
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That's a Swift Optics 6X18. We've got a half dozen of them in the family and I believe that they're severely under-rated in the optics family. One very knowledgeable family friend looked through it and asked how much I'd paid for it. About $250.00. He thought that it was a thousand-dollar scope. They are actually much better optics than the price point might suggest. And, it comes with the sun-shield. Very nice optics for the money. Is it a 1000 yard scope? No, but it is a darned fine 500 yard scope.
 
Scrubbing bubbles.....

The splatter pattern on the hard steel target went straight out at approx. 180 degrees scrubbing the paint off the target. The mild steel target when hit created a deep hole that forced the splatter back toward the shooter (protecting the surrounding surface area) and very little of the splatter touched the plate. The splatter can be compared to a sand blaster action.

Guess I learned a little when I used to work with my Dad in the tombstone business. That's my opinion.

Lemmon
 
Hello, PawPaw. Looks like you were having fun! Want to here a strange one? Several years ago, I made up some CRS targets 10" dia X 3/4" thick. I had them carburized & hardened..as deep as I could..about 1/16" had drilled & tapped two 1/4-20 holes on opposite sides..thry edge & had eye bolts inserted. Target was suspended from regular bailing twine & shot with FMJ..not armor pierc. from 300yds. At impact, target fell. Examination showed just the slightest dimple in surface..but the real surprise was the eye bolts..both were sheared off flush..and bent double..the impact from bullet was so great & fast..the steel bent itself around the twine before breaking!
 
Ideal Tool said:
Hello, PawPaw. Looks like you were having fun! Want to here a strange one? Several years ago, I made up some CRS targets 10" dia X 3/4" thick. I had them carburized & hardened..as deep as I could..about 1/16" had drilled & tapped two 1/4-20 holes on opposite sides..thry edge & had eye bolts inserted. Target was suspended from regular bailing twine & shot with FMJ..not armor pierc. from 300yds. At impact, target fell. Examination showed just the slightest dimple in surface..but the real surprise was the eye bolts..both were sheared off flush..and bent double..the impact from bullet was so great & fast..the steel bent itself around the twine before breaking!
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We've tried chain, and we've tried rope. The problem with both is that a bullet will inadvertently cut them if the shot is a little high. I'm using industrial webbing now and I'm finding that works fairly well. A high shot cuts through the webbing, but doesn't drop the target. But yeah, I agree, the impact of a bullet generates a lot of force. It doesn't suprise me that it would cut a bolt.
 
At first, I was going to say you shouldn't have ANY cratering at 150 yards with AR500 steel.

Then I noticed it's pretty thin. Is it at least 1/2"?

Cratering of steel is unsafe, as there is no way to predict bullet splatter.

The plates should be suspended from the backside, so that they hang naturally at a slight downward angle (top of plate forward) so that bullet frags are directed downwards into the dirt.

Mine are hung from chains, and yeah, the get hit occasionally at 600 yards (along with the steel sawhorses)...

Some guys use towing straps- bullets pass through...

And a range officer suggested thin wire, as it presents a smaller cross section for the bullet to hit. Makes sense, small wire, thick wire, chain- it's all going to cut if it gets hit.
 
tobnpr said:
At first, I was going to say you shouldn't have ANY cratering at 150 yards with AR500 steel.
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There's no cratering on the AR500 targets. Lots of cratering on the mild steel. What you see on the AR500 target is just splash marks. The surface is smooth to the touch and they're 3/8 thick.

UtopiaTexasG19 said:
Looks as if you have some nice home made bluejean bags to shoot off of!
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There's a lot of folks around here who wear-out bluejeans and I cut the legs off for sandbags. I use no-longer-useful walnut media to fill the bags and it makes a really lightweight bag that I can carry easily in my range gear. I've got four or five of those things. Recycling at its best.
 
OK...you said "far less cratering" in your original post, which is why I said I would not have expected any. The AR500 is well worth the money, last darn near indefinitely if not abused.
 
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