This happened while shooting steel today
- Thread starter AL45
- Start date
I assume the target is hardened steel...
In the 1970s Marlin catalogue, they has a picture of a "3/8" cold rolled steel plate" with a .308 Win bullet hole completely through it. I don't recall if they gave the distance.
Ask the maker about how long the target should last, if what you're shooting it with makes "dimples" or larger "craters". Things that get shot by big enough guns don't last forever...
A friend once made some plate targets out of scrap metal, don't know what it was, but it was 1/2" thick iron or steel. worked great for handguns, but a .308 made serious craters and a .458 Win Mag went through it like it wasn't there...
In the 1970s Marlin catalogue, they has a picture of a "3/8" cold rolled steel plate" with a .308 Win bullet hole completely through it. I don't recall if they gave the distance.
Ask the maker about how long the target should last, if what you're shooting it with makes "dimples" or larger "craters". Things that get shot by big enough guns don't last forever...
A friend once made some plate targets out of scrap metal, don't know what it was, but it was 1/2" thick iron or steel. worked great for handguns, but a .308 made serious craters and a .458 Win Mag went through it like it wasn't there...
AL45, 300 and 600 yards.
A .50 AP round will make a nice 1/2” hole in 3/8” AR500, and goes all the way thru a Volvo engine block.
RedHoundTargets
New member
The pistol rounds you were using typically have a good deal less muzzle energy and velocity compared to a rifle. Other factors being equal, that higher energy means greater impact force on the target face which the material must combat. That either means it holds its form and forces the bullet to deform and/or the target swings; or the target face will deform. A thicker target means more material helping hold all the molecules at the impact point in place. That being said, I would definitely expect you to have no damage at 300 yards with a .308; especially with a JSP rather than FMJ.
As a general rule: over enough time, the entire target will begin to bend which is why, as others have said, its a good idea to switch it around 180 degrees to even it out. Sounds like you've already got the target swinging so that's good. The next thing is work out a way to attach it so that it angles down at ideally 20 degrees or more. That helps deflect some of the energy from the bullet, as well as helps deflect spall into the ground.
If you feel like getting into it, I wrote a blog post about this kind of stuff here: https://www.redhoundtargets.com/blogs/red-hound/the-science-of-shooting-steel
As a general rule: over enough time, the entire target will begin to bend which is why, as others have said, its a good idea to switch it around 180 degrees to even it out. Sounds like you've already got the target swinging so that's good. The next thing is work out a way to attach it so that it angles down at ideally 20 degrees or more. That helps deflect some of the energy from the bullet, as well as helps deflect spall into the ground.
If you feel like getting into it, I wrote a blog post about this kind of stuff here: https://www.redhoundtargets.com/blogs/red-hound/the-science-of-shooting-steel