Steel targets?

[ridgerunnr]

anyone ever build there own? I hate hanging paper targets!loll..Also what ammo to safely shoot these to avoind ricochet?..Would be neat to build some that tip over with a easy way to reset them? Any suggestions?

[zac07]

I built a spinning steel target out of 1/4" steel, it worked great for pistol rounds but I tried it with the AR and the 223 bullets cut right through it.

[Krackels]

the thing to remember is that when you heat steel by either cutting (every method except for water jets) or welding you'll change the properties of the steel.

Generally, you want steel that will bend rather than breaking/shattering when impacted.

[ridgerunnr]

then what ammo is best to help with splatter? FMJ ok to use?

[JoshXD40]

Originally Posted by zac07

I built a spinning steel target out of 1/4" steel, it worked great for pistol rounds but I tried it with the AR and the 223 bullets cut right through it.

Yeah that's what I did. I built the last one's out of half inch steel. As long as the target can spin FREELY you can use any kind of ammo you want to. If you go over the .223 range you woll have to get thicker steel. My friend has some 1/2 inch ones and shot them with a .308 AR-10 and borke them in half. They work good as long as you get the right thickness.

FYI... I know another guy that used the spinning target's, but let it fall over on the ground then shot it. The bullet came back and stuck in his chest.... OUCH didn't kill him, but it sent him to the hospital.

[ridgerunnr]

howd you make them to spin?

[zac07]

The ones I made were real simple and I used a flat piece of steel and attached a target to one side and a heavy piece of steel to the other. I then welded a piece of pipe in the center of the flat piece. I then placed it on a metal stand i made with a rod going through the pipe. The weight at the bottom makes it return straight but it is light enough to have some give.

[cougar_guy04]

Originally Posted by ridgerunnr

then what ammo is best to help with splatter? FMJ ok to use?

If you're shooting any closer that 20-25 yards, I'd suggest frangible ammunition. At our big shoots, we have steel targets set out at about 15-17 yards and when we're cleaning the tarp off at the end of the day, it's guaranteed that you will found at least 2-3 bullets that have ricocheted back laying on the tarp. I know myself and several others been hit with fragments a few times.

ETA: 85% +/- of our shooting is done with relatively low power reloads with LRN bullets.

[ridgerunnr]

ok..i always just go grab WIn WHite box for my 40 and dont give it much thought..Is the frangible ammo avail at stores like Gander etc?? Never looked for it so its new to me..

[gun1three]

I went to a local scrap yard and found a pice of 3/4" thick scrap that was about 12"x34". They cut it in half with a torch leaving me two pieces approximately 12"x17". I also had them cut two holes in each corner of one end of each piece about 3" from the top edge. I bolted a pice of chain to each one from the back side and gravity forces the pieces of metal to hang at an angle that forces the bullet into the ground as you shoot. These things are HEAVY and hardly move when shot even though they hang freely suspended from two pieces of chain each. I hang them from a simple frame made from 2x2's. I never shoot handguns closer than 15 yards and have never had a problem with ricochets coming back. I can shoot them with my AR-15 at long range and it does not penetrate. When I am done shooting there is a lot of lead laying on the ground just beneath the steel plates. The trick to all of this is that they hang with top edge leaning a little bit toward the shooter and the bottom leaning away, this forces the bullet to ricochet into the dirt below the steel plates.