No more steel targets

[2manyrocks]

Well I guess we'll have to start shooting "safety" bullets.

 

[Ridgewalker]

I sure hope the anti gun folks don't see this thread! They will have a field day with all the "ammo" you guys have provided.

I have been showered by shot while squirrel hunting with a cousin but that's the worst for me thank goodness. I always thought that sounded neat coming down thru the leaves...as long as you don't look up it's all good!

I'm glad you guys are all here and able to tell your stories!

 

[mjarrels]

We used to shoot trash bags launched from the port side of the USS Enterprise (Fantail)... Used 38 Sp with about a two inch barrel... WoW did those rounds go everywhere... could'nt kill a trash bag if your life depended on it! Fun though! Rounds when everywhere except on target!

mark

 

[GaryM]

I seem to think that the 'steel' targets you guys are referring to in all these "bounce-back" and 'ricochet" stories is just that....steel. You guys correct me if I'm wrong, please.

Shooting a piece of run of the mill "steel" will get you hurt. First of all, if it will dimple, crease, or even make a small hole in the steel, it's the wrong steel! You can really get hurt with this stuff.

If you want to shoot steel safely, buy some brinell 500, or rockwell 52 or higher, that's made as armor plate or for shooting. They'll tell you when you buy it what you can/cannot shoot it with. It will completely splatter the round and will not ricochet. Follow the directions of the manufacturer and you'll be fine. Shooting any other type of steel is dangerous and I'm sure that at one time or another, we're all pretty much guilty.

Podunk

Well, I can't speak for the other posters, but the steel targets we use are commercially made from hardened armor plate and sold for that purpose. .357, 9mm, and .45s just fragment. Most are also suspended at an angle so the fragments usually hit the ground below the plate. Some are designed to topple off their stands or hinge back and fall when struck.

 

[jimmyj]

Some geniuses near me regularly tape a yarget to a large flat faced rock and shoot at it. Richochets and fragments go all over the place - they think it is a riot.

Like the blonde lady said "it's not rocket surgery you know"

 

[Podunkadunk]

Well, I can't speak for the other posters, but the steel targets we use are commercially made from hardened armor plate and sold for that purpose. .357, 9mm, and .45s just fragment. Most are also suspended at an angle so the fragments usually hit the ground below the plate. Some are designed to topple off their stands or hinge back and fall when struck.

That's exactly what I was talking about in my previous post.

Folks, if you buy your targets from a reputable source, they'll tell you what the particular piece of brinell is rated for. In my case I wanted something that could handle anything I had in my safe. I bought a tactical target, it'll handle pretty much anything. They do caution against 5.56x45mm or .22-250 inside of 100 yards, due to the speed of the round. It won't penetrate the steel, but it could dimple it, which could cause a ricochet. Here is a link to where I ordered mine from:
MGM Targets | MGM Products

Well worth the money!

Podunk

 

[Soundguy]

Along these same lines....Some years ago I had a large "bullet trap" fabricated from some heavy gauge metal to use with 22 ammo and pellets and placed it in our shop. The design was supposed to be similar to others I saw in our armory in years past. We tested it with pellets and evidently the geometry was bad as we got pellet fragments cast back at us....evidently from a double ricochet from the "trap" We immediately "retired" the design as it could not be trusted. Sometimes the best laid plans don't work out. I dont like shooting at steel anymore either.

I have a spinning target.. probably meant to be a pistol target. in any case.. one summer my friends and i were shooting a bunch and set her up.. at rifle ranges mind you.. and one time we had a fragment? of a 30-06 come back and hit the ground and skate by us about 10' away. Never have used the spinning metal target after that!

soundguy

 

[czechsonofagun]

Today I had the brilliant idea to use bowling ball as a target

In case you would like to know, they have actually concrete core - and I got hit by a returned slug, LOL!

Now, when I tried it and reported on it, you have no need to try it yourself, or do you?

 

[DieselPower]

Not concrete in the core but it might have been ceramic.

How bowling ball is made - Background, History, Structural evolution, Raw materials, The manufacturing process of bowling ball, Quality control
"Cores are made by adding a heavy substance such as bismuth graphite or barium either to resin, making a very dense type of plastic, or to a ceramic material. An article written by ball manufacturer Track Inc. asserts that fired ceramic cores result in harder-hitting balls because no energy is absorbed by the ceramic part of the core. It also explains that fired ceramic cores cannot be altered during finger-hole drilling, whereas cores made of millable ceramic alloys can be. Millable ceramic alloys are made by blending ceramic powder with a binding agent. These types of ceramic cores are softer and less adhesive than fired ceramics, and that they do absorb energy upon impact with the pins."

 

[MossRoad]

Today I had the brilliant idea to use bowling ball as a target

In case you would like to know, they have actually concrete core - and I got hit by a returned slug, LOL!

But, did you pick up the spare?


glad you are not injured.