Homemade Steel Target Help

[LRRPF52]

No spousal unit to interfere with my addiction to guns and shooting and hunting. I've been a confirmed bachelor my entire life. I have a deer stand up in a large cottonwood tree just beyond that target berm.

Then there's nobody to complain if a bullet ricochets and hits the back of the house. Those plates seem awfully close to me. Every 3-gun competition I've been to involved me getting splashed with shot, even when standing 50yds away.

That said, I'd take your backyard over mine any day. "Thou shalt not covet thine neighbor's wife, nor his car, nor his backyard steel target range."

[Von Gruff]

If you wanted to set up a semi permanent steel target that would iliminate bullet splash then this is not a bad way to go. A clip for a paper target can be affixed to the top and you have the best of both worlds as there would be the satisfying sound to indicate a hit and a recordable target to store with any other relevant data. As per the plans it is a fairly substantial unit but it could be scaled for lighter calibers or closer ranges but with a mouth over 2ft x2ft it would do for "way out there".





Von Gruff.

[JASmith]

Talk about bullet abuse!

That poor thing will get twisted every which way after getting splattered!

[wiuprof]

Then there's nobody to complain if a bullet ricochets and hits the back of the house. Those plates seem awfully close to me. Every 3-gun competition I've been to involved me getting splashed with shot, even when standing 50yds away.

That said, I'd take your backyard over mine any day. "Thou shalt not covet thine neighbor's wife, nor his car, nor his backyard steel target range."

I've never had problems with ricochets. Shooting a flat steel plate (no pock marks) without a right angle base has nothing coming back. I've put a board beneath the 7 yard square plate and shot it with 45 acp and 40 s&W splatter radiates out 360 degrees with a large flat chunk of lead falling on the board. I shoot no magnum rounds or centerfire rifle loads at any of the targets out to 50 yards. Steel is hanging at 150, 200, 300 and 400 yards. It gets hit with centerfire rifle rounds. I have shot cowboy action rifle loads at the 50 yard poppers and the 8" square, but that's with cast bullets in 38, 44 and 45.

The only matches I've been to where splatter was an issue was with poorly designed steel targets. A base welded on at a right angle will cause some splatter to come back at the shooter. It's physics. Pock marked targets are problematic at close range as well. The bullet goes into the cavity and some spits back at you. Like shooting a high pressure hose into an open bucket..... you're gonna get wet. My flat steel plates are on shepherd's hooks and the bullet splatters tiny bits 360* and a chunk of lead drops to the ground.

[noone]

Fire hose discarded as unusable by the local fire department, or old tire tread works really well. Put holes through the tire or hose, and secure the plate using grade 8 bolts and washers. The Fire hose, or tire tread takes many, MANY hits before it ever becomes a problem. Another way to put up targets is to use T posts, and a compression strap that squeezes the target onto the top of the T post when you tighten the bolts. Sure, the T posts don't survive too many direct hits, but you can usually get T posts for around $4 each at some where like Home depot.

[Rockdriller]

Hi guys, I thought I'd chime in as I have dealt with this problem alot. I am a quarry miner in New England where quarries are as abundant as liberals. ALL quarries have a huge pile of heavy duty conveyor belt in the "junk corner." If you ask the quarry super or the scale house operator nicely , they will give you a lifetime supply of used belt which works better than anything else IMHO to hang steel. Its also handy to make splashguards, plowguards, even swinging targets. Sometimes this junk pile also has a treasure trove of old steel plate. The industrial ar500 stuff or better used on heavy equipment. So take a trip to your nearest quarry and stock up, just make sure nobody is blasting or you are in for one heck of a headache.
R

[kinoons]

I'll post a pic tomorrow but I have an A-frame made of five peices of reebar (4 legs and a cross bar) two foot brackets to old it together. The target is attached to a swig arm that slides over the crossbar. Sets up and comes down in 30 seconds, reebar is cheep, and I keep a spare swing arm just in case it catches a stray bullet. Best part is since the swing there is no splatter and a significant amount of wear on the targets is saved.

[noone]

Conveyor belt, or used fire hose works great. The fire hose is what I use to hold up steel targets at practical rifle matches where the targets take alot of hits. So far, the fire hose shows a few holes, but with well over 400 hits on each plate, my guess is that the fire hose will last 2000-5000 hits on each plate. The weak part is the bolts and washers I use to attach the fire hose. I use bolts that are at least grade 4 and they seem to hold up pretty well. I have noticed that the washers seem to disappear from the plates though. I think when a washer takes a direct hit, it pops it off.

[txgunner00]

Conveyor belt, or used fire hose works great. The fire hose is what I use to hold up steel targets at practical rifle matches where the targets take alot of hits. So far, the fire hose shows a few holes, but with well over 400 hits on each plate, my guess is that the fire hose will last 2000-5000 hits on each plate. The weak part is the bolts and washers I use to attach the fire hose. I use bolts that are at least grade 4 and they seem to hold up pretty well. I have noticed that the washers seem to disappear from the plates though. I think when a washer takes a direct hit, it pops it off.

You could weld a threaded stud to the back side of the plate to eliminate the exposed bolt. If you place the plate face down in a shallow pan of water and keep the heat low on the weld it shouldn't take much of the temper out.

[Grimmy]

On my coarse I use chain and it survives well even with direct hits. I have twelvle Ar 500 targets up and have a organized shoot at least once a month and we rarely replace chains. We are running 5.56, 6.8spc,300Blackout and many others on any given shoot. Evan some big ones 458 and 50 wulf. Turning the target will help them last longer. Hope this helps.

[rushmc]

I picked up 4 seperate targets from a machine shop last week. A 9", a 7", a 5" and a 3" square 1/2 plate steel. I have one inch belting I cut from conveyor belt the local elevator was throwing away and I used this to hang all 4 targets evenly across an 8 ft 2 x 4. On the ends of the 2 x 4's I used ridgid conduit with caps that go over two "T" steel fence posts so I can set up anywhere (that is safe)

I then add red target stickers to each.

Fun to shoot, fast to set up and take down and very durable

[noone]

I use either old firehose, or conveyer belt material to hang the targets from the mounting system. Some of the easiest mounting system is half inch re-bar cut to about 5 foot lengths. Use two half inch 90 degree plumbing elbows with about 5 inch nipples on each side. Pound the two end pieces of re-bar into the ground, then stick the cross piece into the pipe nipples, and put the other end of the nipples that come out of the 90 degree elbows onto the pieces of re-bar you pounded into the ground.

If you want sturdier mounts, use five-eighths re-bar, and three quarter inch pipe fittings. You can combine pipe and re-bar fittings by using 90 elbows that are half inch on one end, and three quarter inch on the other end. That way, you have a five eighths inch thick cross piece. If you want it even sturdier, put the cross piece inside a piece of pipe.

[Variable]

I use either old firehose, or conveyer belt material to hang the targets from the mounting system. Some of the easiest mounting system is half inch re-bar cut to about 5 foot lengths. Use two half inch 90 degree plumbing elbows with about 5 inch nipples on each side. Pound the two end pieces of re-bar into the ground, then stick the cross piece into the pipe nipples, and put the other end of the nipples that come out of the 90 degree elbows onto the pieces of re-bar you pounded into the ground.

If you want sturdier mounts, use five-eighths re-bar, and three quarter inch pipe fittings. You can combine pipe and re-bar fittings by using 90 elbows that are half inch on one end, and three quarter inch on the other end. That way, you have a five eighths inch thick cross piece. If you want it even sturdier, put the cross piece inside a piece of pipe.

Any pics of your pvc/rebar fitting combo? I'm trying to figure that one out in my mind, and being plumb(ing) dumb, I'm not sure which exact pieces you are talking about.

[elfego baca]

Here is my techigue of hanging a metal target if a stump is available. I picked up the tire chain at a yard sale and merely used two bolts to attach the chain to the back of the target.

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[noone]

We use old conveyer belt, or pieces of fire hose. Either one takes hundreds of hits, and I have yet to replace any. I use these at practical rifle matches, and they have been working out just fine at monthly matches since June of last year. I have to replace mounting bolts, but by using grade 8 bolts, they last a long time. It takes a direct hit to split the washer, and I have yet to have a bolt pop out from a direct hit.

The cheapest and best working mounting system so far, uses 5 pieces of half inch re-bar about 4 feet long. There is a company in Washington state (JCSteel targets) that sells end pieces to plug the re-bar into to make the legs and cross piece. They also sell steel at great prices. I have no connection with them other than buying from them for our matches. I think the leg mounting pieces run about $20 per pair, but it has been a while since I bought one, so I am not really sure. With the price of re-bar at about $20 per 20 foot piece, a complete mounting system runs $40 and lasts a very long time. They are also really compact.

[2ndAmendment]

Fire hose

[metalman]

I don't know how cheap you want to be but I found these online and have been very pleased. They are stupid simple and take abuse, you already have your steel plates so all you would need is the 3 red brackets and some 3/4" pipe which you may have or can find scrap.http://www.gongshot.com/target-stand-wit...ng-option/

[frittsk]

What material are you guys using for the gongs?