.45 Kentucky Rifle Vs. Steel Plate

[hangfast]

Heads up! Any time a steel plate has a crater or deep pock mark ....IT IS DANGEROUS TO SHOOT !!! If the ball hits the crater just right it can come back at terminal velocity. I witnessed a shooter hit a crater on a plate rack and the bullet came back and creased his cheek / ear and knocked his headphones off his head and break the cup. One inch to the right and it would have knocked out his teeth and lodged in his neck.

 

[Bent Sight]

Hangfast brings up a valid point. When I place steel targets on the range, they swing from chains with enough slack to prevent projectiles from bouncing back.

 

[hangfast]

Hangfast brings up a valid point. When I place steel targets on the range, they swing from chains with enough slack to prevent projectiles from bouncing back.

When a soft projectile traveling over 750 fps hits hard steel the projectile will fragment and dispel most of it's energy before the plate starts to move. The purpose of the angled plate is to direct most of the fragments to the ground.

This video is about 10 minutes long and shows a variety of projectiles hitting a variety of surfaces to include soft and hard steel. It slows down to 1 million frames per second and provides a definitive view of what a bullet actually does. Very good stuff.

 

[Rockvillerich]

I'm surprised to hear AR500 would be affected in any way by a round ball when fmj rounds out of my .308 just takes off the paint at 100 yards.

 

[Bent Sight]

There is your answer .... "Gun Show"

I will be running a test on:
Ballistic plate vs Hardox 500 vs AR500 in the next few weeks and making a video. I'll post the results

The shock plates were made by a reputable manufacturer that is well known. I won't mention the name to avoid winding up in the middle of a civil proceeding.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Just out of curiosity what would be a good minimum distance from the target. I've been shooting a gong for over a year. Maybe I've just been lucky?

No simple answer to that question. Type of firearm an ammo; type of steel; how the plate is mounted; angle of impact, etc. When I shot modern we had a popular match called 'dueling tree'. The distance was only a few yards and we used modern pistols. (I shot a .44 mag. with reduced loads and hard lead bullets) The plates were free to rotate when hit. Never any splatter back. But, I can relate instances with other types of target plates that did splatter back.

 

[Eutycus]

Alot of this "modern steel" is imported from China probably. Small bore stuff! I hear good steel mills have gotten gotten pretty scarce in this country,

 

[hangfast]

Alot of this "modern steel" is imported from China probably. Small bore stuff! I hear good steel mills have gotten gotten pretty scarce in this country,

The truth is virtually all AR Plate steel is manufactured in the United States. Hardox is a brand of AR (abrasion resistant) plate offered by the Swedish company SSAB but is manufactured in the US. ALL the AR steel sheets I buy are manufactured in the US. Every batch I buy comes with a Material Certification Document from the manufacturer and is available upon request to any customer.

 

[SDSmlf]

SASS hangs reactive steel pistol targets as close as 7 yards, rifle targets as close as 13 yards. Lead bullets, low velocity and angle of target used to keep shooter and bystanders ‘safe’. An occasional flattened bullet finds in way back to the firing line.

Based on some arguments, a high velocity bullet fired as a steel target 200 yards away should be safe. Watch this video. Obviously an unmentionable shooting a non pure lead bullet, but interesting result.

Be safe and don’t forget your eye protection.

 

[hangfast]

SASS hangs reactive steel pistol targets as close as 7 yards, rifle targets as close as 13 yards. Lead bullets, low velocity and angle of target used to keep shooter and bystanders ‘safe’. An occasional flattened bullet finds in way back to the firing line.

Based on some arguments, a high velocity bullet fired as a steel target 200 yards away should be safe. Watch this video. Obviously an unmentionable shooting a non pure lead bullet, but interesting result.

To be safe....a steel target must be smooth. Steel targets will suffer damage at velocities over 2800 fps so while SOME rifles may be shot that close it is certainly NOT advisable. As the target plate surface gets chewed up the incidence of frags coming back to the shooter increase.

Some say this video is staged and not real... judging by the time between the shot/hit and impact of the ricochet. Regardless, if you shoot at junk or damaged steel this scenario is possible. I have seen it happen exactly like that while shooting a pistol match. I even have it on some old VHS tape somewhere. (dates me)

I'm getting ready to test Hardox 500 against ballistic plate and commercial AR500 steel with a 6.5 Creedmore @ 100 yards... I'll post some pics today hopefully.

 

[Eutycus]

So my old gong which has been "dimpled" by a 44 mag. needs to be retired?

 

[hangfast]

So my old gong which has been "dimpled" by a 44 mag. needs to be retired?

"Dimpled is not as bad as "cratered". If the dimple is more than 1/16" deep I would replace it. AR500 will last forever when using handgun rounds including any magnum or muzzle loader. AR500 will only chip or dent with velocities over 2800 fps. Lower than that the bullet won't even leave a mark. The only thing that the plate may do is "bow" over time. AR500 1/4" will bow under normal use with anything except rim fire rounds. 3/8" and 1/2" are for heavier use. Bowing can be reversed by periodically reversing the plate.