metal gong target safety

[Walks with fire]

I got away from using metal targets and don't intend to take the risk any more. Seems logical to me metal can create a problem although I never did have issues when I did it. Now curved metal can send it back and is most definitely not a good idea.

 

[pinemarten]

Thanks all for the replies! I will be careful in use of the targets. Nice thing about shooting out here in the deep snow is that I can see the pattern that the fragments make when they hit the steel, then go off into the snow. There is a line of holes in the snow under the target and parallel to the shooting line. (from my 38 sp.) I will see where the tracks go with the .44 and watch for craters, angle of target to ground, angle of target to shooting line, and...yes...I always make sure everyone is wearing glasses and ear protection.

Thank you!

Daniel

 

[Grumpa]

Shot many .38 and .45 ACP lead loads at steel coal hoppers. The bullets would splatter pinpoints of lead over a softball sized area, and the remaining bit of slug would be on the ground, below the target. But cap and ball revolver loads might be less powered, and softer lead, they might bounce rather than splatter?

I once shot a .22 pocket revolver at a piece of pocket notebook paper nailed to a board, at about 10 feet...the pure lead ball hit the nail, and came right back, up my sleeve, and stopped when it hit my elbow bone. I felt it run along the bottom of my arm. Not so much as a scratch, but that idiocy stopped right then and there.

Better to be safe than BLIND. Or having to explain to your spouse, or the police, why you were so stupid as to be trying to....

 

[coloradoclyde]

When shooting steel with .45 ACP we had a nickname for the bullets after they hit the plate.
We called them "flying ashtrays" because that's what they looked like after they hit the plate, an ashtray, and occasionally one would land at our feet on the firing line.

 

[Keb]

... My question: does the .44 ball have a risk of coming back at us with the lower velocity and not smashing to pieces on the hard metal? ...
Daniel

I've seen it happen a few times when the shooter was using hard lead. Balls cast from wheel weights are harder than pure lead and will ricochet. It's not very likely pure lead will bounce back but anything can happen as soon as you think it can't.

 

[Canute Rex]

I shoot at gongs, but only if:

1) the gong is hanging from a pivoting rod or a chain. That allows the gong to move and absorb the kinetic energy of the projectile.

2) the gong is light enough that it *will move*. A 3' square piece of 1/2" plate (to exaggerate) might as well be solidly mounted, given the relative weight of the projectile.

 

[TNGhost]

It is safer to shoot straight at the target(perpendicular would be straight on so perpendicular is safest )as the projectile is more likey to totally flatten out and there will be less splatter. Having the target tilted slightly forward to direct the spent bullet dust to the ground can help.

You contradict yourself in this paragraph...a slight tilt to predictively control the bullet path is best......
I take it you have never been to an indoor range and looked at the angle of the backstop or the multitude of lead projectiles in front of it....

Been to many ranges, and, at the ones I've been to, if you're not standing perpendicular to your target, the range officer will likely ask you to move.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I think you misunderstood the relationship of perpendicular...
It is with regards to the bullets flight path in relation to the plate
Not the angle of the shooter in relation to the plate.....

YES! The shooter should face the plate directly at a range to minimize ricochet potential for others....but the relationship we were discussing was the perpendicular angle relative to the horizontal plane, or the downward angle of the plate.

 

[S.Kenton]

I have literally shot at metal swinging plates all my life..both with modern firearms and most recently and more frequently as of late, my muzzleloaders. I have yet to have an issue with a ricochet...I have recovered lots of lead at the base of my targets..all pancake shaped..my shots are anywhere from 30 yards to 100. Anyhow, I just thought I'd throw that out there.. :v

 

[coloradoclyde]

Must be time for a You tube video.....

[youtube]aDPz4ODYsnw[/youtube]

 

[JackAubrey]

Reading this with interest! I just bought my first steel target,a 16" ar500 steel gong 1/2 inch thick. My shooting range is 50 yards. Will it be safe to test my .58 Minnie rifled musket on this? JA

 

[TNGhost]

Reading this with interest! I just bought my first steel target,a 16" ar500 steel gong 1/2 inch thick. My shooting range is 50 yards. Will it be safe to test my .58 Minnie rifled musket on this? JA

I'd say yes, absolutely without a doubt, using a lead projectile the rifle was designed for. Safety glasses as always would be smart. YMMV

Others here,(some who have shot hundreds of thousands of rounds at steel targets) may say you need to be behind another sheet of ar500 large enough to cover you, 3/4" thick, with a slit cut in it to shoot through. Even then you may be exposed to ricochet savagery, should the recalcitrant Minie find its way back through the slit. :haha:

 

[coloradoclyde]

Our club has a pig silhouette about 14"x20" or so that we would shoot at 50 yards.....It was a lot of fun....guys with .32's and .36's barely made any sound or movement so spotters where necessary......the rest of the guys up to .54 cal all wiggled and rung it about the same....
Then one day an old timer showed up with a Springfield, we all joked and gave him a hard time about making sure he picked up his musket caps before someone tripped over them.... :haha:
Then he asked if he could shoot the pig with a mini bullet.......we said sure...

He hit that pig square and sent it flying about 2 feet straight in to the air..... The looks on our faces were priceless..... :rotf:

 

[TNGhost]

"When pigs fly" :wink:

 

[pinemarten]

We have new snow on the ground and I plan to try and shoot the .44 Remmie today. Will also shoot the .38sp. I'll try and compare where the lead goes. Again, the .38 has always made about a 2' line of sprayed lead tracks into the snow right below the gongs. They are on rerod stakes that I bent to a hook. They hang with slight angle at bottom of target away from shooter. They do move and fall back into place after the shots. If a .44 ball comes back at me I'll have my safety glasses on....I'll try and catch the ball in my teeth and have my daughter film it for Youtube. :rotf:

Daniel

 

[S.Kenton]

The video doesn't work Clyde...well I can't get it to work at least. I'm sure there issome goober out there that has put his eye out do to a ricochet....but if you read my post...I said that I, meaning myself, have never had an issue with it. My guess is due to the design of my swinging targets, distance of my shooting...maybe the moon and stars have just been aligned perfectly for me in the last 20 or so odd years...heck I dunno... :wink:

 

[Rifleman1776]

I shoot at gongs, but only if:

1) the gong is hanging from a pivoting rod or a chain. That allows the gong to move and absorb the kinetic energy of the projectile.

2) the gong is light enough that it *will move*. A 3' square piece of 1/2" plate (to exaggerate) might as well be solidly mounted, given the relative weight of the projectile.

I used to manufacture and sell metallic targets. I also did testing for durability and safety. I have a scar from one test that proved what I was doing that time was not so safe. :shocked2:
The key to a standing target is relative to the size and weight of the base. The target MUST be able to fall readily. e.g. it might fall when hit with a .54 ball but might ricochet when hit with a .32 cal ball. My personal conclusion is a hanging target is the best all-around choice. Ricochet and splatter will almost always be down. Range is a highly debatable subject. I reccomend 50 yards min. But, hypocrite that I am, I used to shoot modern pistol Man-O-Mano matches at dueling trees from very close range, about 5-7 yards as I recall. But we were shooting a somewhat down angle.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Reading this with interest! I just bought my first steel target,a 16" ar500 steel gong 1/2 inch thick. My shooting range is 50 yards. Will it be safe to test my .58 Minnie rifled musket on this? JA

I don't know what kind of steel that is. But, my guesstimate, based on experience with many other targets and guns, is you will put major dents into that plate and may get spatter blow-back to the shooter. In one case, while testing, I put a golf ball sized dent into a 1/2" plate of T1A steel with a .45lc pistol and got blow-back spatter on my face. (wearing safety glasses, thankfully) BTW, not asked, but FWIW, lower velocity will result in more ricochet than high velocity. Soft lead will spatter. Hard lead will go unpredictable, and possibly dangerous, directions.