Shooting Thru Steel? Is that possible..??

[user 34300]

When I was a kid, a friend shot a steel block at about 10 yards. ..., IT could have been tragic.

 

[TDM]

Dang! You guys have scared me off from shooting my steel targets so I decided that as soon as it cools off I’m going to shoot Crows, but only old ones. I’m building up my collection of Crow decoys now.

 

[Nav]

A lead ball will penetrate very thin steel, and only up close. Just a piece of steel, even a thick one, isn't necessarily a good (has longevity) rifle target. Mild steel or stainless gets shot up quickly. There is no way a lead ball it would penetrate (or probably even blemish) an AR500 rifle target even at bad breath distance. Shooting match ammo going 3000FPS won't even nick it. Pretty much the base of the bullet is all that's left smashed onto the plate, and a putty knife scrapes it off.

Lead will just ring it and spall on the same plane. I have anti-spall coated AR500 in my plate carrier, it's heavy as hell, but about 1/3 the price of curved ceramic. I'm not going to be running around with it on, so I don't care as much.

 

[Tony Rothrock]

I can get you some steel targets you can shoot through with a Daisy BB gun. It all has to do with type and especially thickness of said steel.

 

[64Springer]

I can get you some steel targets you can shoot through with a Daisy BB gun. It all has to do with type and especially thickness of said steel.

Whoduhthunkit.

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

Paper is for sighting in , after that its steel steel steel. I did mention Steel right.. Ha Ha…..

Amen brother....steel targets are fun to shoot...!!
I've been shooting them for years on videos.
One has to be smart about shooting steel...otherwise,
organizers wouldn't be using steel on Woodswalk targets.

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

With pure lead balls and low velocity, I would think the risk of bounce back or spall would be unlikely even with softer steel targets.

I agree..
I never get any closer than 25 yards ( usually 30 yards or more ) and turn the targets slightly to one side.
I've picked up lots of lead to the left side of the targets after shooting them.
If a shooter gets any closer, then, they are asking for problems.

 

[Eutycus]

There's very few things that have that satisfying sound like a lead ball hitting a gong. I'll leave it up to y'all to figure out what those sounds may be.

 

[The Appalachian]

As far as B P's silly little video, armies stopped wearing suits of armor when musket balls and cannon shot took over for lances and swords. I mean, what was the point really......

 

[Gun Tramp]

I often shoot my .300 WM at AR500 targets and it does zero damage to the targets, because I load Sierra Match Kings, or Berger VLD match.

Those 230 Berger juggernauts can be pushed at 2,800 out of the .300 WM, which is a little more than half the speed of a 6mm 109gr.

“Magnums“ don’t “blow chunks“ out of steel targets unless you’re loading AP or bonded bullets.

Wrong Forum.

 

[Nav]

Sorry, I don’t like being called a liar.

 

[The Appalachian]

Sorry, I don’t like being called a liar. Especially by someone posting BS.

Well, you did say 20+ years, and formal PRS was the context.......so.

 

[Mike in FL]

I do not believe that a lead ball will bounce back at "almost the same velocity" as when it struck the steel. The ball makes a complete stop at the steel if the shot is made straight on. A complete stop. Left over energy from the initial firing is all it has. I can't prove it but I think that remaining energy is way less than half of what it had when the ball struck the steel.

 

[Nav]

Coming full circle, I read that at a rendezvous in the early 19th century they had a competition where they would ride at a full gallop shooting targets with their pistols. It went on and on all day with the targets getting progressively smaller because they all could do it. The guy who won hit a dime. When your life depends on it, or you do something professionally you tend to be quite a bit better than the people for whom it’s an avocation rather than an occupation.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Dang! You guys have scared me off from shooting my steel targets so I decided that as soon as it cools off I’m going to shoot Crows, but only old ones. I’m building up my collection of Crow decoys

LOL

 

[PathfinderNC]

Seems like this thread is drifting into a MODERN AMMO category.
Is that kosher?

 

[Nav]

I do not believe that a lead ball will bounce back at "almost the same velocity" as when it struck the steel. The ball makes a complete stop at the steel if the shot is made straight on. A complete stop. Left over energy from the initial firing is all it has. I can't prove it but I think that remaining energy is way less than half of what it had when the ball struck the steel.

That is absolutely right. The energy at impact is used to deform/spall the ball, and send the bits of it flying in exactly in the same amount as the force (in foot pounds) with which it impacts. Energy is transformed and transferred but conserved.

Those crows leave a mess.

 

[Nav]

Seems like this thread is drifting into a MODERN AMMO category.
Is that kosher?

Only to explain terminal ballistics, which is now a science. Not so much in the 18th century beyond autopsies during cleaning game.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Only to explain terminal ballistics, which is now a science. Not so much in the 18th century beyond autopsies during cleaning game.

Do forgive me. I didnt know there were exceptions, are there?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Only to explain terminal ballistics, which is now a science. Not so much in the 18th century beyond autopsies during cleaning game.

Do forgive me. I didnt know there were exceptions, are there?

Actually WAY TOO MUCH OF IT and so a BUNCH has been deleted and this is now closed.

LD