Steel plate for Range

[Griz44Mag]

One of the Steel Challenge stages - with distances detailed.

 

[William Lincoln]

There is no back splatter from my targets, just maybe some fur flying and
an occasional blood trail.

 

[Eutycus]

My .44 handles the 3/8" plate just fine but the plate is dimpled from my other .44 (the Dirty Harry kind) Is it still safe to use?

 

[Griz44Mag]

My .44 handles the 3/8" plate just fine but the plate is dimpled from my other .44 (the Dirty Harry kind) Is it still safe to use?

If the dimples are shallow - just turn the plate around and shoot at the backside for a while.
Keep your forward tilt and you will be OK.

 

[Eutycus]

Love the sound that a gong/steel plate makes! What's the old saying? "Music to my ears".

 

[Griz44Mag]

This is my "progressive" set. Makes for a fun day when lunch is on the line.
16" - 12" - 10" - 8" - 6" - 4" - 3" and a flapper bulls eye. (There is a swinging plate behind the hole that flips up and flashes green when you nail it.
The 16" sounds like a church bell when it gets smacked with a 54 cal round ball!

 

[fillwa]

I run a Woods Walk and use 3/8” AR500 plates hung from chains 20 to 69 yards out. No damage from ML of any caliber. The 20 yard plates are hung less than a foot from the ground. The chains are tow chain. I set the plates out prior to the shoot and take them in afterwards. Some people like to see what a .223 will do to a plate. No thank you! I also don’t want “gremlins” making them disappear.

 

[Ian Straus]

I’m RSO at a range and they want to add steel plate so folks don’t have to go down range in the winter. The range is 50 feet. Anyone have any experience with steel plate and muzzleloading. Not sure if I should go 3/8” or 1/2” thick. I was also thinking about suspending targets with chain. Any advice would be appreciated.

50 feet sounds like a safety problem. if i were you I'd tell people to walk that 50 feet, they won't be exhausted.

Don't use a stationary steel target or target backer. That round ball will bounce back at you at 50 feet, or even 25 yards.
I wouldn't use a swinger at all at 50 feet. You WILL get ricochets coming back at you.

Our range has 25, 50 100 and long range lines. The only shorter line is the pistol range, 5 to 15 yards, and we say only paper targets on that because we would expect ricochets from metal.
We require swingers to be at least AR500 steel. Softer metal produces ricochets and/or gets pierced.
Our silhouette targets, which are meant for round ball, are not AR500 - and they do get bent and broken by roundballs, especially the 25 yard squirrels. No problem with the 100 yard rams, they look brand new even after decades of use.

Suspending it with chain to make a swinger works very well, no problems until some high powered rifle shooter shoots holes in it.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

.375" will dimple at 50yds. At 50ft.(which is too close for comfort) I would go .5" mild steel or .375" AR500 and hang it close to the ground at downward angle using chain. That will direct the splatter into the dirt.

AGREED,
I'd get the AR500 1/2" and buy once ; cry once, especially if it's a black powder/lead & lead alloy bullet-only situation. Never going to wear out the AR500 with lead round ball or lead conicals. I own several AR50 plates, and I also shoot Steel Challenge to keep my LEO skills up..., you do get bounce back from targets hit 90 degrees on at 25 yards or less, BUT if you bought square plates and angled them with the top edge about 20 degrees, toward the shooting line, you should be OK. You'll need to test it.

A LOT of clubs dig an impact area just in front of the angled plate, and will put mulch into that. Avoids any question of projectile bits that are deflected down striking a stone.

LD

 

[Crockford]

Sorry BrokenNock, yes. 12 yards for AR500 steel target not 12 feet( with pistol) . I don't shoot the stainless steel muzzleloader target much from 25 yards. Most are actually taken from 100 yards. If a new gun I will take a few at 25 yards. If hitting good I back up to 50 yards, then see at 100 yards.

 

[Whitworth]

I use a railroad tie plate hanging by chains from an old swing set at 50 yards. Nothing short of an AP round from the Garand goes thru it. My 75 yard Davis Tutt pistol challenge is a salvaged steel step about 1/8 thick hanging from a wooden T-post. The .50 Hawken with 40 grains of FFG will dent it while pistols just leave a smear. Pretty sure my super hard Whitworth bullets will buzz right thru so I haven't done it. Lots of splatted balls are always laying right in front of it. The scary part is the wooden post, it is almost hairy with lead shards sticking out. Funny but in the movies nobody seems to catch any fragments from the close shots hitting rocks. I've dug many Civil War bullets on a boulder strewn mountain top battlefield that hit the rocks and are just splats. YMMV

 

[Eutycus]

Much more "satisfying" than punching holes in paper, but to each his own.

 

[hangfast]

Here is one by Hang Fast Targets that will capture your lead for re-melting.
The tire captures virtually all of the lead. (wide tires work best)
Hangs on any T Post.

Multiple targets on a single T Post

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

Paper is too boring for me.
I shoot steel pretty much all the time.
They are fun to shoot!
Here's a fun example:

 

[Whitworth]

That splatter catching tire is a great idea.

 

[Crockford]

Really like the tire idea.

 

[McClura]

The Hang Fast targets are great. I have several sizes of plates, and the t-post hangers for 100 to 500 yards. Never thought about the tire for catching lead. Might try that. We have put a lot of pistol and rifle cartridges from our single shot pistols into them and still going. I shoot my Sharps at them with 405 grn lead and black powder. Sure makes a great sound when hit. Don't hear them most of the time due to double hearing protection.
Hang Fast has a great web site and set up info.
Mike

 

[Timber Wolf]

I love the tire set-up, except I would still be running a tire that looks that good on the truck!

 

[Ranch 13]

If you club has the funds, then go with 1/2 AR, that way if some joker trots in with something other than a muzzle loader it won't get perforated.
I would also suggest using some round bale baler belting to hang the target, rather than chain.

 

[sawyer04]

I just never was fond of clanging steel, but have. Always get out the spotter scope to see where exactly the point of impact is.