steel targets?

[mchapman]

All the steel targets being offered for sale say that they are AR500 steel,that being said, other than longevity are there any other reason for using AR plate vs mild steel. Is one safer? Will the harder AR ricoche more or is it a concern for the metal deforming?

[Brotherbadger]

Mild Steel(A36 i think?) will work with non magnum handgun rounds.

AR500 steel will work with everything.

If you use magnum/rifle rounds on mild steel, it will create craters in the metal. This will create ricochets that are unpredictable and fly all over the place. This is extremely dangerous and is why most people just buy the ar500 steel.

[std7mag]

Hmmm, thinking the range I've been on lately wasn't using the good steel.

Put a hole straight through one that I'd say was close to 3/8" thick with my 7mm Rem Mag shooting 120gr. Speer HP at 200 yrds.

Thought you would have needed an AP round to do that. Could put my pinky in it. Almost looked like someone took a drill bit to it.

[tobnpr]

Is one safer? Will the harder AR ricoche more or is it a concern for the metal deforming?

YES!

AR-500 armor plate will not crater even with high-power centerfire rounds at 100 yards.

When steel is correctly hung- meaning from the back side of the plate, so that it angle slightly "forward" at the top, bullets/frags are directed downward into the dirt, harmlessly.

Bullets will not ricochet if the steel is hung in this manner, and swings freely to absorb the kinetic energy of the bullet strike.

Mild steel WILL crater. And cratered steel, is dangerous- because when a bullet strikes the cratered area, it will ricochet off in some indeterminable direction- which could be back at you.


I've never understood why some guys insist on shooting mild steel. AR-500 plate is not expensive when you consider that correctly used, it'll last darn near forever. I've got some from 4" to 12" (I use them at about 2 moa in size based on distance) that I've had for five years, not a single "ding" or crater after thousands of rounds.

Jake has great steel:

http://www.jcsteeltargets.com/

I'll never forget the look on the postman's face when he "delivered" about 50 lbs. worth of targets in a large "FLAT RATE" box held together with about a million wraps of package tape! I bet USPS never guessed so much weight could be crammed into that box

[Sevens]

I'll never forget the look on the postman's face when he "delivered" about 50 lbs. worth of targets in a large "FLAT RATE" box held together with about a million wraps of package tape! I bet USPS never guessed so much weight could be crammed into that box

Hahaha, guess again. For every one of you guys who buys AR500 plates shipped in a USPS Flat Rate box, there's 300 of us guys buying bulk bullets the same way. And if you think AR500 has the density that lead does, you've not handled a whole lot of bullets.

My biggest worry isn't the mail man, it's the floor of the room where I put boxes of bullets before I load them. I don't want to find that entire room in a pile in the basement one day...

[tobnpr]

My biggest worry isn't the mail man, it's the floor of the room where I put boxes of bullets before I load them. I don't want to find that entire room in a pile in the basement one day...

AHA! You must be one those "hoarders" I've heard about...

[Sevens]

Well, probably not...

My count at the load bench reads 12,630 for the calendar year 2014 so far, so they don't spend a lot of time in that room.

[tobnpr]

I'm guessing it's handguns or 5.56?

If I shot that much 6.5/7mm/.30, it'd be 150 pounds of powder a year

Not that I have that kind of time ...or the shoulder for it

[Sevens]

Oh, for sure it's handguns. I couldn't do the case lubing, f/l sizing and trimming it would require to do rifle ammo to that extent.

I am simply not attracted to AR's and AK's for exactly that reason. As a hobbyist handloader, I love to make ammo & shoot in volume, but making a large volume of rifle ammo is a totally different ballgame than rolling handgun fodder.