Steel Target Height

[Doc. Holiday]

In Utah, it can get pretty dry and so I want to be smart about steel target shooting. I have a new AR500 16 x 16 steel plate gong that I'm going out with before it gets too dry. Does the height of the gong help with sparks at all when it comes to fire safety? What have you guys done to be smart when you go shooting at steel targets? I will be shooting my target no closer than 400 yards. It will generally hang out at 600-900 yards.

[taliv]

that's an interesting question. i shoot steel with NV a lot, so i see the sparks but it only looks like they stay lit for a few inches through the NV. i mostly shoot in hay fields and even though it's humid here even when the ground is dry and grass is dead, i'd have guessed if it were possible to start a fire, it would have happened to me already.

would throwing a tarp under the target stand be an option?

[markm]

Throwing something you want to keep under the target will not work. It'll get shredded. Take a shovel or rake and clear any dry stuff away. M855 sparks the worst. At 400+ yards, you're VERY unlikely to get sparking that'd cause an ignition.

I once bundled dry grass under on of my gongs that sits 8" off the ground. I shot M855 at it from 50+/- yards and showered sparks onto the tinder. It didn't light it.

[Doc. Holiday]

It is an option I was considering, but I was curious if the fragments are going to splatter out so far that a tarp wouldn't be practical.

[Doc. Holiday]

Throwing something you want to keep under the target will not work. It'll get shredded. Take a shovel or rake and clear any dry stuff away. M855 sparks the worst. At 400+ yards, you're VERY unlikely to get sparking that'd cause an ignition.

I once bundled dry grass under on of my gongs that sits 8" off the ground. I shot M855 at it from 50+/- yards and showered sparks onto the tinder. It didn't light it.


Good to know! Yea, I only plan on using 77gr. OTM. This target is for my SPR and wont be used for too many other guns very often.

[B Cart]

We shoot steel targets multiple times a month here in Utah, including all throughout the summer, and we've never had an issue with sparks starting a fire. These targets are 18-22" circular soft steel targets hung in sage/cedar/mountain type terrain, and most of them are close to the ground with vegetation around. We have steel set up from 100 yards out to 1,450 yards and we've never had an issue. I'm not sure the steel hardness though...

[Doc. Holiday]

Ok cool, you know then as much as I do B Cart the "Ok folks, fire season is here....."

[markm]

It is an option I was considering, but I was curious if the fragments are going to splatter out so far that a tarp wouldn't be practical.

Fragments are going to spread much farther than sparks. The further out you go, the lower the odds of sparking. And a 77 OTM isn't going to achieve the velocities, even at 100 yards, to get a spark shower that'd light a fire.

[sinister]

United States Department of Agriculture / Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Research Station
Research Paper RMRS-RP-104
August 2013

http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_rp104.pdf

Finney, Mark A.; Maynard, Trevor B.; McAllister, Sara S.; Grob, Ian J. 2013. A study of ignition by rifle bullets. Res. Pap. RMRS-RP-104. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 31 p.

Abstract

Experiments were conducted to examine the potential for rifle bullets to ignite organic matter after impacting a hard surface. The tests were performed using a variety of common cartridges (7.62x51, 7.62x39, 7.62x54R, and 5.56x45) and bullet materials (steel core, lead core, solid copper, steel jacket, and copper jacket).

Bullets were fired at a steel plate that deflected fragments downward into a collection box containing oven-dried peat moss. We found that bullets could reliably cause ignitions, specifically those containing steel components (core or jacket) and those made of solid copper. Lead core-copper jacketed bullets caused one ignition in these tests. Ignitions of peat also occurred with a small set of tests using solid copper bullets and a granite target. Thermal infra-red video and temperature sensitive paints suggested that the temperature of bullet fragments could exceed 800°C. Bullet fragments collected from a water tank were larger for solid copper and steel core/jacketed bullets than for lead core bullets, which also facilitate ignition.

Physical processes are reviewed with the conclusion that kinetic energy of bullets is transformed to thermal energy by plastic deformation and fracturing of bullets because of the high-strain rates during impact. Fragments cool rapidly but can ignite organic matter, particularly fine material, if very dry and close to the impact site.

Keywords: bullet fragmentation, fire ignition, shooting ignition

The Authors

Mark A. Finney: USDA Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, 5775 Highway
10 West, Missoula, MT 59808. mfinney@fs.fed.us, 406.329.4832

Trevor B. Maynard: USDA Forest Service, San Dimas Technology and Development Center,
444 E. Bonita Ave. San Dimas, CA 91773. tbmaynard@fs.fed.us, 909.599.1267 x258

Sara S. McAllister: USDA Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, 5775 Highway
10 West, Missoula, MT 59808. smcallister@fs.fed.us, 406.329.4907

Ian J. Grob: USDA Forest Service, Missoula Technology and Development Center, 5785
Highway 10 West, Missoula MT 59808. igrob@fs.fed.us, 406.329.6775

[B Cart]

Ok cool, you know then as much as I do B Cart the "Ok folks, fire season is here....."

Indeed! It's always frustrating when people try to blame some of the recent Utah wildfires on target shooters. Definitely use caution, but in the last 4 years of shooting 10's of thousands of rounds at steel, we haven't started a single fire. The only time I've ever seen a fire started by shooting, was from someone using tracers. Those you do need to be careful with

[markm]

That's interesting. I could never get anything to ignite, but I was just running dry grass.

[Doc. Holiday]

Thanks for the research Sinister. I will try and find a clear place and use a rake/shovel if I have to, to help make the probability of a fire go much lower. Thanks for everyone's input so far. This is what I was looking for.