Best Steel plates for Targets?

[ViniVidivici]

I just got some Allen brand 3/8" plates, a 10" round and a 12x20" silhouette.

Been using the 10" for rifle and pistol, the bigger one for rifle farther out.

Happy with 'em so far. Farthest I've yet shot the silhouette is 300 yards, solidly audible hit w/ 62gr FMJ, a bit louder with 75gr OTMs. Should have a chance to get a big farther next month.

Have shot the 10" to 225 yards. The smaller one seems to make a slightly louder impact sound.

Got 'em at the LGS, loving them. Have made portable stands for them, one of 2x4, other of bamboo. Rockin' carriage bolts & chains I had laying around, got the chains spaced out on the bolt w/ extra nut for slight downward angle.

Life is good!

[vinconco]

Here is my plate system... very audible and very reactive

[ViniVidivici]

Has anyone ever used wheel studs instead of carriage or other bolts?

Friend of mine is going to use some he had on hand, rationale being that they must be pretty hard grade. Made sense to me, just wondered if that's common.

[vinconco]

Has anyone ever used wheel studs instead of carriage or other bolts?

Friend of mine is going to use some he had on hand, rationale being that they must be pretty hard grade. Made sense to me, just wondered if that's common.

The problem isn't being hard, it's TENSILE STRENGTH. When the bullet hits the plate it transfers a lot of energy to the bolt head and non grade (low tensile strength) bolts heads will pop off making it seem like they were shot off. I recovered this (non grade) bolt head after it appeared to have been shot off. I played the video back in slow motion to see the bullet impact well away from the bolt head and then found the bolt head sheared off laying on the ground.
GRADE 8 carriage bolts solve this problem. They can be damaged by high velocity bullet strikes but the likelihood of them allowing target failure is substantially less that non grade bolts. Grade 8 carriage bolts are difficult to source locally so Hang Fast Targets keeps a good selection of them in stock.

non grade bolt head top.JPG non grade bolt head bottom.JPG

[ViniVidivici]

Thank you, that is very valuable info!

Funny, your pic there looks exactly like one I had happen 2 days ago...doing pistol drills on the new 10" plate, at 10 yards, one of the shots did just that.

Thought I'd hit the bolt head. Not at all, just broke!

We did the needful and effected a field expedient repair quickly with 550 cord and kept shooting, of course.

Replaced both of them with thicker bolts I had on hand, I'll have to go look at the grade marks.

[vinconco]

Thank you, that is very valuable info!

Funny, your pic there looks exactly like one I had happen 2 days ago...doing pistol drills on the new 10" plate, at 10 yards, one of the shots did just that.

Thought I'd hit the bolt head. Not at all, just broke!

We did the needful and effected a field expedient repair quickly with 550 cord and kept shooting, of course.

Replaced both of them with thicker bolts I had on hand, I'll have to go look at the grade marks.

If you want a target system that will not fail visit us at Hang Fast Targets

[ViniVidivici]

So this is wierd, I shot my 12"x20" today from 100-200 yards, couldn't hardly hear the impacts at all. Yeah, they're on chains, bolted on.

Thinking I'm gonna put it on the hook stand next time.

Not hearing them was wierd as ****, thought I wasn't hitting them, but they were moving, and the impacts were there. Strange...

[sinister]

I have a number of targets I had made at a steel yard from AR500 and T-1.

I really like the targets Ryan builds at Big Dog Steel in Ohio. I've shot .50-cal against his 1/2" AR500 targets at 200 yards and they just scratched the paint. I use his bases for 4x4 supports.

[.45fan]

So this is wierd, I shot my 12"x20" today from 100-200 yards, couldn't hardly hear the impacts at all. Yeah, they're on chains, bolted on.

Thinking I'm gonna put it on the hook stand next time.

Not hearing them was wierd as ****, thought I wasn't hitting them, but they were moving, and the impacts were there. Strange...

I have AR-500 in 1/2" thick, my cousin has the AR-500 in 3/8" thick. We bought them from different companies.
His are hung by chains and the plates resemble a mickey mouse head, mine are mounted by a cap on top of a 2x4 with a hook and the plates have a circle cut into the near the top the hook fits into.
We had both (his and mine) 8" and 10" plates side by side at different distances and there was a very noticeable difference in the sound.
I didnt know if it was the "thickness" or the mount until I bought a half body silhouette in 3/8" that is mounted by a bolt to the cap on a 2x4. In our case the hook/bolt caps made the difference in sound. Mine are louder and a slightly higher tone as well.

Let us know if you find the same.

[ViniVidivici]

Yes, I've heard from others that thinner rings more.

So yeah, took thr bolts & chains off the plate, put it on the hook stand I made a while back.

Hell yes, definitely more audible impact, with a nice "RIIIIIINGGG" to it. Which was nice, as we've had heavy fog here, and at 225 yards, through 6x optic, could barely see the white plate, let alone any movement from it. But the impacts were solid and definite.

Did some work from kneeling at 100 also.

So yeah, this thing is just gonna go on a hook from now on.