Steel Plates

Ok I have been fixin up my shootin area here at home. I built a new shooting bench, made some yardage markers out of old rims and pipe with painted yd marks on each (25,50,100 and 145) and will be welding up some paper target stands this afternoon. Anyway my big question is making a some steel hanging plates to shoot at the 145 mark that is the biggest strecth I have till I do some dozer work. I would like the plates to be able to handle a hi-power rifle round without punching through. I am going to get the welder at our shop to make the plates for me. What size is best? Should I do (1) 10" inch plate and (2) 8 inch plates or smaller? I will also be shooting at these with a 44 Mag pistol if that affect what size they should be. Now the real question is plate thickness they will be made with I guess just regular iron (same stuff we use to anchor construction cranes down to platforms). Is 1/2" enough to handle say a .308 or .45-70? I don't think 3/8" will be enough unless it was for pistol only and somewhere down the line someone would swiss cheese it. I know we have some 3/4" and 1" at the shop and that would probably last forever but would weigh a lot.What would be the ideal thickness for a 44 mag plate at say 25 to 100yds? One more question when hanging this should I hang them at a slight down angle to deflect bullets into the ground or is facing flat forward better?

Cranedriver

Go to the Comp.Shooting/Firearms Training/Area Shoots thread and scroll down to the "Vandals destroy plates..." thread and look at the pictures. There are four pages of rants and pictures. It should give you some ideas. If I were building plates for high power rifle use, I'd go with the 1" thick plate and not worry about penatrating it. My granddaughter shot my 3/8 thick 22RF spinner plate with my .223 that had 55gr lead core bullets loaded in it and made a hole thru it. This was NOT a FMJ bullet but a varmit round designed to mushroom very fast. And, yes, she got her butt chewed out royally. The 1" plate is not overkill. The shooting plates used in competitions are made from a special steel not mild steel. They are expensive of course. Just my $0.02 worth.

Doggoner

Thanks for the advice and I hardly ever read in the competition forum I see I have been missing out lots of good info in there.

Cranedriver

You can go to the same thread and scroll to "More Improvements--Magnolia R&PC". They show some gongs at 200 yards and 300 yards. They are welded to railroad iron and buried in the ground. They look like they have a slight downward angle to them. Check it out. It may help you decide what you want to do.

Doggoner

I would go with 1" thick plate MINIMUM. It is not that the first few CF rifle rounds won't go through, it is that when rounds hit the craters the craters get deeper and bigger, and soon the bullets punch through. How long this might take depends on the number of rounds you shoot and where you are hitting. If possible, I would have your welder buddy weld two 1" plates together for 2" thick.

Your 44 Mag and 45-70 are going to do little damage to the surface of the plates. Centerfire rifles do the MOST damage.

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Yeah I definetly want something that is gonna last for sure....the idea of welding the two plates together sounds good to me. I guess as time goes and the craters get worse I could hang the plate the opposite way and have a fresh side to start.

Is grinding plates back smooth a option as craters appear?

cranedriver wrote:....................... Is grinding plates back smooth a option as craters appear?

Craters leave sharp edges of metal above the surface of the plate. Grinding so MANY craters is not worth it, plus you would need to fill in all those craters with weld metal. Turning the plate(s) around is a GOOD idea.

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You could spend the extra dough and buy AR500 steel. It will hold up to centerfire past 100 yards I believe. I shoot 600 yards at a 1" thick mild steel plate and it doesn't make a crater. The bullet has slowed enough by then. I have also shot 3/8" thick mild steel at 600 with the same results but on swinging plates. Swingers won't crater as deep as stationary given the same distances. At 300 yards I get 1/8" craters on the 1" plate and 3/16" craters on the 3/8" plate at 300. Hope this helps you in your decision. Also it is unsafe to shoot centerfire rifles at steel less than 100yards out.

Go with ar500 and forget about it.

Well that the best thing about the mild steel is the fact it will be free, I will be setting the plates up hanging by chain from a A-frame and will be at 145 yds for now longer later. I don't forsee a whole lot of shooting hi-power rifle at them. The 44 and 45-70 will see the most of the action maybe some 30-30 from time to time. Just want something that if I do shoot a .223 or .308 it won't punch through.

How larger a diameter plate is best? I am thinking since I will be shooting pistol at it possibly making them 10".

10" at 140yards would be a good size.

If you go to Sniper's Hide Forum, there is usually one or two people running a group buy on AR500 plates. I bought about 8 for $15 -20 a piece. 3/8", 10" rounds with two holes. Also have a couple of 12"x12" squares.

I shoot them at 100 yards with a .223 (hanging from chains off an A-frame made out of galvanized pipe), and they have held up great.