What kind of steel do you guys shoot at? I use a 10" Caldwel AR550 gong/stand.
I use the same setup at my local public range. The range goes out to 175 yards, and it's super fun shooting at that distance with irons.
I do repaint mine white, and always have a can of paint with me at the range. I've tried bright orange, but I don't like it as much as it tends to blend in with the backstop too much especially in the fall when the leaves start turning color. The orange just seems harder on the eyes to pick up when shooting with iron sights for me.
That Caldwell gong was one of the best investments I've ever made, and the AR550 steel gong has held up great to large doses of 30-06, 308, 8mm, 303, and 7.62x54r.
I use the same setup at my local public range. The range goes out to 175 yards, and it's super fun shooting at that distance with irons.
I do repaint mine white, and always have a can of paint with me at the range. I've tried bright orange, but I don't like it as much as it tends to blend in with the backstop too much especially in the fall when the leaves start turning color. The orange just seems harder on the eyes to pick up when shooting with iron sights for me.
That Caldwell gong was one of the best investments I've ever made, and the AR550 steel gong has held up great to large doses of 30-06, 308, 8mm, 303, and 7.62x54r.
Only problem with it is that I have trouble keeping the plate on it. 8mm and 7.62x54r put a slapping on that thing! I've destroyed many hooks for it.
I hang mine inside an old tractor tire...the tire will catch the splatter very well. With how things get stuck inside the tire I am amazed the legs hold up.
I also use cable and not chain on mine...as simple tie of the cable and you are good....it seems to hold up better.
years ago I built a gong out AR plate. I pulled it out of the scrap bin at work. It was an inch thick and 3 foot in diameter and it took a beating. It took a fifty at 100 yards and only put a big pock mark in it. When it started getting to beat up we'd pull it down when we had enough people and hard face it. It usually took four strong men to hang it.
It took a fifty at 100 yards and only put a big pock mark in it.
That's quite a claim if the ammo is issue ball. The ball ammo contains a steel penetrator, mild steel, and that doesn't evaporate on strike. If it was a civilian product then it well may just have lead core. AP of course is a Tungsten core...all bets are off then. I used to christen any plate I hung with a clip of AP out of the M1 rifle...all went through to the point you could see through the hole they left. Didn't really matter what steel, but that was what it was for. We had a piece of armor plate from the dockyard that was from the destroyers, it lasted very well for years.
Only problem with it is that I have trouble keeping the plate on it. 8mm and 7.62x54r put a slapping on that thing! I've destroyed many hooks for it.
I use bolts with nuts on the backside of the plate. Hand tightening them works great. I also carry a few spare lengths of chain, and extra bolts and nuts just in case. I've never completely cut the chain or hooks (now bolts) off of it yet. My poor frame has taken more rounds than I would care to admit, but has held up great.
Mine wanted to fly off when hitting it with 308. The bolts and wingnuts work like a champ, and have done a great job at preventing the plate from coming off. I've also noticed that if I get it the frame the least bit sideways it made it worse. If you see the plate twisting sideways instead of swinging straight back it's a sure sign that you're hitting it at an angle instead of straight on.
---------- Post added at 10:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 PM ----------
Originally Posted by cherokee
I hang mine inside an old tractor tire...the tire will catch the splatter very well. With how things get stuck inside the tire I am amazed the legs hold up.
I also use cable and not chain on mine...as simple tie of the cable and you are good....it seems to hold up better.
That tire idea is a great one. You have to really watch picking my frame up now as the fragments will cut if you don't watch. Next time I go to the range I'll take a picture of my frame. It's like a Timex. It takes a licking, but it keeps on ticking.
I had some WW2 vintage AP 30-06 (10 rounds or so). I thought about seeing what it would do to my gong, but in the end I realized that it would probably cost me 70 bucks or so to replace it. That kept me from trying it.
There's no way I would have taken a shot at any steel plate at 100 yards with 50 BMG. That's just playing with ricochet fire if you ask me.
Some of the standard ball almost went all the way through in the beginning then you fill the pock marks and hard face it again. The range eventually closed and I never did find out what happened to it.
Originally Posted by LesPaui+sg=win
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