My Remmy really put a hurtin' on my steel gong!

[Busyhands94]

On Saturday I was experimenting with some hotter loads in my .44 Remington NMA. I brought some harder than normal roundballs a friend gave me, he said he made them from range scrap. The balls weren't too hard to seat with the lever on the gun without giving myself a hernia, but I decided to use my cylinder press since I feel that it is quicker. I brought my 1/4" thick steel gong on a frame I made from 2X4's. All in all the thing weighed something like 50 pounds.

The load I used was 40 grains of Pyrodex P by volume under a .454 lead ball with some TC grease, touched off by a Remington #10 cap. From about 50 feet away I put all 6 bullets on the steel, on the 4th shot I had to stop and set the target back up because it got knocked over. Interestingly enough, this load actually put a good hurting on the steel and cratered it pretty good. I had no idea my pistol could do this, and I certainly won't be shooting this load regularly. But it's a pretty interesting load, I really wish I had a chrono with me that day.

Here's the target, the craters in the steel. Note the two larger dents were from my 12 gauge shotgun slug loads:

Here's a close up of the craters.


Don't forget the saweeeet gun I used. And the tie down holster I made last night!



When I get the opportunity to do so I'll chronograph the load. I'm not going to beat my gun up by shooting that load a lot, but it's good to know it'll do that kind of damage.

~Levi


Don't wanna forget what my piece looks like!

 

[WardenWolf]

It's possible he got some steel-core mixed in there if he was picking up range scrap.

 

[Busyhands94]

I'm no expert, but doesn't steel core consist of basically a jacketed bullet with a steel penetrator in the core? I checked and a magnet aren't attracted to the blue wrestlers either, so that can't be it. Maybe it's a high tin, arsenic, or antimony content?

 

[MCgunner]

Just think of what 777 could do.

 

[Busyhands94]

A full load of Triple Seven would be a real bear load! For a while I was tempted to get some ball bearings and cast those into the center of a .454 roundball but I probably won't. Knowing my luck they'll ricochet off the steel and go through my head, I'll probably end up with some huge hospital bills that take forever to pay off. No way. Not in my life.

That being said 80 years from now when I'm in God's kingdom Elmer Kieth, Jesus and me will have to give it a shot... no pun intended!

 

[ontarget]

That looks like it could hurt a little. I been meaning to get a gong for a long time but still just punching holes in paper. BTW, very nice gun.

 

[Busyhands94]

Steel is a lot of fun to shoot, Cabelas has some .22 rimfire steel targets that hold up great! I've had mine for years and got them for $10 apiece on sale IIRC.
These ones look promising.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gong-Target...=WDVW&rd=1&ih=001&category=73978&cmd=ViewItem
I'm getting one so I can replace my 1/4" mild steel one. That way I can lay down some serious shotgun sluggery on that without it getting all dented up. If you check out that seller, he's got a whole mess of steel targets. Some really cool silhouettes and various gongs.

I see you like my "hodgepodge" Remington. I got the barrel from my brass framed Pietta, the frame, guts, grips and cylinder from a forum auction, the loading lever and screw from Numrich gun parts, and the front sight I made from some mild steel and dovetailed er' into the barrel and cold blued it.

Levi

 

[4v50 Gary]

"Aim for the heart. It's the only way you can stop me." - For a Few Dollars More.

That was my first impression when I saw the indentations on that steel plate. No steady diet of that stuff please. I bet the pressures on that Rem must be high.

 

[Busyhands94]

I love that movie! I agree about the pressures. That hard lead ball ain't helping either.

Well shoot, I think the most sensible and level-headed thing to do in a situation like this is to buy another gun... you know... for safety's sake.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Are you sure the gong is steel?

I shoot at 25 yds at old farm discs with a 22, a 44 C&B, my Ruger OA and a 38 and have never put a dent in one. Don't think they are even 1/4 inch. My buddy dented one with a modern hunting bullet over 120 grains in his in-line.

 

[MCgunner]

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoo..._l=SBC;cat104792580;cat104769180;cat104625180

I bought one of these. It don't move around much with some caliber's/bullet shapes, but a RB makes it rock a bit. It's 10". I shoot at it from 30 yards with most handguns including the Remmy.

 

[44 Dave]

I came by several old fire extinguishers, some still charged. To empty the full ones I need to use a rifle shot, near the bottom is the best. Then take out the guts and cut the bottom off with cut off wheel or torch. When hung with a short chain they ring and swing. They will dent and if one of the kids uses mag loads they can put some through one side. The price was right and fun to shoot at.

 

[kituwa]

I have several steel gongs and they are fun, but my wifes cats work much better.After the first good hit you can put a bend in their tail so when they get stiff you have a nice hook to hang them on a wire streched between two tree. They swing real nice and if you can fan your revolver you can even get them spinning round n round,lol.

 

[bothenook]

My local range decided that it wasn't safe for man or beast to have us shoot gongs with rimfire or unjacketed lead bullets. It is amazing just how much fun they took away with that decision. bunch of shotgunners, i'm guessing, that don't really understand us pistoleros firing our muzzleloaded handguns and c&b revolvers. or the 50 GPR for that matter. just to harass each other, one of us will stand behind another ex-steel shooter and yell PING each time they shoot. just for the memories, or course.

 

[kituwa]

We have a life size deer cut out of 1/4 inch steel.Shotgun slugs do about the same as on busyhands gong but even hot jacketed loads from a .45 colt dont dent it like his C&P do. That really is strange on his gong.My deer target does get warped bad out of shape after a while and i have to take a sledge and beat it down flat again.I used to have a .45-70 sharps and we would set up the deer at about 400 meters and use the flip up tang site on it shooting from a sitting position,,it was really easy to hit it with that gun after you knew how to set the site. My son uses brown spray paint on it from time to time so you can see the fresh hits.There was so many people that would drive by and see it in my back yard and back up to take another look that i was afraid some redneck was going to take a shot so i made my son start useing silver paint so it did not look too real.

 

[Busyhands94]

Bothenook, ey now! I'll admit my fellow shotgunners tend to be the same way. There's gun safety, then there's making it so nobody can have fun. All that aside, I love laying down 5 loads of 00 real quick on a gong from my Ithica semi auto. Nothing beats that nice resonant "clang!" you get when you nail the thing repeadedly! .22's from long range are great too. Especially the CCI CB shorts, the real quiet ones. You almost have time for a coffee and cigarette in the time it takes for that darn bullet to get there!

Kituwa, I'm puzzled as to why my .44 pistol bullets are doing this. I do have a half-baked pinecone liquor induced, gun club chattery founded theory on why the heck they did this. I'll try and explain it as best as I can.

I'm thinking it's because the roundballs are hard through and through, like a hard cast bullet. With jacketed bullets you've got a relatively thin copper jacket, with soft lead on the inside to promote expansion. It could be that the bullets I'm using are harder to swage down the bore and therefore seal tighter. Or the pressure increases due to the tight seal and the powder is more thoroughly burned.

Another thought I had on this is that the ball has lighter alloys in it, and it's driven at a faster velocity. High volocity and hard bullet = craters in my gong. I THINK...

At any rate, I REALLY want to shoot a couple of these loads through a chronograph. I want some numbers!

 

[cp11]

We made six 1/8" plates increasing by 1" each and hung them between two trees on a chain and sing a tune on them with 44 BP pistols. Lots of fun!