Many of us have dealt with folks who are convinced that any ammunition containing the smallest trace of steel will, without exception, damage steel target gongs beyond repair. Even if no hole results, they say, steel-sandwich bullets will cause dents that render a target unsafe, due to ricochet hazard.
Executive summary: Assuming a proper AR500-hardened steel target, this common belief is utter BS. At least for 5.45x39mm and 7.62x54R (with more tests planned). The worst that might happen is, you knock a little metal off if you get lucky & hit it right on the edge. Hits in the meat of the plate do no damage. I have the pictures to prove it, which I will post shortly.
I completely understand other people not wanting to experiment with their targets. The big gongs get really expensive, both in purchase price & shipping cost. Accordingly, I bought my own 6" x 6" x 1/2" piece of AR 500 for these tests.
I shot the target at both 200 and 100 yards. 100 yards is as close as I'm going to get. I've read a few claims that the results are similar at 75 yards, but that is a little too close me, for shooting steel plates with rifles.
The biggest problem I had was the target falling off its frame, because of the cheesy, half-ass mount I used. I will get a proper hook or handle for it at some point. For now, I'm using a wire coathanger, attached to a carriage bolt through the target's pre-drilled mounting hole.
Other ammunition I will test soon:
Russian military surplus 5.45x39mm
Romanian military surplus 8mm (aka 7.92x57mm)
M855 5.56x45mm
All of these cartridges use steel-containing bullets. None are "armor-piercing," with the arguable exception of M855. The SS109 bullet isn't true AP, unless you consider ability to penetrate a thin, mild steel helmet to be AP. I don't.
About edge hits: I wasn't trying to hit the edge of the target, and probably could not do so on purpose. So it is hard to say whether pure lead-and-copper FMJ bullets would show a similar effect, as I cannot deliberately make such hits. Either way, the small notches produced on the edge of the target are not a big deal. They aren't even sharp enough to make the target dangerous to handle. None of this affects the central point, which is that AR500 will shrug off a square hit from both 5.45x39mm and the much more powerful 7.62x54R, regardless of steel content in the bullet.
You can have whatever rules you want at your range and with your targets. I am sure I will get a few indignant, self-righteous replies, condescendingly "informing" me that I better stay away from their precious targets with my nasty Commie ammo. I don't care. There is apparently no factual basis for "no steel in ammo" rules, as long as the targets are AR500. I don't see any reason to use a less robust material. Neither does Widener's, as they don't sell targets made of anything softer.
BTW, here's the first picture:
Executive summary: Assuming a proper AR500-hardened steel target, this common belief is utter BS. At least for 5.45x39mm and 7.62x54R (with more tests planned). The worst that might happen is, you knock a little metal off if you get lucky & hit it right on the edge. Hits in the meat of the plate do no damage. I have the pictures to prove it, which I will post shortly.
I completely understand other people not wanting to experiment with their targets. The big gongs get really expensive, both in purchase price & shipping cost. Accordingly, I bought my own 6" x 6" x 1/2" piece of AR 500 for these tests.
I shot the target at both 200 and 100 yards. 100 yards is as close as I'm going to get. I've read a few claims that the results are similar at 75 yards, but that is a little too close me, for shooting steel plates with rifles.
The biggest problem I had was the target falling off its frame, because of the cheesy, half-ass mount I used. I will get a proper hook or handle for it at some point. For now, I'm using a wire coathanger, attached to a carriage bolt through the target's pre-drilled mounting hole.
Other ammunition I will test soon:
Russian military surplus 5.45x39mm
Romanian military surplus 8mm (aka 7.92x57mm)
M855 5.56x45mm
All of these cartridges use steel-containing bullets. None are "armor-piercing," with the arguable exception of M855. The SS109 bullet isn't true AP, unless you consider ability to penetrate a thin, mild steel helmet to be AP. I don't.
About edge hits: I wasn't trying to hit the edge of the target, and probably could not do so on purpose. So it is hard to say whether pure lead-and-copper FMJ bullets would show a similar effect, as I cannot deliberately make such hits. Either way, the small notches produced on the edge of the target are not a big deal. They aren't even sharp enough to make the target dangerous to handle. None of this affects the central point, which is that AR500 will shrug off a square hit from both 5.45x39mm and the much more powerful 7.62x54R, regardless of steel content in the bullet.
You can have whatever rules you want at your range and with your targets. I am sure I will get a few indignant, self-righteous replies, condescendingly "informing" me that I better stay away from their precious targets with my nasty Commie ammo. I don't care. There is apparently no factual basis for "no steel in ammo" rules, as long as the targets are AR500. I don't see any reason to use a less robust material. Neither does Widener's, as they don't sell targets made of anything softer.
BTW, here's the first picture:
