Would You Shoot This Steel Target?

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Centurian22

Centurian22

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Quick check of my own thinking:

This video is a quick review of a supposed AR500 Steel Target. You can read my comments about it. As I state, personally I can not believe that any company would sell this much less someone buy it and shoot at it. Am I missing something or over-reacting? Please let me know what you think.
Thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_3VlzS9BJ4

Edit to add the link to the actual page where this target along with several others I would deem to be unsafe are being sold.
http://shop.allamericansupplies.com/All-American-Supplies_c26.htm
 
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When I shoot steel the target is always angled downward so the ricochet makes a nice straight line in the dirt below. If its that much of a concern then get a flat one.
 
I see no problem if it is hung right. I make my own out of lesser steel and have not had anything bounce back.
 
Rings like a bell, looks like a drain cover? What's with the holes and slots? With the right backstop I'd shoot it.
 
if i had it, i would probably shoot it. but i wouldn't waste my money in the first place on something that had more time/money with the torch spent on it to make it weaker for the sake of aesthetics (presumably). i sure wouldn't pay extra for it compared to a plain circle. and those holes make it more difficult to spot impacts at long range. a couple good shots on those ears and it's done.
 
Would I shoot it? Yes. Would I buy it? No. Long range only. Ricochets seem more likely with the holes and grooves cut into it. Silly dangerous and unnecesary.
 
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A pock mark/cratered steel target that has been shot by high powered rifles will send fragments back at a pistol shooter at 25 yards. I have seen crazy people shooting plates at 7 yards that are pock marked. All metal has been remove from our range now, including the dueling post. It would have been ok if the rifle shooters didnt shoot them at 25 yards.
th_1SteelPlate.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] Click for larger photo.
 
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At a muzzleloader shoot a bounce back, lead rond ball, smacked my wife's leg while she was sitting 20 yards behind the line. Left a good bruise.
Too heavy a steel target set too close to the firing line...
 
I'm guessing those plated are being re-purposed as targets and started off as something else. I probably wouldn't buy one because of the cuts. No reason to buy something that is already damaged and then pound it some more.
 
Wow I am completely surprized by these answers (the ones that would shoot it). First to clarify I have Absolutely NO intention of purchasing this target. I have seen much better (solid) target plates for similar prices. My issue (as discussed in the comments section of the video) is all of the holes and slots cut in the steel. The whole purpose of using AR500 steel is that its hardened enough to prevent damage from most calibers within the range that its thickness are meant to be shot by. Dents dings holes and pocks in the surface all contribute to the possibility of an unpredictable ricochet. Flat steel shot at a 90 degree angle keeps most of the splatter (95% according to studies) within a 20degree zone 'out/up' from the plane of the target but radiates out in all directions. Angling and hanging the target 'free swinging' vs solidly mounted increases the percentage that is defelcected down into the dirt vs up and in other potentially unsafe directions.

This page describes it all alot better than I can:

http://www.actiontarget.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/pt_Steel_Target_Resource_Guide.pdf

When things as small and relatively 'simple' as dents, pock marks and brackets can cause unpredictable and potentially dangerous ricochets, I'm sure the holes and slots are exponentially worse. Not to mention that if a bullet strikes just inside of a hole there is NO way to know how it will be deflected out the other side, at what angle and with how much retained energy. There is no true "safe backstop" for a target like this as far as I'm concerned.

On to the next issue, the "heat affected zones". Any cutting process used on true AR500 steel especially by a company keeping prices low is going to heat the metal: torch, plasma etc. I would believe laser / water jet (if those can even be used) would heat the metal the least but it appears by the edge that one of these methods was not used. Anyways; the heating of the metal anywhere there is a cut changes the temper of the metal for a certain area / distance from that cut. Usualy this is just the outside edge of a target but in this case its all over. This is all the more area for rounds (especially .308 and up in velocity / caliber) to potentially damage or wear the target down.

I appreciate all the input, I'm glad some of you think along the lines I do and therefore I'm not totally 'off my rocker' on this. For those that do shoot them, I'm glad you've never had an issue and I hope that you never do.
 
centurion, yes the issues with the temper/etc on steel are well known so the disconnect isn't a lack of education so much as an acceptance of the risks (probability and impact).

people who shoot steel a lot get hit all the time by ricochets. some even draw a little blood. but it's frankly just not a big deal as long as you're wearing eye pro and are a reasonable distance away. (7-10+ yards with a pistol and quite a bit more with a rifle)

would i buy or recommend that plate to someone? no. but if it were there, it's suboptimal design wouldn't stop me from shooting it because i assume while shooting handgun, the probability of getting hit by some lead/copper is 100% and the impact is about like getting hit by a hot paintball. The only real place it could hurt me would be the eyes and that's why we were eyepro. and while a rifle would have a lot more energy, i'd be shooting a plate that size from at least 500+ yards. so the probability of being hit by a ricochet is smaller than i can calculate
 
I would stay back a good distance. At least 60 yards I would think. Most of the energy will be absorbed with a direct hit so would a bounce back have the just to get back 60 yards?

What do most people think is a safe distance to stay back? I known I don't shoot at anything hard that is very close. I have had bounce back from shooting at a squirrel on a rock outcropping, but that was pretty close.
 
I gave up shooting at "less than flat" steel about 10 years ago.

I was shooting at a severely cratered steel plate at 100 yards with a Garand (.30-06, standard FMJ). I was by myself, no one else at the range.

As soon as I pulled the trigger on the third or fourth shot, it felt like a hammer hit my right arm and knocked it off the gun. My initial thought was "Crap, the gun blew up! Maybe it's just a broken op rod!".

Turned out that the bullet had bounced back, went into my arm just behind my wrist, and stopped just short of my elbow. It was drastically deformed, flattened tip and bent into a "U" shape. I was in surgery five minutes after the emergency room saw it on the X-ray. Still have the scar on my wrist.

Couple of inches higher and to the left and it would have been in my eye. I doubt if my shooting glasses would have stopped it.

I still shoot a lot of steel, but I wouldn't even think about shooting a plate like the one the OP posted that had cutouts in it just waiting to bounce the bullet around at unknown angles.
 
This plate is worthless to me. All those holes are stupid. Dude got robbed. I did however buy a 24" square plate with a 6" circle cut from the center. The idea is to hit the center not the frame. It is all ar550 and at least 600yards away. Both are rigged to swing. On really windy days you can hear them clanging out there.
I have shoot mild steel plate set into a backstop so the face is angling downward at 100 yards with no problem from ricochets. It was 18"x24"x2" thick and cratered like the moon. We eventually dug it out and move it back to 400 meters Just to clear space along the front line. I could beat all day on it at 400 and never had a worry.
 
It looks like the slots and cut outs identify smaller target areas for the shooter as long as the background is such to see contrast.

I see no greater risk than a glancing shot off the edge of a steel target, if anything, the other edge of the slot might contain the glancing blow a bit.

There is some inherent risk when shooting at steel. Heck I've been hit from a bounce back off a wood bowling pin.

Would i shoot at one of these targets, probably.

Would I buy one, probably not. From the video, it looks like their cutting technique and finishing is not very refined. A bit ragged around the edges.
 
I see a bigger risk of it deflecting a bullet down range, perhaps over a berm, where it might endanger others. It isn't just ricochets back at a shooter we need to be concerned with.

I most certainly would not buy it, and would not be inclined to shoot it when there are flat, solid, and safer alternatives that are easily purchased.
 
45 auto:
I have been an Optician for years and we have shot polycarbonate lenses, (which is what most shooting glasses are made of), and I can assure you they would have stopped the lead. We have shot them at point blank with many handguns and I am sure the energy absorbed surpassed the energy in the richochet. That being said the glasses would have absorbed it but then they would have spread it out over the width of the frame. It still wouldnt have been nice and they would have left a nice imprint!
 
I have a friend who makes ar500 targets. I don't buy anything except his. His prices are fair, I can grab a beer and a target when I want one.


I wouldn't buy it. If it turned up mysteriously on my range, I'd take it down and put up my own steel. There's an 8" plate and 6" plate under the seat at all times because that's where I keep them.

Even if that is ar500, it's a poor design for all reasons mentioned. If you're going to get fancy with steel, that's a waste of time on the cuts. Swingers, poppers, trap doors, target zone swinging flags...but not that. I see no rhyme nor reason for it.

I'd love to get into long range shooting at some point. To be perfectly honest, if I found that for free...I'd not feel unsafe a
Y all hitting it at 1000 yards assuming there was a safe zone around it on the sides and behind just in case the round went AWOL after the hit.
 
ForumSurfer: will your friend ship on my dime? If possible post a link here or shoot me a PM. As of right now I am looking at and planning on buying from www.ar500-targets.com specifically this deal: https://www.ar500-targets.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=TWO-8-INCH-ROUND-TARGETS

2 - 8" round 3/8th" thick with two holes drilled (no ears) for $45 with free shipping. Anyone have input on this company or on 3/8th" plate for .308 and 7.62x54r possibly including steel core? I'm guessing the steel core is a bad idea and unless I hear otherwise don't plan to try it.

Also hoping to hang them from a "Last Stand" system:
http://www.laststands.com/#!product/prd1/1058408071/the-last-stand
 
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