I stayed at a buddy's place this weekend, and he's got some steel from me on his home range. One plate is an old piece of mild steel I scrounged for him, the other was a 3/8" AR500 target I gave him.


I took the opportunity to take a couple photos and write down my observations, because I typically never have mild steel on my ranges.





The targets have been up for about a year. It's a pistol range, but occasionally a rifle sneaks onto it. When something other than a non-magnum pistol caliber is used on the range, he's careful to make sure it only goes at the AR500 target. As a result, the mild steel target is holding up very well, but the difference between the two is obvious when you look at it close.





1" mild steel rectangle on left is approximately 15x20". The target on the right is an IPSC Metric less the D-zone, in 3/8" AR500. Hung with 1/4" chains against a railroad tie backstop (basically no swing).





As of May 5, 2014, targets have been hung for about one year. A total of approximately 2,000 rounds fired down range, the majority of which are 40S&W.
















Places paint has been removed and repainted with no impact mark are from 9mm, 40S&W, and 45ACP.





There ya go. Thought you guys might enjoy this. As always, use common sense. I personally wouldn't have mounted these the same way that my buddy did, there isn't enough forward angle, it's against a hard backstop so it can't swing, and he shoots at it closer than I recommend.

 

interesting,  I too would mount them slightly differently. Probably with a bar across the front of the upright supports to allow for a bit of swing.  Nice to see the mild steel side by side with ar500.  surprising how well it's holding up. Certainly makes the case that ar500 isnt a necessity depending on range conditions and what your  throwing at it.

Mild steel does just fine for pistol calibers at around 1600 fps or less. Lots of USPSA and IDPA clubs have been using these for decades without issue. 1/4" plate gets a noticeable bend and small dimples over time, but 3/8" and 1/2" hold up just fine.

But I like the flexibility that AR500 plate gives you.

       Yup, that's been my experience. 1/4" AR400 fills the roll of 3/8 or even 1/2 mild nicely, weighs less, and pits rather than punches when you screw up and hit it with a rifle. 3/8" AR500 will hold up to anything other than steel core or AP, as long as you use it at the appropriate distance for the specific caliber.

 

We never have any problems with steel core (m855 or 5.45 7n6) on our AR500 plates. It's the guys shooting the 40gr .22 cal varmint rounds at 3800fps @75yds that fuck them up