Anyone here have any light they would like to shed on this?A friend of mine that I shoot with has access to a fabrication shop(uncle owns and operates) and a lot of land.

We have been talking about making some steel targets.Nothing fancy just something to pop rounds at.Was thinking something along the lines of a rectangular steel plate maybe 15x25 to shoot from 50-150 yards.

Has anyone here made steel tagets or is it better to just buy them since I suppose,if done wrong,we could screw something up.If buying prefabbed tagets is better anyone have a link to someone they recomend?

We intend on shooting .223 and 7.62x39.

I steal steel from John Steele.  He has a big pile of scrap steel in his back yard.  I steal steele's steel and sell it cheap.  Prices so low they think they are stealing, but realy, they are stealing Steele's steel that I already stole.

I make mine from scrap at work

The 7.62 shouldn't be any problem with 1/2" thick hot rolled steel but the .223 at close range will do some damage to non-hardened steel. I believe the main reason that steel targets are pricey is because of the hardened steel. Basically you need to find a source for hardened, harden able steel, or some fairly thick hot rolled. Of course using hp or sp ammo would also be a good idea.

I wonder if surface hardening compound on hot rolled would be enough?

I personally have started making some of my own.  There are a few tricks involved, but nothing fancy.  Main thing to point out is that you can't just use plain old steel for making targets.  You have to use something harder, especially for rifle.  You need something with a Brinell hardness of probably at least 450-500, and you will probably need something at least 1/2" thick.  You also have to be careful about cutting it and welding it because if you heat and cool the hard steel incorrectly, you can lose the hardness.  As to what size and shape you want to do, that's completely up to you.  You do need to be wary of angles that may cause unwanted deflection.  

Free targets can be found along roadways.  They are commonly known as "advertisement" signs.  Normally placed in the ground by home builders or weight loss clinics.  They stand about 3' high and are easily retrievable.  No law prevents you from removing said signs as they are on public property and are not sanctioned by the local gov't.

i use old rail road tie plates, and weld some chain on them..

Even more fun than shooting them is having weld testing competitions.  Have your buddy weld one up and then you try one.  Shoot right along the welds and if you can make the weld fail, you win.  I do this with my aircraft mechanic buddy and always loose.  He REALLY knows how to weld . . . .