I was wondering what "kind" or a suggested kind of steel to consider for silohuette targets.  

I have a piece of 3/8 inch plate steel that I cut into 8 inch pie plates, its mild steel, and at 100 yards Winchester 55gr FMJ shot through it!

I shot one of my 44mag spinner targets twice and it too had to be repaired!

Is the steel used in silohuette targets something special, expensive, super hard?  

Thanks

I have some old plates that came off of some railroad crossties that I bought. These are the plates that went under the rails. I made a tripod out of pipe and hung them with chain from the tripod through the holes that the spikes went through. So far, 7mm Mag and .44 mag pistol rounds have only mildly dented them. I re-paint a day-glo orange diamond in the center everytime I return from shooting.

Maybe I need thicker steel, and hang it free with chain instead of sitting it on the ground or making a spinner.  I would hate to shoot my current targets with my 7mm 140gr FailSafes!
Thanks
Wally

Either go thicker or go harder.


As far as hardness goes, think HARD.    Long time ago in my experiments to find out what a 5.56x45mm would and would not penetrate I had the chance to shoot at some old leaf springs from a heavy duty truck.    From less than 30 yards those little 55grain and 62 grain bullets would HARDLY even leave a mark.

Leaf springs aren't super thick but they are super hard.   Maybe if you could have a welder cut up a few chunks of leaf spring then weld the seams together maybe you could get yourself some nice hardned targets.    That or you'd have to search around for somebody who just happens to have properly hardened plate steel, I would think that armoured transport/security places would get a little wierded out if you called around asking who supplied their hardened steel...


Mild steel really gets chewed to bits by fast bullets.   Heck, I have a piece of 1 1/4 inch steel plate that is getting chewed to bits by 5.56x45mm even at distances of 100 yards, it isn't penetrating but it's creating 1/4x1/4 inch craters with each impact.

You should see what a 190grain SMK does from a 300WinMag, about 5/8x5/8 inch crater.

[img]http://home.bak.rr.com/varmintcong/APplate/plate.jpg[/img]

In the IHMSA (International Handgun Silhouette Assn) matches, we use tempered steel (T1) for our targets.  1/2" for 50 & 100 meters, and 3/8" for the 150 & 200 meters.  Even then, there is a provision allowing a match director to disqualify any handgun or load causing more than 25% penetration.

Check out Blackwater's steel targets.  I think the standard for rifle plates is AR500 plate (500+ brinell hardness).  I have a 1/2" AR500 "high abrasion" plate, and I haven't found anything that will scratch it yet.  Of course, we haven't shot it with a .50cal either, and don't intend to given the price of hardened steel plate.

Hehehe, here's the back side of that 1 1/4 inch steel plate I posted above...

[img]http://home.bak.rr.com/varmintcong/APplate/penetrated.jpg[/img]

Cool pics, love that bullet tip sticking out of the backside!

A fun topic discuss

The pics above show the results of what happens when a 165grn AP bullet gets squirt out the barrel of a 300WinMag.   Only about 300fps more muzzle velocity than that which the 30-06 can accomplish.


Really puts the hurt on that poor plate.    Heck, when the plate got hit by 5.56 and lead core 300WinMag it made the usual impact sounds we all associate with bullets hitting steel.   But those 165grn AP bullets, the plate was seemingly screaming out in agony and ringing like a tuning fork.

If I could get another 100fps at the time of impact I think I could smoke a hole clean through the plate.    I need to test my last load weight for temperature stability though, the pic above was done during temperatures that were about 30 degrees cooler than it is currently.   With temps approaching 100+ during this season what was safe at 30degrees cooler may now be showing signs of over pressure.


I'm also going to try some 165grain Barnes Copper Solid SpirePoints.   They MIGHT actually provide surprising results if I can get that bullet smoking along fast enough.   Sure, steel is the conventional AP load but I can't help but wonder about the Barnes solids, I figure they may liquify and do a good job of making a mess out of the steel due to high temperature moulten copper.    It won't be traveling at near the velocity as the copper based AP shape charges but I figure it's worth a try for educational purposes.


Funny thing, after getting my 300WinMag and playing around with that steel plate I couldn't help but think, "If I get 3100-3200fps with 165grainers in the 300WinMag, I wonder what 3300-3500fps from a 300RUM would do?"



Okay, I've rambled enough.

T-1

I was doing some research on opening a range and one of the things I found was a recomendation of using AR (Abrasion Resistant) steel for the walls ceiling and backstop of an indoor range.  Back in 1995 I was a purchasing agent for the company I work for now and I used to buy AR-400F steel from the local steel suppliers on occasion.