I was thinking of welding up some steel plates to shoot at with my .40S&W and my 12 gauge. How thick should the steel be so that they do not get punctured or severly dented and how far away should they be placed to avoid richochet? Please give me some advice.

Thank you for all of your help!

1/4" mild steel will stop .40 very easily.  You might go with 3/8" inch if you want a really long lasting target.

What load are you firing out of the shotty?  No sluggers, I hope!

Anything made out of steel that is not brinnell hardness of 400 or greater isn't going to last long or bee safe. Also cutting and welding of the armor plate will destroy it.

Best is to buy some plates.

If a plate get warped, or pitted it will return bullets

Quoted: Anything made out of steel that is not brinnell hardness of 400 or greater isn't going to last long or bee safe. Also cutting and welding of the armor plate will destroy it. Best is to buy some plates. If a plate get warped, or pitted it will return bullets

You are thinking of rifle bullets. Shooting steel with pistols and shotguns is no biggie. I have shot a gazillion rounds at just about every kind of steel imaginable, and have yet to have any issues. With a shotgun, stick with birdshot, and the danger factor is minimal.

Steel only laughs at pistol rounds, it cringes at rifles (especially .223).

You'll want at least 10 yards b/n you and the handgun or shotgun (if using shot).  Slugs, you'll want 50+ to be on the safe side.

Remember to wear eye protection.

Quoted: Steel only laughs at pistol rounds, it cringes at rifles (especially .223 .308).

Fixed it for ya.

I have a piece of channel iron (basically a steel box 8"x8"x3" with 2 open ends) I welded the back of the channel to 2 chains hanging down from 2 steel rods. The whole thing hangs at an angle because the weight of the channel is forward of the welded chain. I like it this way, so the pistol rounds bounce down into the loose sand about a foot behind where the target sits.

The shooting face is about 3/8" thick and the pistol rounds haven't dented, or even scratched it. .223 Wolf put 2 dents in it from about 50 yds so I stopped shooting it with that. I tried the Polytech M14 one day and it DRILLED a hole in the front face that was signifigantly bigger than .308" The round went through the first side, but exploded down and out the bottom of the channel once it hit the other side.

I'm thinking you should make sure you have plenty of distance for the 12ga if you use slugs. It's not so much the penetration that will break stuff with that, it'll be the ft/lbs of energy that a slug will impart that will tear a welded-up steel target to bits. The birdshot should be absolutely fine, though. I've found that #7 at 1350fps won't even go through one layer of a pick-up bed at about 25yds.

WIZZO

Quoted: Quoted: Steel only laughs at pistol rounds, it cringes at rifles (especially .223 .308). Fixed it for ya.

I'd disagree.

On the steel gongs I'm currently using, .308 doesn't even pock the surface.  Xm193 craters it pretty good, and M855 mildly craters it.  Velocity is what kills steel.

Hmm, must be using different steel.

WIZZO

Quoted: Hmm, must be using different steel. WIZZO

Come on think about it? The .308 would most likely put a MUCH bigger hole in a piece of steel than a .223/5.56 round will. It has much more energy than the comparably punny .223, and the bullet is in the same shape, it's just not traveling as fast as the .223.

Quoted: Hmm, must be using different steel. WIZZO

Come on think about it? The .308 would most likely put a MUCH bigger hole in a piece of steel than a .223/5.56 round will. It has much more energy than the comparably punny .223, and the bullet is in the same shape, it's just not traveling as fast as the .223.

kinetic energy is more heavily weighed to velocity rather than mass.

1/2 m v^2

Steel plate, old coil springs of car and a old rim. U should be able to picture the idea.

Quoted: kinetic energy is more heavily weighed to velocity rather than mass. 1/2 m v^2

The .308 still has much more energy than the .223. No doubt about it.

Quoted: Steel plate, old coil springs of car and a old rim. U should be able to picture the idea.

I can do more than picture it, I can go outside and shoot at it.

One thing tho, better protect the weld/spring by burying the rim, or putting logs/cover in front of them. That's the weak link to that system of gong......but if you do protect it, it's awesome.

I use railroad ties with tie-plates nailed on one side to protect the structure, and let the gong sit up above them.

Quoted: Quoted: Steel only laughs at pistol rounds, it cringes at rifles (especially .223 .308 .30-06).

 There, its been fixed again.  Don't say squat until you shoot 6/10in steel with a 220gr bullet- oh wait, you can't!  .308 Wusschester only goes up to 180gr!  Sorry man, I forgot. j/k

Depends on the hardness of the steel and construction of bullet.  I've got some 1/4 scale steel shilouettes that 7.62mm M80, M118 LR and .300 Win Mag just spatter on but 5.56mm M855 ball will pit.  This steel is 500 grade hardened.  Its the steel core that pits the steel.  Lead and copper construction just fragment/vaporize when striking.

I thought that steel cores were illegal since they are armor piercing ammunition...

Quoted: I thought that steel cores were illegal since they are armor piercing ammunition...

Not M855 5.56 and .30'06. They are exempted from the ban.

And I DO have .30'06 laying around here (M1, M1917, M1903A3) If .308 went through it, '06 would too.

WIZZO

Not to hijack this thread, but do you have to be a LEO(or LE agency) to buy the steel core ammunition?

Quoted: Not to hijack this thread, but do you have to be a LEO(or LE agency) to buy the steel core ammunition?

Not sure about that, however i do know that it is legal to load your own.  And there are a lot of surplus "pull down" projecticles available on the market.  I shouldn't open my mouth, because I'm not exactly sure, but I thought it was an ban on imported ammo with penetrator cores.  

I found another forum where someone said that 'steel core' isn't necessarily armor piercing either.  He said that armor piercing ammo uses a tungsten core.  I guess that they could use another steel to pass the ammo off to average folks as AP, when in fact it won't work for that purpose.  Just thought I'd spit that out here(in case its true).  Thanks for the info, but I don't think that I will ever buy/make AP ammo.  Now that I think about it, its not worth the risk of having it.  If someone in the area killed someone with the stuff, I'd be guilty until proven innocent if found with such an uncommon thing .