[Flyin40]

Does anyone make their own steel targets to practice with. Either poppers or plates??? Thinking of putting some together but wondered about any ideas. I figured poppers would stay up versus fall over. I"m not concerned about falling over too much. I was wondering about the cost of steel. All labor would be takin care of. Just a thought.

Flyin40

[EricW]

If you are able to actually buy 3/8" AR500, go for it. I can't get the stuff to save my life. Had one steel yard tell me that there was no such thing.

[JD45]

You're not alone. I've been hunting scrap steel for ten years, and can't seem to find anything large enough for decent targets cheap.

[shred]

T1 works OK for pistol targets that move. AR500 is better, but much much harder to find in small quantities.

[Flyin40]

JD45

I have a newphew whos an awesome welder. He has made me 6 in plates before. He made 6 with bases in about 20 min. These were basically on the ground. He just welded a thin plate to the bottom to make them stand upright. He even ground the sides so they weren't sharp. I'm hoping he has access to the steel, actually I know he should. I can't be picky about what he can get. What about thickness. I'll be the only one shooting them so how thick should they be???
40 caliber open gun and probably some rimfire.

Flyin40

[Flexmoney]

You will want T-1 steel or better, 3/8 thick.

If you get cheaper steel, expect it to wear out sooner...if it gets divits, expect it to shoot back at you.

[ScottS]

I've got over a ton of ½" AR500 plate that I've used to make my rifle targets. I have extra I'll let go cheap, but shipping will be a killer.

Regards Scott

[EricW]

ScottS, on Jan 26 2005, 04:38 PM, said:

I've got over a ton of ½" AR500 plate that I've used to make my rifle targets. I have extra I'll let go cheap, but shipping will be a killer.

Regards Scott

Buddy!

[ScottS]

I don't have enough posts to put this in the classified section, and I don't want to get in trouble for posting quantities and prices here. E-mail or PM for more info.

Scott

[Bruce]

Friend of mine works with the stuff (steel), so I have plenty of targets he has cut and / or welded for me. Plates mainly, in different sizes and shapes. Have a few that have a bit of a "turtle-back" shape to them, hung by a chain on two points near top, nice heavy stuff that has lasted for gosh, at least 6-8 years now. Rifle will burn through it, but it laughs at all pistol rounds I have tried.

[Ron Ankeny]

EricW:

If you know someone going to the area match in Montana, let me know and I'll toss some AR 400 and/or 500 in my truck and you can just have right at it.

[EricW]

Ron Ankeny, on Jan 28 2005, 11:09 AM, said:

EricW:

If you know someone going to the area match in Montana, let me know and I'll toss some AR 400 and/or 500 in my truck and you can just have right at it.

Ron,

You are the man! I'll make a point of making that match.

[Putty]

Eric:
I am going to the Montana match if you cant make it.

[M.E.Anglin]

if you cut AR 500 with a torch......it is no longer AR 500
( I worked for MGM targets for over 4 years)

[Flyin40]

My nephew will be doing all the metal work. I'm not that familiar with metal working. He said he has a pile of steel laying around. With a little bit of everything in it.

Flyin40

[Ron Ankeny]

Good point about flame cutting. We use a plasma table.

[cking]

Rifle targets are a problem AR500 is hard enough but if you weld on it. It will get cracks eventually. Even when cut with a plasma cutter the edges are still a little soft. Water/abrasive cutter would be best.

the uspsa.org rifle rules has some knock down targets, that involve a flat plate and a base. These should last a long time.

[Harmon]

bulldozer tracks make decent 6 inch plates.
if you can find some worn out tracks, youll be in heaven..
i figure bulldozer tracks are probably as hard as AR 500.
the thing is that it has to be a great big dozer to get larger than 6 inch plates

[codyb]

Old gas tanks (welding not car) with the bottoms cut off have a nice ring to them for long range rifle targets. Cody

[Varget]

We use a lot of Road grader blades for poppers and for rifle targets. We usually cut them 16" long and weld a piece of 1/2 pipe to the bottom for a hinge, then just make a base. Welding 3 of them together for a rifle target (Long Range) works great also. We have shot them as close as 75yds with a 223 and it doesn't usually phase them. Every now and then you'll get a breaker from them slamming though. We have some 5/16 T1 full size IPSC targets that have really taken a beeting but it hasn't phased them. We shot them with 45cal at 15 -20 yds and it doesn't do anything to them. They'll take a 308 just fine at 300 also.

[LPatterson]

Flyin40

If you are going to have something made include a couple 6" X 11", they work great for Bill Drills at 10 yards. Should have 6 hits, if not, spray and repeat.

[Tom D]

harmongreer, on Apr 2 2005, 02:43 AM, said:

bulldozer tracks make decent 6 inch plates.
if you can find some worn out tracks, youll be in heaven..
i figure bulldozer tracks are probably as hard as AR 500.
the thing is that it has to be a great big dozer to get larger than 6 inch plates

I am not sure how hard tracks are, but we have used the teeth from the buckes. On a backhoe, these are ar500 they are about 4 inches sq. Very good 100 to 150 yd rifel target. Most construction company change them frequently.

Tom

[jmorris]

http://handgunsports.com/

Jerry has good prices on AR500&400 precut. He sells the whole rig or you can just buy the plates and make the rest.

[chriss044]

I just purchased 3/8" AR500 steel for our club in December. I searched online and found several distributors. I am postitive there was more than one dealer in Ohio. I got ours out of Philly. We purchased an 8' x 10' piece of AR500 and had the distributor plasma cut it at no cost on a cutting bed with the steel underwater. Out of that sheet we were able to get 17 full size pepper popper faces, 16 mini pepper popper faces and 15 eight inch round plates. With shipping and tax we paid $1,845.00. When you figure the cost per target face it comes to $38.00 a target face. This was alot cheaper than anything I found from the target manufacturers.

We used Chapel Steel, they have two locations in Ohio.

I hope this helps.

[JimmyZip]

What you want to do is look at places that sell industrial scrap. Thay often have hardened plate of various types for sale. You braing a trailer, they put it on, you haul it and cut it. I usually get my steel from a distro guy that is a member at our club. He tells me when he has scrap, I go over and buy it at a discount, if I have the money at the time.
Poppers I make using the plate cut out to size, welded onto a 2x2x1/4 thick post full length behind the popper. This prevents the popper from peening in the vertical fashion. I then weld a 3/4" diameter axle to the back of this perpendicular to the post, and about 1/2" from the base of the popper. This axle's length is determined by the width of the base I use which is typically an 8"x2" "U" beam 1/4" thickness. I drill a 1" hole in the vertical parts of the U channel centered with the axle's height. Now you cut out with a plasma torch, the extra metal in the U channel. and viola, you have a really heavy, easy to set pepper popper that can be broken into 2 peices. With our plasma torch, a grinder, and Miller wire feed, I can make one in about 15 minutes. (As long as I don't have to wait for the mill or drill press to drill the holes.)
Now though I build them the same way with only a 6" plate on the post. This way I get more out of my steel, and they are smaller to practice with. So far I have ten of these type left, I have given the poppers to friends. Once I get a trailer again, I will propbably build mre steel targets. It is really cool to be able to have alll you targets in your trailer. This way on a weekend, I can go out and set up my own stages, and just throw them on the trailer when I'm done.