[wooddog]

Has anyone else had to take the ring out of steel targets. I have glued carpet to the backs but they still ring too much and the neighbors are annoyed by it. The club wants to be a good neighbor so we are working on it. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

[ChrisC]

dynamat on the back of it might work...

[ajg308]

wooddog, on Jun 1 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Has anyone else had to take the ring out of steel targets. I have glued carpet to the backs but they still ring too much and the neighbors are annoyed by it. The club wants to be a good neighbor so we are working on it. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

You have to do something to take away the vibration. I have always noticed that hanging targets steel targets ring more than those that are sitting on the ground. Maybe you can dampen the ring by planting them in the ground?

[Fullauto_Shooter]

wooddog, on Jun 1 2009, 08:30 PM, said:

Has anyone else had to take the ring out of steel targets. I have glued carpet to the backs but they still ring too much and the neighbors are annoyed by it. The club wants to be a good neighbor so we are working on it. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

It seems strange they complain about the sound of ringing steel but not the actual gunshots. I remember seeing a Front Sight article some time back where someone wrapped a popper with duct-tape and some sort of padding so they could shoot steel from closer distances. This would probably take the "ring" out of the steel, but would be very time intensive to set up and maintain.

[Steve J]

Seriously? They can hear the steel ringing over the open comp guns? Or are they just finding something else to complain about?

[Anon]

Reverse your range. They'll stop complaining about the steel, and start complaining about the gunshots!

[Sean Gaines]

my guess its not the ringing of the steel but where the bullet goes once it hits the steel. when you shoot a paper target they know it goes into the berm. One suggestion is they can always move.

[warpspeed]

The steel rings because it can move. If the steel is anchored to its post, it will vibrate through the post and not ring.

[shred]

TJ used to practice on steel IPSC target silhouettes. To keep from getting used to the 'ring', he sandwiched several layers of cardboard between two of them and bolted them together.

[Flint]

Make me put back on my "official" safety hat. Safety is my job, 20 + years.

Sound is energy, vibration is the nonaudible acoustic phenomona that may be heard and felt by touching the ringing plate in this example.

So, the plate when struck vibrates rapidly back and forth. As it moves it compresses air in one direction and a vacuum in the other. This is the sound or movement in the air causing sound waves as it cycles rapidly back and forth.

Some thoughts, one build a wall or birm around that is high enough to contain the sound. Think sound walls you see in Metro areas around major highways - presume that is not a viable option.

More practically I am thinking of stopping the vibration. Now you mention placing a foam material on them, but I envision something like modern auto manufacturing, so that you "sandwich" the material. You may want to try a steel plate, with some rubber or other sound deadening material then another steel plate. The one may want to ring, but would be adhered to a rubber material and the other plate would not tend to vibrate, I presume. So it would act to counteract and rapidly slow down the oscillation. Literally the weight of the additional material should change the vibration frequency.

Other thoughts increase stiffness of material.

Increase mass of material, which intellectually if you shoot a 6" plate 3/4" thick vs. one that is three feet thick you know it will not ring. That is part of the appeal of the "Silent Steel Sandwich" concept above.

Just a thought, but that is what I would start with from a Safety Engineering standpoint. Would be curious if this has been tried, may need some experimenting. Would like to "hear" result if attempted.

But I do find it funny that this is the issue as others noted.

Hey - warpspeed and shred are right, I just took the degreed safety professional route, which was not as fast.

This post has been edited by Flint: 01 June 2009 - 07:44 PM

[ChuckS]

They use a sort of black foamy crap on the pepper poppers that are used indoors at the Scottsdale Gun Club to contain splatter. I guess they got tired of replacing light bulbs. I do not recall hearing any sort of ringing when I shot there just prior to the 2008 Area 2 match. Actually they are kind of diabolical since you get no audible feedback and the black color blends in nicely with the black backstop. They drive iron sight shooters nuts! You may want to contact SGC and find out the source.

Later,
Chuck

http://www.scottsdalegunclub.com/

[bbbean]

Steve J, on Jun 1 2009, 08:35 PM, said:

Seriously? They can hear the steel ringing over the open comp guns? Or are they just finding something else to complain about?

+1!

[M ammo]

wooddog, on Jun 1 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Has anyone else had to take the ring out of steel targets. I have glued carpet to the backs but they still ring too much and the neighbors are annoyed by it. The club wants to be a good neighbor so we are working on it. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

Move to Texas... buy the property next to me,,, we can build a bigger range..... And make all of the noise we want!!!!

I once lived in Mass,,,, but got here as soon as I could.

TEXAS

Jim M ammo

[trevoro]

+1 to dynamat on the back.

[kgunz11]

Another +1 on the dynamat. It will NOT ring anymore, just make a "thud" when it's hit. The good thing about the ring, it masks the sound of shrapnel hitting all around you.

[shred]

A long while ago I was practicing for Steel Challenge at a friends range and some neighbors drove up thinking they were hearing bullets going by overhead. Turned out it was the ring of the gongs at long distance...

They were ok with the sound after that.

[wooddog]

What is Dynamat?

[kgunz11]

Dynamat is a sound deadening material.

http://www.dynamat.c...t_original.html

Dynamat Original is a styrene-butyadine-rubber- based, pressure-sensitive adhesive-backed, heat bondable vibrational damper. Dynamat Original conforms and fuses easily to sheet metal and other hard substrates. Material performance is optimized for temperature ranges between 14°F and 86°F (-10°C to +30°C). Material can withstand temperature extremes between -22°F and +350°F (-30°C to +177°C) and is highly resistant to aging.



Acoustic Properties:

The acoustic loss factor "n" is used as a measure of a material's ability to damp structure-borne sound by stating how much vibrational energy (in steel sheets for instance) is converted to heat rather than sound. For constructions containing several layers of damping material, the combined loss factor "n comb" is used. The theoretical maximum loss factor is 1 (no vibration). An undamped 1mm thick steel panel has a loss factor of roughly 0.001 at 200 Hz. Dynamat Original applied to that panel would increase the loss factor to 0.14 @ +50°F (+10°C). Multiple layers of Dynamat Original improve sound damping even more.



Applications:

Dynamat Original can be cut to shape and placed onto the body surface directly on painted panels or after the sheet metal is cleaned before painting (typically at the sealer application operation). Dynamat Original is used to treat metal panels, partitions, ducts, doors, bins, panels, and so forth in railroad cars, buses, automobiles, and ships. It is also used for ventilation ducts, relay cabinets, steel furniture, home appliances, sink units, computer equipment, machine tools and many other objects that suffer from vibration-produced noise.



Installation:

Use scissors, knife or die to cut Dynamat Original to the desired size and shape before removing the release liner. Next, remove dust, grease, moisture, and other foreign matter from the application surface. Peel off the release liner. The simplest application technique is to bend the mat slightly and attach it along its shortest edge. Press the mat firmly into place, using a roller for larger pieces. The roller reduces the risk of leaving air pockets, which reduce Dynamat's sound damping capacity. The temperature of the mat and application surface should not be below room temperature during fitting. Heating the material improves bonding and elastic moldability.

[uscbigdawg]

ChuckS, on Jun 1 2009, 07:43 PM, said:

They use a sort of black foamy crap on the pepper poppers that are used indoors at the Scottsdale Gun Club to contain splatter. I guess they got tired of replacing light bulbs. I do not recall hearing any sort of ringing when I shot there just prior to the 2008 Area 2 match. Actually they are kind of diabolical since you get no audible feedback and the black color blends in nicely with the black backstop. They drive iron sight shooters nuts! You may want to contact SGC and find out the source.

Later,
Chuck

http://www.scottsdalegunclub.com/

I recall reading this in Front Sight (I think). The Canadians use it on their indoor matches to help contain splatter. Between this and Dynamat (and there are cheaper brand names that are as effective) it should knock out the balance of the sound.

Rich

[Tom D]

ChuckS, on Jun 1 2009, 09:43 PM, said:

They use a sort of black foamy crap on the pepper poppers that are used indoors at the Scottsdale Gun Club to contain splatter. I guess they got tired of replacing light bulbs. I do not recall hearing any sort of ringing when I shot there just prior to the 2008 Area 2 match. Actually they are kind of diabolical since you get no audible feedback and the black color blends in nicely with the black backstop. They drive iron sight shooters nuts! You may want to contact SGC and find out the source.

Later,
Chuck

http://www.scottsdalegunclub.com/

The foam came from LE Targets in Blaine, MN.

[kevin c]

This doesn't help with the steel you already have, but I have shot at clubs that have steel plates that are hinged at the base, with the stand driven into the ground. Hits on those basically resulted in a "clank" as the steel fell over, and not even that if the hinge was tight and the back stop catching the plate was covered with rubber or carpet.

[Toolguy]

The auto parts stores have spray-on rubber in an aerosol can. You could spray it on the back of the targets and let it cure.
That might work the same as the mat that you cut to fit.

[kgunz11]

A 6" x 6" piece of dynamat on a US Popper would be enough. You don't have to cover the back of the plate with the material. It's amazing stuff.

[wooddog]

I'll give the Dynamat a try.

Thanks

[kgunz11]

I use to have a butt load of it. If I still had any I'd send you some. Contact the manufacture and tell them what you are trying to do and ask them if they could send you a small sample to try before purchasing. I'd bet they send you some.