What size steel targets?

[woodnut]

Don't forget, it is AR500 steel! Less than that will lead to problems soon. Bigger is better than small as some here have pointed out. When you miss, and everyone will, it's hard to spot impact when it gets out there at 600 and beyond. You can color a center aiming point on a big steel. Remember that bullets are flying in a big arc at long range so a low hit (on ground) can actually be a hi miss if the impact area is well behind the target. Judging misses on the ground is much harder than if it's on the plate. Spend a little more once and getting it right; than less several times getting it right.

 

[memtb]

i would like to start shooting/practicing at longer ranges. I plan to buy a few steel targets to setup at varying distances. I will use paper for distances to 200yds, and will use the steel for further.

My question is: what size should I get for the different ranges?
I would guess you'd want bigger sizes for the longer distances like 800-1000 yards.
So what would be good for say 300-500, 600-800?

Thanks for your time.
MH

I have a 16" round steel plate for my 300 yard "offhand" shooting......it needs to be a little bigger. More misses than hits! memtb

 

[RegionRat]

If your backstop isn't an obvious dirt splash on a miss, consider larger dimensions and use paint and a spotting scope to evaluate the performance. You will know if the splash was too close to the edge to hit vitals, but if a miss goes off into weeds or woods, you learned nothing. Square is just as good as round if you use paint to study the hits and the waste is lower so they are often cheaper.

Conveyor belt is sold in bulk rolls and works well. Hanging the plates on extended bolts will allow the plate to sit forward of the belting and hang down to help deflect the spray of jacket and lead to minimize erosion.

 

[entoptics]

One more question guys. I plan to buy 1/2" for 300-600 yards.

Can I buy 3/8" for 700-1000? Or should I just get all 1/2 or more?

Speed is what kills AR500, and thickness won't save it from that. Going thick is more for very powerful, high sectional density rounds (50 BMG, "elephant guns", etc), to prevent cracking. Anything that potent will play hell with your target stands anyway.

Otherwise, 3/8" AR500 should be fine for everything. I've tagged my 3/8" at 200 yds with my 300 Win, and it barely leaves a mark. 556 won't hurt it at all at >100 yds, and only leaves tiny indents as close as 75 yds. Keep the really fast rounds (light bullets in magnums, 22-250, etc) at distances where the impacts are below 3000 fps, and your 3/8" plates will last forever.

 

[jrock]

Agreed 3/8" is plenty heavy to move around when in 16" plus sizes. With my wide range of guns and only shooting steel at 400+, 3/8" has done me good.

 

[azsugarbear]

I tend to use AR500 targets about the same size as the vitals of the game I intend to hunt. For elk, my target is 12"H x 18"L. Deer is about 8"H x 12"L. The downside to this strategy is that it is hard to spot your misses, but I felt I needed that kind of practice as well. In real life situations, you need to be able to spot or 'call' your own misses. This requires concentration and practice. I felt that a larger target often lulled me into a false sense of security. Hitting these targets near the edge still gave me a sense of a 'hit' rather than the disgust felt when merely wounding an animal.

The advantage with vital-size target steel is that you can easily find your absolute maximum distance with a rifle in any set of weather conditions. We all set our own maximum distances, but I tend to limit my abilities to a distance where I know I can consistently ring the steel with 9 out of 10 shots.

Ringing a small piece of steel at 1,200 yds can be very satisfying. But if I am only connecting on every other shot, then I am wouding an animal just as often as I am hitting it. It's just a situation I want to try to avoid, if at all possible. Having actual vital-size targets is just a way to have my own personal reality check.

 

[DCfromNE]

Unless you're already a darn good shooter, I'd plan for ~2 MOA targets (16" at 800 yds, 12" at 600 yds, etc). Clean misses are frustrating, but more importantly, correctly estimating misses can be tough in the dirt, unless you have a near vertical backstop very close to the target. Knowing where and why you missed is about the only way to get better.

If you're willing to put in some work, and deal with bulky target frames, you can save a bit on homemade target stands. I use the cheap "DIY" saw horse brackets and 2x4s. For the hanger straps, I cut out the sidewalls of old tires (free at a tire shop most likely). You can get 4 targets worth (8 straps) from 1 tire. With bolts/nuts, brackets, and wood, the stands are only about $20. I screwed some eyelets into the feet, and use the cheap, "nail" style, tent stakes to keep the stands from falling over with big guns.

The stands will take dozens of hits before needing replaced. They do tend to get filled with shrapnel and splinters though, so wear gloves when handling them after they've been used a bit...

Ebay is a great place to look for targets. I found a couple vendors that had free shipping, and got plates far cheaper than any "major retailer". 3/8" AR500 is plenty for all but the craziest rifles (past 100 yds anyway).

This guy offers 20% if you buy 2+ targets, and it appears you can mix and match sizes. I think it's one of the vendors I bought from with no complaints.

With discount, the prices are as follows...
16" ~$72
12" ~$28
10" ~$20

Can you post that link again? I'm very interested in those prices!

 

[entoptics]

Can you post that link again? I'm very interested in those prices!

20% off 2+.

Hopefully works now. Not sure how I screwed it up the first time. You can search for various other sizes/shapes, and you'll see the 20% thing in the results. Can probably search the vendors name too.

 

[del2les]

I usually us an inch per 100yds that way I know my guns 1moa to 1000yd
500yd-5inch target
800yd-8inch

That's been our norm out to 1,500, but we do use a 19" plate for our mile shoots. However, a beginner may wish to go with 1 1/2 or even 2 moa until confident. YMMV

 

[Wstexhunter]

I had a 4'x8' sheet of 1/2" AR500 cut up into various size gongs. Hang them from homemade hangers made from 1.5" pipe, sucker rod, & conveyor belt. Has worked great!!

 

[CPC280]

i would like to start shooting/practicing at longer ranges. I plan to buy a few steel targets to setup at varying distances. I will use paper for distances to 200yds, and will use the steel for further.

My question is: what size should I get for the different ranges?
I would guess you'd want bigger sizes for the longer distances like 800-1000 yards.
So what would be good for say 300-500, 600-800?

Thanks for your time.
MH

I certainly agree with having a little larger MOA piece of steel at your intended range. I use several 12" round plates at 600yds and paint different size MOA black dots on the steel. Use a hole saw and make you some different diameter templates out of plywood or masonite and spray a black dot. I use steel from HangFast Targets because of the simplicity of hanging them on a simple T-Post. They work great and he runs specials all the time.

Happy Clanging!!

 

[slv hunter]

I use 24"×24" for 1000yds and beyond, 16"×16" for 600 to 1000, and 10"×10" for 300 to 600. I use bottom of paint can for bullseye template.

 

[entoptics]

...I use bottom of paint can for bullseye template.

Another good trick is to use a couple of fast food cups. Use one for the bullseye template, and store it inside the other one so you don't get wet paint everywhere. Since they're usually tapered pretty good, this also gives you a couple of options for spot size.

 

[DUSTY NOGGIN]

the fab shop i went to said if i buy any it will be the whole sheet and your taking it all with you , it will destroy a shear blade ... for the plate and labor it takes to cut up , if you and your shooting buddies all go in on it. you'll end up with twice as many targets for the same buck, i cut up a whole sheet to the sizes i wanted and sold the rest at cost on the classifieds tooks about 2 months ... couldn't believe people all bought the 6" square ones first ????

i cut mine to either hang as a square or a diamond

someone said earlier that a 24x24 weighs about 65 lbs , which is right .. if you dropped a 24x24 on your foot !!! your going home !!!