Shooting at steel

[Cru]

I had heard about people shooting at steel targets, and how much fun it is, and I had "watched" at Friday night steel at MCFG last month, but I had never shot at steel targets myself until last Saturday.

I only have one thing to say.
Shooting at steel is FUN!!

For those of you who haven't tried it, TRY IT! It makes shooting at paper targets seem... well I don't have a good analogy, but it hard to go back to it. My wife had never even seen anyone shoot at steel targets until last weekend as well and she was plinking them with her .22 rifle and she said we had to get some.

Now I'm not saying paper targets are worthless, and I fully intend to use them sometimes, but I DID get ahold of Bobcat Steel (because he's an INGO advertiser, and I met him at the last 1500) and I bought 3 different size targets for us. The way I look at it, you pay for them, and they're gonna last a long time, AND it's super fun!

Now I just need to build a stand!

Also, anybody have suggestions on what color to paint these bad boys?

 

[billybob44]

I had heard about people shooting at steel targets, and how much fun it is, and I had "watched" at Friday night steel at MCFG last month, but I had never shot at steel targets myself until last Saturday.

I only have one thing to say.
Shooting at steel is FUN!!

For those of you who haven't tried it, TRY IT! It makes shooting at paper targets seem... well I don't have a good analogy, but it hard to go back to it. My wife had never even seen anyone shoot at steel targets until last weekend as well and she was plinking them with her .22 rifle and she said we had to get some.

Now I'm not saying paper targets are worthless, and I fully intend to use them sometimes, but I DID get ahold of Bobcat Steel (because he's an INGO advertiser, and I met him at the last 1500) and I bought 3 different size targets for us. The way I look at it, you pay for them, and they're gonna last a long time, AND it's super fun!

Now I just need to build a stand!

Also, anybody have suggestions on what color to paint these bad boys?

Red with white kill zones..

 

[HamsterStyle]

I'm hoping his sale goes on through the rest of this week. I am highly considering picking one up. I have yet to shoot steel but I have a serious urge to shoot some.

 

[lovemywoods]

Also, anybody have suggestions on what color to paint these bad boys?

Congratulations on getting some fine steel targets!

I paint my steels either white or bright red. Many colors would work. The white shows hits at a greater distance.

I avoided florescent colors. They tend to be a bit obnoxious sitting in the woods.

With the stands, remember to allow the steel to swing or pivot a bit when hit and remember that there will be splatter of high-speed bullet fragments roughly in a plane with the face of the steel. Wood and plastic in that plane will get hit.

Here are a few pictures of one of the stands.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...n/104943-ipsc_targets_added_to_the_range.html

Happy shooting!

 

[42769vette]

as far as target holders i got some cheap metal sawhorses and used some chain. defintally not perfect but its the best i could come up with. if you get a great idea id love to hear it

 

[Cru]

Congratulations on getting some fine steel targets!

I paint my steels either white or bright red. Many colors would work. The white shows hits at a greater distance.

I avoided florescent colors. They tend to be a bit obnoxious sitting in the woods.

With the stands, remember to allow the steel to swing or pivot a bit when hit and remember that there will be splatter of high-speed bullet fragments roughly in a plane with the face of the steel. Wood and plastic in that plane will get hit.

Here are a few pictures of one of the stands.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...n/104943-ipsc_targets_added_to_the_range.html

Happy shooting!

Your setup is actually the inspiration for the sizes we chose! I wish I had room to do what you've done. It's awesome!

I have to keep it SOMEWHAT mobile because I have to take them to a friends home (or a conservation club) to shoot them. I'm going to try making a saw-horse style stand and hang with chains from that and and see how that goes.

From the examples I've seen, Bobcat's steel holds up REALLY well to all types of ammo. Some of the stuff we shot this weekend got holes in it really fast, but I've seen that his will take some SERIOUS hits and still be in good shape.

 

[ZbornacSVT]

It was great chatting with you and your wife this evening. You are a lucky man to have a wife as interested in shooting as yours!!

I'm hoping his sale goes on through the rest of this week. I am highly considering picking one up. I have yet to shoot steel but I have a serious urge to shoot some.

I expect to have the sale going until the posted quantities are gone. I have only posted the sale here, but expect to post up in the other forums I participate in here soon. I wanted to give the INGO guys first dibbs.

 

[Cru]

It was great chatting with you and your wife this evening. You are a lucky man to have a wife as interested in shooting as yours!!

That's the truth!

I can't wait to get these things painted, and then shot up!

 

[jmildoc]

They hold up great!!! I shot at mine with my M44 7.62X54r from 25 yds and only left small dents

 

[Cru]

He showed me a plate they shot with 50 BMG, and it was marked and SLIGHTLY dented, but not really, and it didn't put a hole in it.

 

[cornfused]

I was thinking that the black actually showed the impact spot pretty well for awhile there?

 

[rvb]

Now I just need to build a stand!

Also, anybody have suggestions on what color to paint these bad boys?

My 2c on a stand... hang them loose (not fastened solid to anything) and angled forward a bit, 15 degrees or so. This will allow the splatter to mostly go down into the ground and reduces the amount of splatter or bullet chunks coming back at you. If you can't flush mount your bolts, use carriage bolts with a round head. Make your stand out of wood... Sure it will get chewed up from splatter and may need replaced every so often, but the wood soaks up the splatter and keeps it from coming back at you like steel.

Whatever paint you use, I've found metal primer works best for covering the hits and getting an even coat that doesn't run.

-rvb

 

[huzyerdaddy]

PM sent

 

[shooter521]

Looking for portable stand/hanger ideas for a single 66% IPSC plate. Must be able to fold or disassemble for transport by car. Cheap is good. I've never messed with anything like this before. Any suggestions?

 

[cornfused]

Have you seen the folding wood saw horses?

 

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

Looking for portable stand/hanger ideas for a single 66% IPSC plate. Must be able to fold or disassemble for transport by car. Cheap is good. I've never messed with anything like this before. Any suggestions?

I liked the 1 inch pipe rig monkey or ranger had, can't remember who it was may not have been them...ill dig around for the thread. It looked as if it could be disassembled.

 

[Cru]

Looking for portable stand/hanger ideas for a single 66% IPSC plate. Must be able to fold or disassemble for transport by car. Cheap is good. I've never messed with anything like this before. Any suggestions?

I think I'm going to try a saw horse. I figure it will work better than anything I can think of and still be able to fold it up.

 

[360]

We shoot at steel every time we go out. I'll advise you to take several cans of paint, as it doesn't stay painted very long. When a group of us go and we use 1 or 2 targets, I can paint them early in the day, and by the end of the day, you could never even tell they had been sprayed.

Now, I built my stands out of treated 2x4s. I bought the metal brackets that the 2x4s slip into to make a V for the horses. I didn't bother to screw them to the wooden crossbar, to make it easy to take down/replace if needed. It is the cheapest and most durable method I have found. (maybe $10 a stand tops). I tried PVC - worthless, and I didn't bother with gas pipe because of the price. An old tree limb would work well, with a chain or rope, but be prepared to replace either of those as well. I use braided steel cable as it seems to hold up longer than anything else too.

Whatever you build will not last long, I'm only suggesting what lasts the longest with me. I have used the stands below ALL year long, and have only lost one crossbar. That's all I have had to replace. To me, that is the best bang for the buck.

Here are some pics of my getup. FIVE 8 foot treated 2x4's, and two packages of those brackets (about $8 for one pkg) The braided rope costs about $1 a foot IIRC.

 

[IndyMonkey]

I made these, so far so good.

 

[HICKMAN]

Looking for portable stand/hanger ideas for a single 66% IPSC plate. Must be able to fold or disassemble for transport by car. Cheap is good. I've never messed with anything like this before. Any suggestions?

Shooter with IPSC targets... I like... I like.