Everything about shooting steel targets

"never shoot steel with a rifle inside 100 yards"
"now we're going to shoot this steel plate with rifles at 50 yards"

Exactly the video I was looking for!!

Would shooting swinging Ar500 steel targets with 45 fmj be ok at 20+ yards? I keep hearing mixed responses

1:08 the target angle is terrible. That's how you get fragments coming back at you.

Horrible sound

Damn scary story. Your friend is blessed to survive that.

I caught a piece of 9mm in the face shooting at steel. Lodged in my jaw. Fun times. Didn’t really hurt, was more surprised than anything else.

that's insane the steel cost when you can shoot paper for next to nothing. paper targets are free to down load all over the internet. to me paper gives you a better feel how accurate you are and the gun is shooting. don't get me wrong; not knocking the steel. some people get there rock's off hearing the ping; so which ever turns you on or trips your trigger; go for it. oh; i forgot to mention; i can buy a lot more ammo for that savings since i don't get perks; just telling it like it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I only shoot mild steel with .22, no problems.

Do you know if the splatter from shooting a steel target with a standard lead bullet would be hot enough to start a fire in some fairly dry brush?

lmao way overpriced

One thing to consider for us in California is the potential for a spark to form. The brush is very dry. Not me, but close friends that I trust said they saw a spark cause a small fire once. Public land is hard enough to get to around me as it is. Northern California is dry, but the ground is not sand, it is long dry brush. If firefighters had to come, I don't even want to think of the backlash from the local community, and I couldn't say I would disagree. I wouldn't want to shoot steel here unless it was surrounded by sand. The ground is perfect soft dry tinder.

Anybody shoot old saw blades?

Put the target reset rope through your belt loop so you don't have to bend over every time

Your friend shooting 30 yards, 308, FMJ is a fool, someone should take his guns away, don't scare people for the benefit of your sales info commercial! Use some common sense & everyone has fun!

I find it absolutely ludicrous that you brag about Target Steel plates with pistol rounds coming back and slapping down onto your roof structure and being no danger. This hot bullet materials can certainly cause very damaging injury to skin tissue and absolutely cause eye damage. How about bullet fragments that don't fall directly onto the roof and how about the fact that most shooters don't utilize a roofed shooting area. Your video should be emphasizing that the precautions are absolutely necessary to guarantee bullet fragments not coming back from steel targets. I would agree that the steel targets having the angled design to direct bullet impacts to the ground is most beneficial but be forewarned bullet fragments coming back at shooters and people in the area of the shooter are a real happening even at 100 plus yards shooting. Your recording observations, making hypotheses, and predicting future results is far short of the damage easily caused by shooting at steel targets in spite of steel target placement and steel plate target quality or hardness.

What about using frangable ammo ?

I've been using a few dozen old rail spur bases … never had a problem with them yet. .22 and 9mm aren't killing them yet. The 4 square holes are filled with carriage bolts. 50m is the closest I get to them. The ones at 500m are 4 plates welded together. They all hang in the weather all year long and the crazy paint on them keeps the birds away. Free railway metal and a few hours of welding = years and years of fun.

You talk to fast. Fuckin pusher.

Wheres moe lol

This guy talking about his "design" like AR500 round steel and a couple grade 8 bolts is some new concept or something. 😂

More likely to come back on you with a 500

Hey MAC! Can you tell me the way to Redbud?
How’d you know my name was MAC?
I guessed.
Why don’t you guess your way to Redbud?

Jason Bateman

Ass hats lets just a 50 cal as well wish you could have got a face full.

Thanks for the info! I also checked out Challenge Target and I love how they have realistic heads on their steel targets. Once my tax refund check gets in, I know where it's going! Thanks for the great video!

Thx for the great review and information!

I wanna see Jerry Miculek do some drills on that 2 person dueling tree…bet he could keep all the targets in motion at once with some practice….lol

No paint, bullets create dangerous sharp-edged craters.
Painted white, becomes ar500 steel………JK 🙂
Been shooting mild steel for years at 200+ yards with no issues. However, I recently bought my very first ar500 steel for the same distances. Will be interesting and actually excited. Didn't pay $100+ for it though. $35 for a 7×12 steel…Amazon. Thank you, MAC and Challenge Targets for this video.

Very educational. Thanks. Love your bcm hats. Gotta get me some of those👍.

Overall a very interesting and informative video, thank you.

Material properties of steel are quite slear on high carbon steels. Higher heat affected zones will lose their Brinell Hardness by a larger factor than lower heat affected zones… I understand the non-scientific practicality of your test but the metallurgical qualities are science, not opinion.

What about the bolt heads? Surely they provide a surface that adds risk tot he shooter for shrapnel splatter?

Thanks for the advice. I'm building some targets. Now I will change things up a bit.

That Target is way overpriced! All the materials that are used and put together to make that steel target is less than $30. They are overcharging and ripping people off, and they take pride in doing so.

of course they would take a rifle to mild steel I bet that same piece of steal would be fine for hand gun shooting I know a guy who shoots billet aluminum that's 2iches thick and he's shot them with a shit ton of 9mm 40s&w and 45acp

Yes, shooting steel with Center Fire RIFLES can be hazardous, and the NATO ROUNDS, the penetrators, are especially dangerous and they will damage or maybe DESTROY your Steel Targets whether they are AR 500 550 or not if you shoot enough rounds in to them. It appears to ME once the surface gets "pock marked" with divits this will affect performance, but I am not an expert.

But I have shot Mild steel and other types of steel with HANDGUNS and shotguns for years. I have shot Mild Steel and other types of steel with 357 Magnum and 40 S&W, though if you use that it should be one half inch thick. I also shoot PIPE as I have a lot of that around. Works for me.

Mild steel has SOME advantages as long as you shoot them properly. They can even be REPAIRED by welding them and grinding smooth, though it is usually cheaper in time to just make some more and scrap the old target.

I am not a "target expert" nor do I claim to be an "expert" at anything, but I was in the Welding Business for years when I was young. Welding on the Back of Hard steel targets could result in Annealing them as the heat is applied and then the SLOW air cooling does allow it to either anneal or if it cools quickly or is "quenched" it will make it brittle most likely especially in the HAZ, the "Heat Affected Zone" of the WELD. It depends on what material you weld it with and the ambient temperature and other "conditions" etc. To weld them they should be Preheated, then welded with a Low Hydrogen process, then post heated. But one would need to know the "Critical Temperature" and time to be treated to do all of that. In other words it would COST more than it is worth and would most likley get a poor result.

In other words, you are correct, don't weld the AR 500 or other steels unless you know what you are doing. MANY metals can lose their properties being welded improperly or having HEAT appied to them. It would be cost prohibitting (or maybe impossible) to weld these targets then "treat them" back to original properties or even a satisfactory condition. Welding on the back prevents the user from "REVERSING the target" as well.

The green tip NATO rounds are especially dangerous as the steel CORE all by itself may richochet back to the operator. It could easily put out an eye, might even defeat safety glases depending on the quality of the Glasses. That steel core can come back traveling VERY FAST. Steel against Steel can give a really good BOUNCE to the moving piece.

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Hey enjoy your videos. Getting ready to buy my first set of Steel targets tired of paper. Does it matter on the height of the target to make it safe or unsafe thanks