$250 five-plate target rack.

[bladeracer]

I put together a target rack for practicing Cowboy Action. They're generally shooting at 400mm by 400mm plates either square or diamond from about 3m to maybe 10m at most. I don't really see much value in practicing on targets as big as that under 100m, it's not going to improve any practical skill, other than hip-shooting. So I want to practice on plates about 200mm square (a quarter of the size of the Cowboy plates). Surdex do column foot plates so I grabbed some today. 200mm by 200mm and 10mm thick, with a 10mm hole in each corner. I bought some 8mm plates a few years ago but they only had 10mm today, $23 each (they also do 12mm). I couldn't find them listed on the website but the invoice calls them "BPP Base Square 200x200x10 4xHole".

It starts with the Temu rack kits with two Y-pieces and six hooks each. These would be very easy to make out of 20mm by 5mm flat bar if you're happy to do some grinding and welding, but for the price they're a very easy way to go. Temu prices can be all over the place so if you're happy to trawl through listings you can probably get them cheaper. The hooks are a luxury really, some fencing wire would do the job just fine, perhaps even better. The hooks are open so I'm not convinced the plates will stay on with .38 Special or heavier. I shot some 8mm plates hung on chain last week with the .38 at about 25m and it wrapped them around the bar, these might just pop off the hooks, I'll find out soon. If they do I will probably swap the hooks for fencing wire.

I decided to space the steels at 500mm centres so I cut (wood saw) five lengths of poly 140mm long for spacing between the hooks, and four 350mm for spacing between the targets, with two more at 150mm to keep them from migrating to the ends of the rack. I cut the pipe (battery angle grinder) to 2500mm and threaded them all on, then drilled (battery drill) a 5mm hole through each end and put lynch pins on (just because I have them, three-inch nails or tek screws would work just as well). I cut the second pipe into four 750mm legs. I'll have to get another length of pipe to make the big single-plate rack legs. I didn't bother drilling holes to lock the legs on figuring there'd be enough weight in the targets, but I'll find out if those are needed soon enough as well. It took me about ten minutes, I did it while waiting for three 60-litre drums to fill with water. Hopefully I can get out tomorrow for some testing.

Two 3m lengths of one-inch galv steel tube for $22.20 each - https://www.bunnings.com.au/metal-mate-25-4-x-1-2-3m-galvanised-steel-round-tube_p1130457

A 3m length of 25mm poly pipe for $20.20 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/holman-25mm-x-3m-class-12-pvc-pressure-pipes_p4770099

And a pair of target rack kits from Temu for $35.50 each - https://www.temu.com/au/---steel---kit--1-2-shooting--set-for----g-601099656979956.html

Plates $115
Pipe $44.40
Poly $20.20
Rack kits $71.00
Total $250.60 (I still have two Y-pieces, two hooks and a length of 1" pipe about 480mm long to make another rack for a large plate - perhaps a plow disc)

[bladeracer]

I ended up drilling the legs and put R-clips through to retain them, just to make it a one-hand job to move it around.
But I finally managed to put some lead spatter on them. They're going to be mint I think. This was just four fifteen-round tubes with the Henry .22, double-taps and what I think Cowboy calls "Continuous Nevada" where you simply run back and forth across them with no doubles - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3. I'll have to try Shorts for 22rd runs. At about 12m as fast as I could hold a sight picture, no misses. With the .22, the targets barely move at all.

[Wapiti]

Great work mate. Also for taking the time to post some pics and maybe give others the enthusiasm to have a go themselves and share their work.

[bladeracer]

Great work mate. Also for taking the time to post some pics and maybe give others the enthusiasm to have a go themselves and share their work.

My mate is up in Bendigo this weekend but I'm expecting him to come out Tuesday and we'll put a few hundred rounds onto these plates. .22LR mostly, but also .38 Special and .357 Magnum. I also want to try them at 300m with .223, 6.5x55m and 7mm-08 just to see how the 10mm mild stands up to those. I haven't been able to decide what size plate to hang on the short rack, but I'm thinking something big enough that we can shoot it with the open-sight levers at 200m at least, just for giggles.

The cows got through the neighbour's fence during the night and were back in our block this morning. So rose drained the troughs, moved them back to our place, and while waiting for them to fill they all wandered back next door, so we had to move the troughs again at lunch time

While we were down there with the Landcruiser (to get the pump from the dam) we finally dragged a big tree out of the bush that has been blocking our track through the property since the storm of early 2021, so that was a job well done. For more than three years we've had to go around the back of the block and come down through the bush to get into the middle of the block with vehicles. We rarely drive in there though so it hasn't been a major issue. Now that it's out where we can get to it we can cut it up for firewood, and it's already nice and dry. Rose has just gone down there to set up the electric fence around the neighbour's dam, I'm going to walk down to give her a hand.

[Wapiti]

Everything's wet here mate. Heaps of storms over the last week, one dumped 92mm. Dams all running over for summer. Don't need firewood atm, air-con is the go with the heat lately.
I used to use mild steel offcuts (MS250) but unfortunately 243, 308 punched holes right through that at 100m, so I gave up and used Bisalloy offcuts from the coal hoppers and buckets we made. Lately I've just taken to buying Bis500 2", 4", 6" and 12" 10mm thick shooting targets online. They handle everything however I shot a hole through one just checking a 300WM before going off for a walk the other day.
Example below, the squares are 25mm thick and have the chain welded to them. They are shot almost through, whereas the Bis is just pockmarked.

[Wapiti]

These frames are just made from 25nb galv pipe (med, sched 40). The chain is from a bucket of transport chain, high tensile stuff, and I just used small, rated bow-shackles that fit the holes cut in the round bis plates. Bunnings sell the bow shackles. The chain is just welded to the pipe.
When they can swing, that really takes a lot of the shock from the hit of the centrefire bullets.

[Wapiti]

This is a second frame that I use for testing loads, The black poly on the sides has slots cut in it for the spring clamps.
The poly is cut from offcuts of the 3m thick black poly sheeting we use to line the yards for the deer, they freak out if they can see through the cattle yard panels.
I used to use ply bolted to the frames, but it gets all splintered and rots and then the staples don't hold the targets in anymore.

I just use the boxes that large Weet-bix comes in, opened up and I stick 25 and 50mm stick-on splatter target circles on them, depending on the magnification of the scope. You can get a ream of A4 sheets of these off Ebay really cheap, and the postie drops them off.
I don't eat cereal, I use the Weetbix to train bull calves and young stags, they love them.

[Wapiti]

And a 20-year-old target frame across the dam from the house, it's pipe too. The targets are 12mm mild steel plate, and have 50x12 flat bar welded to them so they hang sufficiently lower that the top where they pivot when hit (32nb pipe slipped over the 25nb pipe, so they swing).
The pics are crap to comply with the size limit here, and you can't see it but each target can swing individually.
A mate came out with a 38-40 Winchester 95 and hit the big circle twice, dented it badly.
Mild steel is for rimfires and pistols under 44 mag.

Hope this gives some of you some ideas.

[bladeracer]

Very wet here today, I went to a Cowboy shoot and a 3-Gun shoot, been soaked all day.
I have a bunch of AR and BZ targets from 4" to 8", plus my half-scale silhouettes are AR500. I don't shoot them with high-velocity stuff under 100m but they're fine with those. Jacketed 240gn .44Mag doesn't mark the silhouettes at 10m. But mild steel is only good for long-range with high-velocity rifles.

I like the idea of your rack, I could hang plates on some old gates and put removable legs on them to stand them in the paddocks.

Everything's wet here mate. Heaps of storms over the last week, one dumped 92mm. Dams all running over for summer. Don't need firewood atm, air-con is the go with the heat lately.
I used to use mild steel offcuts (MS250) but unfortunately 243, 308 punched holes right through that at 100m, so I gave up and used Bisalloy offcuts from the coal hoppers and buckets we made. Lately I've just taken to buying Bis500 2", 4", 6" and 12" 10mm thick shooting targets online. They handle everything however I shot a hole through one just checking a 300WM before going off for a walk the other day.
Example below, the squares are 25mm thick and have the chain welded to them. They are shot almost through, whereas the Bis is just pockmarked.

[bladeracer]

I prefer MDF boards which I stand in frames. I tape my targets on rather than lug a stapler around. But you can't leave MDF out in the weather at all.

Yep, reams of A4 and A3 paper aren't expensive but I don't bother buying targets, a few squares of 16mm insulation tape works just fine for me.

I'm going to have to try Weet-Bix with the cows now

This is a second frame that I use for testing loads, The black poly on the sides has slots cut in it for the spring clamps.
The poly is cut from offcuts of the 3m thick black poly sheeting we use to line the yards for the deer, they freak out if they can see through the cattle yard panels.
I used to use ply bolted to the frames, but it gets all splintered and rots and then the staples don't hold the targets in anymore.

I just use the boxes that large Weet-bix comes in, opened up and I stick 25 and 50mm stick-on splatter target circles on them, depending on the magnification of the scope. You can get a ream of A4 sheets of these off Ebay really cheap, and the postie drops them off.
I don't eat cereal, I use the Weetbix to train bull calves and young stags, they love them.

[Wapiti]

Mate, they see the box in my hands and hear the rustle of the plastic bag inside and come running.
The ones who won't come up miss out.
Doesn't take long for them to give in and take the Weetbix too, and then after that, unless they submit to being handled, they get no more.
Stud Droughtmaster bulls and big stags need to be very quiet.

So I have plenty of white target cardboard left over. A4 paper just tears up in the wind for me.

[Fester]

I wonder what distance is needed to stop .223 and bigger centerfires punching through 10mm mild steel-like paper.

For my mates place where I could only find a clearing about 200yds, I hung 16mm thick mild steel plates with conveyer belt rubber and bolts from my home-made folding saw horses.

It stopped everything and just left craters, weird sound from the heavy steel.

[bladeracer]

I wonder what distance is needed to stop .223 and bigger centerfires punching through 10mm mild steel-like paper.

For my mates place where I could only find a clearing about 200yds, I hung 16mm thick mild steel plates with conveyer belt rubber and bolts from my home-made folding saw horses.

It stopped everything and just left craters, weird sound from the heavy steel.

I think the variables of bullet design and terminal velocity play a role but it is something I want to test. I'm not interested much in what thickness of mild will stop the bullet, I want to find the distance at which a mild plate is no longer damaged significantly by the bullet. Steel is too expensive to be shooting holes in it, but I do lose targets in the grass so I still like my targets to be cheap. It annoys me no end when I lose a $70 AR500 gong in the grass

[Fester]

I wouldn't stop until I found it with what they cost, I used to get the pieces from work for free.
Same with welding rods and grinding discs.

I never tested it, but there were several real hard steels for high-wear jobs. Couldn't drill it without spotting it with oxy first.
Now that I have lost all work contacts and plants have shut down, I just looked at a scrap steel yard and found plates.
You can be lucky and find those pre- made round pipe blocking plates with holes done, ready to bolt up.
They are common and come in lots of sizes and thicknesses.

[bladeracer]

I wouldn't stop until I found it with what they cost, I used to get the pieces from work for free.
Same with welding rods and grinding discs.

I never tested it, but there were several real hard steels for high-wear jobs. Couldn't drill it without spotting it with oxy first.
Now that I have lost all work contacts and plants have shut down, I just looked at a scrap steel yard and found plates.
You can be lucky and find those pre- made round pipe blocking plates with holes done, ready to bolt up.
They are common and come in lots of sizes and thicknesses.

We have lines of start pickets through the paddocks that we string an electric line along to direct the cows. I made some really simple hooks that I could put on these pickets to dangle plates, and they worked really well. But I left them up once when we moved the cows through. Cows love destroying stuff, one of them decided to see how far it could push this bracket until it sprang off and launched the gong somewhere into the paddock, and I've never found it yet If I leave any targets out they just kick the crap out of them.

That's why I bought these pole base plates, cheap and already cut and drilled, no welding needed. They do 8mm plates as well which I prefer (I already bought those years ago), but they don't keep them here now so I have to order them. But I'd rather find some 5mm plates. For close-range plates with high-velocity rifles then I'll stick with AR or BZ steels. I just want to find the distance at which I can get away with switching to mild steel which is a third of the price, not so upsetting when you lose them

[deye243]

Keep the impact velocity at or under 2800fps and in ar500 10mm you should be ok regardless of cal

[bladeracer]

Keep the impact velocity at or under 2800fps and in ar500 10mm you should be ok regardless of cal

I don't think I have anything that manages 2800fps+ past about 200m, even the 4400fps .204 is down to 2800fps by 220m. I already have plenty of AR stuff, what I want to determine is how close I can be to mild steel without damaging it significantly. These plates are cheap enough that if I were shooting holes through them it wouldn't be that big a deal though. If I can make mild steel plates for longer ranges I can keep all my AR stuff for close stuff. I figure the only way I'll know for sure is to actually test it myself with the rifles I have and the bullets I want to use.

[deye243]

Keep the impact velocity at or under 2800fps and in ar500 10mm you should be ok regardless of cal

I don't think I have anything that manages 2800fps+ past about 200m, even the 4400fps .204 is down to 2800fps by 220m. I already have plenty of AR stuff, what I want to determine is how close I can be to mild steel without damaging it significantly. These plates are cheap enough that if I were shooting holes through them it wouldn't be that big a deal though. If I can make mild steel plates for longer ranges I can keep all my AR stuff for close stuff. I figure the only way I'll know for sure is to actually test it myself with the rifles I have and the bullets I want to use.

All my plates but one are mild steel but I don't shoot under 500y I have 3 that have been hit about 2000 times between a 7mm mag and 6.5 and no real damage they just get a slight curve to them because of the impact.

The thing that gets ar500 is velocity just shoot a bit of ar500 with a 243 at about 50y if you're game it will put a decent crater in it where as a 308w will just remove paint .

[bladeracer]

Yeah, I've shot mild at 460m and it doesn't leave a mark, but I also want to be able to shoot at closer targets with iron sights. I've been thinking around 350m is the sweet spot where I can switch to mild plate.

All my plates but one are mild steel but I don't shoot under 500y I have 3 that have been hit about 2000 times between a 7mm mag and 6.5 and no real damage they just get a slight curve to them because of the impact.

The thing that gets ar500 is velocity just shoot a bit of ar500 with a 243 at about 50y if you're game it will put a decent crater in it where as a 308w will just remove paint .

[Fester]

My first trip with steel was this 8mm mild plate and no match at all for .223 super roos at around 200yds
Then I shot some potatoes and little pineapples going cheap, didn't that bring the 3 cows in from next door.
They kicked the crap out of my targets every day.
Just re-set the rubber swingers up for every shoot.

I always used targets that swung back and deflected the bullet to the ground but read something interesting from a safety point of view.
A clean plate deflects the pill down but it's the craters that could send on back in a dangerous direction.
Prob best to clean thick plates with a grinder rather than fill it with craters.
Less chance of an unlucky fluke.

I only used the 22 lr and PCP on close steel.

Sorry, the pic file was too big, groups are like on paper but bigger holes punched clean through.

[deye243]

My first trip with steel was this 8mm mild plate and no match at all for .223 super roos at around 200yds
Then I shot some potatoes and little pineapples going cheap, didn't that bring the 3 cows in from next door.
They kicked the crap out of my targets every day.
Just re-set the rubber swingers up for every shoot.

I always used targets that swung back and deflected the bullet to the ground but read something interesting from a safety point of view.
A clean plate deflects the pill down but it's the craters that could send on back in a dangerous direction.
Prob best to clean thick plates with a grinder rather than fill it with craters.
Less chance of an unlucky fluke.

I only used the 22 lr and PCP on close steel.

Sorry, the pic file was too big, groups are like on paper but bigger holes punched clean through.

Yep that's about right and I think my 5mm steel at 300 looks the same .
ar500 will stop 55g pills out of a 223 at 80y easy

[bladeracer]

We put some jacketed 158gn .357's on the plates today at 18m and they left pretty good craters, so we we'll restrict the .357 to the AR/BZ plates. The .38's did no damage at all.

20241119_113810b.jpg (213.41 KiB) Viewed 1502 times

The poly pipe I used to keep the targets separated was fine with several hundred .22's, but the .38 shrapnel just blew the pipe apart. So I'll have to replace that with steel pipe, or use hose clamps, but then I'll need a tool to disassemble it.
We did more than 400rds of .22 and over 100rds of .38 and .357 today.

[Wapiti]

I gave up and just bought the Bisalloy in the end. I'm not into experiments, like what's been said, shooting holes in stuff is to be avoided.

I cut some boar shapes out of 12mm MS250 and hung it on chains from my usual bent-pipe frames, and at 500m, lasered, my 300RUM 220gn M'Kings and 338LAPUA 250gn M'Kings punched right through it without a clang. Gave up and used head-sized balloons stapled to logs.

With Bisalloy and Hardox, the higher the number the more wear resistant but the more it's brittle. So think of Dozer cutting edges, they are usually Bis 80 or similar because they take big hits without shattering. Bis 500 like is in shooting targets shatters out holes that look just like a punch has made the hole when hit with high speed high-energy bullets, unlike MS which melts from the high heat from the impact... as you see the frozen star crater that is formed when shot.

I have a 12mm sheet of Bis 80 and I reckon a few pig targets cut from it will be the go, yet to try that. I was surprised when Bis 500 targets became popular, I think 300 or so may be better.

[stihl88]

The .264 WinMag gives my 12mm AR500 plate a hiding but not enough weight to consider passthrough, suprisingly the .222 impacts about the same as the .264 leaving 2mm deep craters. The 45-70 hits hard but just splats without any imprint on the steel, all the other calibers about the same.

[bladeracer]

I didn't measure the .357 Mag holes but they were very noticeable, the caldera around them makes them at least 2mm deep I would say, but I didn't notice any deformation to the back, it is 10mm thick after all.

Yes, I already have a lot of BZ/AR targets, I'm just looking for mild steel for practicing close-range Cowboy shooting, and for long-range targets that don't need to be hard. I have a 1200mm square of BZ450 5mm plate that I'll eventually get around to cutting up for smaller close-range targets but I want to make a bunch of long-range targets that I can leave out in the paddock. The targets I have now are a decent ute load to cart out.

A full 2400x1200mm sheet of mild 5mm plate is $350. It's big enough to give me twelve torso-size plates of 600x400mm for $30 each. I could put half of them out at 400m+ for high-velocity scoped rifles and half at 50m to 200m for open sight .22LR and lever-action practice.

I gave up and just bought the Bisalloy in the end. I'm not into experiments, like what's been said, shooting holes in stuff is to be avoided.

I cut some boar shapes out of 12mm MS250 and hung it on chains from my usual bent-pipe frames, and at 500m, lasered, my 300RUM 220gn M'Kings and 338LAPUA 250gn M'Kings punched right through it without a clang. Gave up and used head-sized balloons stapled to logs.

With Bisalloy and Hardox, the higher the number the more wear resistant but the more it's brittle. So think of Dozer cutting edges, they are usually Bis 80 or similar because they take big hits without shattering. Bis 500 like is in shooting targets shatters out holes that look just like a punch has made the hole when hit with high speed high-energy bullets, unlike MS which melts from the high heat from the impact... as you see the frozen star crater that is formed when shot.

I have a 12mm sheet of Bis 80 and I reckon a few pig targets cut from it will be the go, yet to try that. I was surprised when Bis 500 targets became popular, I think 300 or so may be better.

[bladeracer]

The .264 WinMag gives my 12mm AR500 plate a hiding but not enough weight to consider passthrough, suprisingly the .222 impacts about the same as the .264 leaving 2mm deep craters. The 45-70 hits hard but just splats without any imprint on the steel, all the other calibers about the same.

At what ranges are you seeing these results?