AR 400 versus AR 500 - real world differences?

[chooter]

I know how well AR 500 holds up but Needs to know how well AR 400 does. Targets will be 3/8 thick, 18" square at 500 yards and beyond. Calibers will be 6mm thru 7mm with muzzle velocities not much more that 2800fps.(long range handguns)

Will they get dented , swiss cheesed or otherwise? Your actual results will be helpful. AR 400 on hand but would need to order AR500 - not concerned with cost just life of steel.

Thanks in advance.

 

[veeramani]

I use AR400 and its fine and doesn't dent except when using the steel core ammo and 7.62x51 at less than 100m. My steel thickness is 14mm

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

i have ar400 1/2", holds up to .3006 as close as 200y wo damage with FMJ.

had someone with a mosin and steel core shoot it at 300M last year, no damage on the ar400, swissed mild steel 1/4 at 425Y

 

[bentbolt308]

I have great results with ar400. I happy enough it I wouldn't use ar500 unless I find a problem. I get sheets of ar400 18"x96" 3/8 for $.15lbs. I shot 1/4 gong with fmj 556 at 200yards with no damage

 

[CampingJosh]

I split in half a 6" round 3/8" thick AR400 target last spring. Was using a soft point .300 Win Mag at 100 yards, though I don't remember the bullet weight. Just split right in two.

I did hit it right in the middle, though that wasn't much consolation.

 

[HAZORD]

It's real simple. If cost doesn't matter, make them out of AR500, then you won't have to make new ones when your AR400 ones fail. Spend your time shooting and reloading instead of paying for targets twice and wasting time putting up the second set.

 

[propeine]

I made a set of round targets out of AR400 because we have it at work and its free to use the scrap. Has held up fine for all the small stuff (223)but I haven't fired anything serious at it. Come spring it will see some 25-06 rounds at 100 yards. Fast but light bullets. If you haven't made a decision by then I'll post back but that's still going to be nothing compared to a 300wm etc.

 

[milo 2.0]

At 500 yards and beyond it'll take almost all cartridges.

 

[Rifle Barrel Blanks]

We have tested that quite a lot over here as well. Because AR400 is substantially cheaper for anyone to get because its an inferior product.

We found that the big and fast stuff really hammers it and beats it up too quick. We tested ranges only under 600 yards. We shoot 22LR, 9mm, 45acp, 44mag, 308, 243, 300 WM, and 338 Edge.

At 500 yards, we saw the slightest amount of metal bending, but did not see any noticeable pock marks or dimpling
At 400 yards, we saw a little more bending of the material, very little marks on the steel, small dimples
At 300 yards, we started to beat up the target, bending, dimples, pock marks etc.
At 200 yards, we noticed that is metal is way inferior to AR500. Bullets started to have their way
Ar100 yards, with a rifle I think its unsafe, But we shot some holes in it anyway. Busted right through 3/8" AR400.

I will say that after 600 yards, you should be good to go with 3/8" AR400, but because its a bigger plate, it might start to bow out over time. Not a big deal though, just turn it around and shoot it back to flat.....

If you just shooting it for pistols, slow rifles at long range, you will be fine.

Be careful, at soon as someone tries to shoot AR400 at 50 yards, busts a hole in the plate and steel pieces start to fly back as shrapnel, you all will be wondering why you did not get Premium AR500 to start with.

 

[milo 2.0]

We have tested that quite a lot over here as well. Because AR400 is substantially cheaper for anyone to get because its an inferior product.

We found that the big and fast stuff really hammers it and beats it up too quick. We tested ranges only under 600 yards. We shoot 22LR, 9mm, 45acp, 44mag, 308, 243, 300 WM, and 338 Edge.

At 500 yards, we saw the slightest amount of metal bending, but did not see any noticeable pock marks or dimpling
At 400 yards, we saw a little more bending of the material, very little marks on the steel, small dimples
At 300 yards, we started to beat up the target, bending, dimples, pock marks etc.
At 200 yards, we noticed that is metal is way inferior to AR500. Bullets started to have their way
Ar100 yards, with a rifle I think its unsafe, But we shot some holes in it anyway. Busted right through 3/8" AR400.

I will say that after 600 yards, you should be good to go with 3/8" AR400, but because its a bigger plate, it might start to bow out over time. Not a big deal though, just turn it around and shoot it back to flat.....

If you just shooting it for pistols, slow rifles at long range, you will be fine.

Be careful, at soon as someone tries to shoot AR400 at 50 yards, busts a hole in the plate and steel pieces start to fly back as shrapnel, you all will be wondering why you did not get Premium AR500 to start with.

Jake,
Thanks for a little clarification on yardages as to where AR400 is viable. A couple of us started with AR400 steel 8-9 years ago, targets are still in great shape, it paid to have smaller scraps or targets to shoot close up to know it's limitations.
A 162gr amax out of 7mm STW blew right through 3/8" AR 400 at 200 yards, that one kind of sealed the deal as to whether I'd use the amax as a hunting bullet!

OP, yes you can get by cheaper, but sooner or later the light bulb will come on and someone will need to bring the steel in closer for a little competition, it'll pay to have a few AR500 plates around.

Now let's discuss the virtues of water jet cutting compared to steel cut on a 100K computer generated plasma cutter, or the pitfalls of drawing a bead on AR plate?????

 

[flatland1]

I've been shooting a few full-size IPSC AR400 1/2" thick targets with rifles from 223 to 284 for several years now. I never shoot my own steel at less than 600yds. Only damage I've seen is small divots from edge hits, and a few full profile dings when sighting in a new rifle or scope or both, when one is skipped into the target with a low hit out in front.

Our club cut two sets of varmint silhouettes out of AR400, primarily because the steel company we purchased from didn't have any AR500 drops on hand at the time. These are small targets - mouse at 200m; crow at 300m; prairie dog at 385m; jackrabbit at 500m - so they get blown off the target rail when hit, which probably mitigates a part of the impact force. The mice get dinged pretty bad with edge hits, as to do the crows, but the prairie dogs & jackrabbits are still pretty much ding-free after four years of matches. We limit cartridges to 120gr bullets; fortunately, no one's shown up with something like a 257 Weatherby - yet. Most of us shoot 6BR or 6 Dashers with 105-115s - accuracy is a whole lot more important than sheer power in this game.