Building Steel Plate target stands...Need Ideas/pics of what works

I just use a Shepherds hook. Very cheep and effective. If the steel target is a little too heavy then I attach a simple fence post stake to the hook and pound it in the ground. works like a charm.
 
I haven't seen an idea that is easier than my tpost system. Weld a piece of square tubing to the back of your target. Make sure it is the correct size not to spin on the post. Weld a top on the tube on the back of the target. Take said target to proper location and use target to drive post. If you have ups and downs in the terrain as we do here in ky you can get tpost as tall as 7 ft. In this system there are two parts to the target. The post and the target/driver.
 
Fire hose is a good material to hang them with as stated above, seat-belts make a pretty good alternative. Lots of good ideas in here, Shooter's target is pretty awesome though.
 
this is as cheap as they come, and worked for me all summer with close to 40 people shooting 200 rounds each at the steel from 200y to 850y

buy this
16 lb. Post Driver with Handle-901147HD at The Home Depot

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buy as many of these as you need, i buy the 8ft, then cut them in 1/2 and knock off that tab thing, then on the bottom 1/2 i drill a hole to match the top 1/2

YARDGARD 1-3/4 in. x 3-1/2 in. x 8 ft. Steel T-Post-901180AB at The Home Depot

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i bought my steel from this guy, 6", 8", 10" for 85$ shipped

6" 8" 10" Gong Shooting Targets Bundle Set AR500 3 8" Steel Free Shipping | eBay


and since i cound not find and conveyor belt or fire hose to hang it from, belive it or not, i used 1/2" poly rope attached to the back of the bolt on the back of the plate

1/2 in. x 50 ft. White Polypropylene Twisted Rope-65655 at The Home Depot

i NEVER thought it would would have lasted the entire summer without breaking.... it did... just fine...
 
lots of good ideas here. I just used 1 1/4 square tubing and cut to equal lengths then took 5/8's rebar and cut to 6 ft lengths. Bend the rebar at both ends about 6 inches. I cut the tubing to 5 ft lengths and then drive them into the ground place one end of the rebar in one top of the tubing and slide on the plate hung by chain, old tarp strap, ect and then place the other end of rebar in top of nest piece of tubing and boom! no welding, minimal cutting, little torch and u good to go! I will say that I live in western Kansas and we have losts of soil to drive posts in the ground with no rocks, so this works very well with our deep soils.
 
I mostly use these at our place to hang steel on.
3/4" sucker rod, 4' legs and 5' cross bar.
I use old baler belting from farm implement salvage yards. If you catch the right guy you can get them free, if not they are pretty cheap. I also have gone to more single point hangers to increase the movement you can see and to "bleed off" energy dumped on the target. Fasten hanger on the back side to minimize splatter cutting strap.

 
I made this guy out of 1/2" steel and welded two rebarb legs to it. Check out the difference between 308 and 300winmag on it. The 308 just wiped the paint off and didn't scratch it. The 300wm tried going through and got stuck. Shots are from 600yd.







 
I have found that the simplest, no weld target stand is a t post with a 6" piece of steel square tubing just big enough to slide freely over the post. Drill a hole in the tube and use a single bolt and affix to back of your target, then slide it down over the t post that you already pounded into the ground. You can adjust the height by either using a longer bolt and having it stop at the top of the post or a shorter bolt and bend one of the t post tabs to hold it up.
 
I have found that the simplest, no weld target stand is a t post with a 6" piece of steel square tubing just big enough to slide freely over the post. Drill a hole in the tube and use a single bolt and affix to back of your target, then slide it down over the t post that you already pounded into the ground. You can adjust the height by either using a longer bolt and having it stop at the top of the post or a shorter bolt and bend one of the t post tabs to hold it up.

Gave up a long time ago welding target stands... un even ground, height adjustments and type of target are all a hindrance.

T post are the way to go as stated above, hands down.
 
Will a T-post pounded into the ground with a target hung as described above stand up to repeated hits by, say, a 308 @ 100yd...or would it get knocked over and you have to go out and hammer it back down?
 
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1. LV Steel target brackets
2. 6 foot piping from Home Depot
3. Heavy duty tie down straps - cut them and made the holes with a soldering iron. Burns right through like a hot knife through butter and cauterizes the cut so there no fraying
4. 100% IPSC 1/2 inch 500 AR steel target - bought the steel had them cut a 30"x18" square ($100) then took it to get water jetted ($100). There was left over metals so the guy was really cool and made two 6" round targets
 
Will a T-post pounded into the ground with a target hung as described above stand up to repeated hits by, say, a 308 @ 100yd...or would it get knocked over and you have to go out and hammer it back down?

I have no idea as I have never even considered shooting steel at 100 yards with a rifle and no one I shoot with really uses .308 anymore.The shortest I shoot steel is 400. If I were to put a steel target up closer, I would imagine it would be just fine as it would be such a small piece of steel that there would not be alot of energy transfer. Also, the manner of hanging targets i described above permits.enough movement of the steel to make a good "ping" and absorb alot of the energy without transferring it to the post.
 
Will a T-post pounded into the ground with a target hung as described above stand up to repeated hits by, say, a 308 @ 100yd...or would it get knocked over and you have to go out and hammer it back down?

if you drive dn to or past the top of the t wings on the post your 308 is not going to phase the t post in the least as far as pushing it over. with jc's design it keeps the post safe from shooter err. my targets here on the farm have been hangin on the same tposts for quite a while theyve been shot with winmags ,short actions, ak's and theyre still standin.

as a side note drive it deep and cut the post off low with watever ya wanna use....demo saw, sawzall etc. keeps targets low in berm and rock solid. and as mentioned previously the haybaler belting is like firehose on steroids.

i def think its the best combo out there hands down.
 
Boys,
My portable stands are made from two 10' sticks of 1/2" rebar. A person could vary the height or width depending on what you wanted to hang from it. The connecting pieces in this picture are pieces of pipe cut about 2" long. Wire could be substituted. No welding. Everything folds flat.
 

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i found a old swing set and cut the legs off to the desired height. Then used hay bailer conveyor belt to loop over the center bar and bolted it to the steel. Works like a champ. It's light and will fit in the back of a truck with no problems.
 
Easy? Portable? I can carry enough equipment on my BACK to set up 3 targets in just over 3 minutes.
I had to develop this system because many of the places we set targets are inaccessible by vehicle.
The pack is an Eberlestock Dragonfly.

3 minute steel target setup - YouTube

Shot with .223 55gr @ 3100 fps 125 yards
3 target stack - YouTube
 
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