Is this excessive pitting for ar500?

[Rusty_Shackelford]

Target was shot yesterday afternoon from ~150 yards with a .223 with 55gr fmj and 50gr jhp, both federal. This is my first steel target so I was not sure exactly what to expect, in your experience is this common wear for this caliber at this approximate range?

 

[Huskydriver]

High velocity rounds like 223 will ding up ar500 steel within 250 yards. Looks normal to me

 

[Ravenworks]

Buy some spray paint, keep shooting

 

[Fig]

#1 question: Who made the target? US made, water jet cut, or Amazon, Chinese made, plasma cut?

#2 question: What bullets?

 

[Rusty_Shackelford]

Target is made by MagnumTarget who claim them to be made in USA, and the cutting process has nothing to do with the steel in the center of a target but it's water submerged plasma. And ammo was american eagle.

 

[Steel head]

High velocity rounds like 223 will ding up ar500 steel within 250 yards. Looks normal to me

This!

 

[Rusty_Shackelford]

High velocity rounds like 223 will ding up ar500 steel within 250 yards. Looks normal to me

This is about what I was expecting but just wanted to be certain. Thank you for the fast answers

 

[Fig]

Target is made by MagnumTarget who claim them to be made in USA, and the cutting process has nothing to do with the steel in the center of a target but it's water submerged plasma. And ammo was american eagle.

Believe whatever you want. I’ve owned dozens of both. You can’t even catch a nail on a jet cut unless it’s AP ammo.

 

[spife7980]

High velocity is bad, fmj in that combination is even worse. Its a nasty combo on steel

 

[86alaskan]

looks pretty normal for what you were shooting and how far away it was. don't think there is much you could do other than to back up. I run soft nose 223 at 100yds some times and it'll still leave a small pock mark

 

[MontanaMarine]

My AR500 looks about the same, shooting 5.56 at 100 yards.

If I want to go easier on the steel up close, I throw on the 7.62x39 upper.

 

[2ndamendfan]

If you had ever shot regular/mild steel plate you would never have asked. As others have said paint and move on.

 

[4cDragon]

My MGM A500 targets that have gotten hammered for years with 556 and 762 as close as 50 yards do not dimple like your target. I suspect your target is not A500 or it was not cut using water jet method. I bought a couple targets from another manufacture a few years ago and they dimple like yours sitting next to my MGM targets that don’t dimple.

 

[2ndamendfan]

My MGM A500 targets that have gotten hammered for years with 556 and 762 as close as 50 yards do not dimple like your target. I suspect your target is not A500 or it was not cut using water jet method. I bought a couple targets from another manufacture a few years ago and they dimple like yours sitting next to my MGM targets that don’t dimple.

yours might be A550.
I am sure OP's steel is hard wear plate of some kind. I do have one piece that was cut from a back stop on a gun range when they replaced all their steel. I have to imagine it has taken hundreds of thousands of hits in its life at the range. Range was about 15 years old when they replaced it. I have had it 12 or so and nothing so far has put even the slightest mark on it.
Before I knew better I shot some 1/2" non-hardened plate (mild steel??) and damn, 223 would easly go in 3/8" and 308 would almost go through. That was at 150yd with FMJ ammo. I will see if I can find pictures.

 

[acudaowner]

our 4 or 5 year old ar 500 plates look about the same as yours and , if they ever get banged up enough that it bothers me i have a palm sander and fine grit paper to clean them up a bit along with paint and they are new again till next time . as of yet it has never complained nor refused to hang there and take more abuse . bless it's little heart .

 

[JoeZ]

High velocity rounds like 223 will ding up ar500 steel within 250 yards. Looks normal to me

^^^ This

 

[2ndamendfan]

22-250 is harder on steel than 300 win mag. Velocity hurts.
Energy = Bullet Weight x Velocity^2 / 450,437

 

[Geno C.]

22-250 is harder on steel than 300 win mag. Velocity hurts.
Energy = Bullet Weight x Velocity^2 / 450,437

Yep ?

 

[CShooter92]

22-250 is harder on steel than 300 win mag. Velocity hurts.
Energy = Bullet Weight x Velocity^2 / 450,437

Absolutely! Shot my AR500 plate with my 22-250 at 3800fps and it put tiny dimples in the plate at 250 yards. My 6.5 doesn't at the same distance.

My buddies 300 win mag at 250 put about the same dimple in the plate as my 22-250.

 

[IowaGeologist]

It looks fine to me. I would recommend some grade 8 carriage bolts though. Cheap zinc ones like you're using work fine, but once they're mangled they're a PITA to replace in my experience.

 

[Rusty_Shackelford]

It looks fine to me. I would recommend some grade 8 carriage bolts though. Cheap zinc ones like you're using work fine, but once they're mangled they're a PITA to replace in my experience.

Yea I grabbed what my local hardware had in stock because I was anxious to get out, when I replace it I will use grade 8, going to have to order them tho as nobody around here has 1/2" grade 8 carriage.

 

[tomcatfan]

22-250 is harder on steel than 300 win mag. Velocity hurts.
Energy = Bullet Weight x Velocity^2 / 450,437

Believe it or not it’s not about the energy, it is purely about the speed. A 50 cal has a stupid amount of energy compared to a 204 ruger but a 204 ruger will be harder on steel from a pitting standpoint.

 

[supercorndogs]

If you spring for ar550 for close targets, you wont pock mark them.

 

[IowaGeologist]

Believe it or not it’s not about the energy, it is purely about the speed. A 50 cal has a stupid amount of energy compared to a 204 ruger but a 204 ruger will be harder on steel from a pitting standpoint.

Very true. Here is what a 1.7 gram ball of aluminum will do in a hyper-velocity impact (4 miles per second):

 

[PAYDIRT]

Target is made by MagnumTarget who claim them to be made in USA, and the cutting process has nothing to do with the steel in the center of a target but it's water submerged plasma. And ammo was american eagle.

Still waiting on them to ship my order, $ out of my account more than 5 DAYS ago and still not able to track my order. 2 phone calls and 1 email later and all I got was that it "should go out today" that was last Friday. So much for that test drive.

 

[tomcatfan]

Very true. Here is what a 1.7 gram ball of aluminum will do in a hyper-velocity impact (4 miles per second):

That’s an amazing photo. High speed impacts are fascinating.

 

[ClangClang]

XM193 (~3200FPS) which is what you've basically been shooting will dent AR500, but 62gr M855 (~2900FPS with a steel penetrator) will not do anything at all.

 

[Cayjotiethumper]

I've seen that on cheaper steel and steel that wasn't cut properly, but at close range with a high velocity round it will sometimes do that. My MGM steel doesn't dimple and looks like new but I expect that out of a high quality american made product.

 

[Rifle Barrel Blanks]

Still waiting on them to ship my order, $ out of my account more than 5 DAYS ago and still not able to track my order. 2 phone calls and 1 email later and all I got was that it "should go out today" that was last Friday. So much for that test drive.

Should have called us!
If you do need something, feel free to ask

 

[PAYDIRT]

Should have called us!
If you do need something, feel free to ask

Will do next time. Thanks

 

[vh20]

For a rifle target at some distance, a little damage like that is of no real concern. A word of caution though about using a pitted target for a close range handgun target: Those need to be kept smooth and undamaged. You can shoot a smooth, hardened target with handgun as close as 10 yards and be relatively safe (I think 15 is the recommended range, but I've shot as close as 10 quite a bit with no issues). But if you have pitting, it can cause deflection of the splatter angle and allow it to come back at you.

 

[Primus]

My MGM A500 targets that have gotten hammered for years with 556 and 762 as close as 50 yards do not dimple like your target. I suspect your target is not A500 or it was not cut using water jet method. I bought a couple targets from another manufacture a few years ago and they dimple like yours sitting next to my MGM targets that don’t dimple.

Water jet has nothing to do with it. That only effects the heat treating on the edges and it's debatable whether it matters. Fast small bullets will punch through ar500 like butter which is why you need to A, shoot at longer distances to allow the velocity to drop and/or B, go with a much thicker plate to resist the penetration and deformation. Want to really see some shit, shoot some old black tip or m885a1 through it and see what happens.

 

[Primus]

Velocity which makes energy / high ratio of low surface area is what defeats armor.

See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M829

 

[Mr. Z]

Very true. Here is what a 1.7 gram ball of aluminum will do in a hyper-velocity impact (4 miles per second):

Link to that BB gun please!

 

[John_in_WYO]

Ditto.
Prairie dogs are coming up......


AHC222, how about more info on the photo?
Thanks.