Steel thickness

T Cole,

I have been shooting AR400 3/8" and 1/2" with a 22 Swift, .260, .308, and 300WM from 300 to 1200 almost every weekend for several months. No damage to steel. When I first made them I was breaking the chain I used to hold a 6" round plate to the backside of the front plate that had a 5" hole in it, 300WM with 190r SMK. I will look for some pics of plates I played with that were mild steel.

Steve
 
I think this was 800 yards with 300WM. IMG_3674.jpgIMG_3674.jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3675.jpg
    IMG_3675.jpg
    347.7 KB · Views: 87
i think JC's website has a yardage of 700 or so where you can start to use the 1/4" without damage
I think it's tough to make a blanket assumption on a distance with the wide variety of ammo being shot at it. Smaller rds I bet this is a safe bet, but I have a 12" - 1/4" AR 500 plate that was hit by a 28 nosler at 1K and it does not look so good. A couple more centerpunch hits and I think you could eat soup from it.
 
I remember seeing a chart for the steel, caliber vs distance. If I remember correctly it said to place the target where the velocity was below 3000???? Would have to look again. Shooting my AR400 plates with 300WM 190gr SMK over 3000 MV with no damage as long as I use strong enough chain. Also a suggestion from the site is to hang at least a 20 deg down.
 
Guys, get away from using chain and get some fire hose. You can shoot the living shit out of them and they don’t fail.. Hit up some local firehouses, they throw the old shit away by age or when they have blow outs.. I’ve prolly picked up 200’ over the years that way..
 
  • Like
Reactions: tcole75
Guys, get away from using chain and get some fire hose. You can shoot the living shit out of them and they don’t fail.. Hit up some local firehouses, they throw the old shit away by age or when they have blow outs.. I’ve prolly picked up 200’ over the years that way..
That’s what I have been using and they work very well recently I moved to square tubing with a valve spring to dampen the impacts and have had no failures
 
I went with some 5/16" chain, no issues....... I had it and it worked, not saying that fire hose would not work, but then I would have to go find it. I already have ADD don't need more distractions from the project at hand..