Thread: Steel gongs

Looking at having a metalwork place make me some steel gongs for my range . No idea what grade or thickness to ask for . I’ll be using a 6.5 creedmoor to a 300 wm at 100-200 yards . Any suggestions would be spot on . Cheers

You want to use AR500 12mm thick. Well that's what mine is.

You can buy them from steel targets Nz

yep, 1/2", 12mm or thereabouts of AR500, Bizalloy 500, hardox 500.

Have a Bizalloy 12" plate that has 100's of rounds from 223 - 30cal magnums, and other than getting the paint blown off it, it pretty much like new.

Mine are biz 450 from memory, 12mm is more than enough.
Pretty much anything listed as wear plate will do the trick, often the 450 is considerably cheaper than 500.

I got mine from Easy steel, wasn’t particuLarry expensive, making decent target stands is the more difficult part.
Especially if you want collapsible/portable ones.

Just get ahold of Sam Dupont (@cowboy06 on here) - Dupont engineering in Sth Canterbury, he makes them and is very reasonably priced . . ., you'll get the right materials and they'll hang just right to minimize ricochet etc.

i made my stand out of old framing timber, with holes drilled through it and bits of cut off rebar to slot through them. looks like shit but it cost nothing and it works.

if this damn wind ever pisses off i've got an old steel flange of hardened steel i'm going to try as a gong.

Think mine is Bizaloy 500, not 100% sure, but handled Kiwigregs 50 call at 300 yards I do think it put a slight bend in it though
It hates the barnes projectiles though, they leave craters. Even the 130 grains doing 3000

Originally Posted by Gibo

Think mine is Bizaloy 500, not 100% sure, but handled Kiwigregs 50 call at 300 yards I do think it put a slight bend in it though
It hates the barnes projectiles though, they leave craters. Even the 130 grains doing 3000

Of all the 50 cals and 375s I've shot my gongs with the worst was a 243ai with Barnes at around 3400


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Mine.



12mm Biz. 1m x1m. Got two mounds, at 565 and 615 yds.
Awesome for verification and drop charts.
Fkn heavy. Needed tractor and forks to lift.
No dents. Mainly Berger’s and such from WSM’s , RM and WM’s.

B

Originally Posted by BRADS

Of all the 50 cals and 375s I've shot my gongs with the worst was a 243ai with Barnes at around 3400


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Shows how hard hitting them solid copper pills are aye, and why pass throughs are so common

Originally Posted by BRADS

Of all the 50 cals and 375s I've shot my gongs with the worst was a 243ai with Barnes at around 3400

With typical steel targets it is velocity that kills steel.
Steel targets are typically specified based upon impact velocity and impact energy.

Impact velocities vs steel hardness
Mild steel is typically fine with an impact velocity up to ~1200fps.
~AR400 hardness steel is typically fine with impact velocities up to ~2500fps.
~AR500 hardness steel is typically fine with impact velocities up to 3200fps.
If the steel isn't hard enough then projectiles will pot mark the steel - this isn't good as it can lead to splash back, popover, and funny ricochets. This is why you see people say "steel is fine for the 338lap, but the 223rem and 55gr bullets cut it up".
One method of mitigating steel damage is to hang it on an angle. An impact angle of ~15-20 degrees helps a lot to minimise steel damage. Obviously most useful is to direct bullet impact into the ground directly below the target.

Impact energy vs Steel thickness
6mm steel is typically good for impact energies up to ~1500ft-lb (2030J).
10mm steel is typically good for impact energies up to ~3000ft-lb (4070J).
12.5mm steel is typically good for impact energies up to ~6000ft-lb (8130J).
Steel target will "dent" under higher impact energies - this isn't good from a ricochet point of view.

This guidance assumes the steel is hung and not rigidly mounted.

Mine are 450 12mm thick,
I tryed some 10mm of a milder grade steel and the 7 mag nearly went through one at 500 metres.
I use waratahs and hang them between them.

I have a spare I don’t use, but based in Tauranga or Taupo Biz alloy? About 200 square