Steel plate sizes
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redneckdan
Well-Known Member
For grouping I have several 24x24 pieces of ruki wear plate.
For practicing field shots a use a 6" gong. If the shot reliably hits the gong, great. If not, I'm too far for a clean kill.
For practicing field shots a use a 6" gong. If the shot reliably hits the gong, great. If not, I'm too far for a clean kill.
Stgraves260
Well-Known Member
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- Sep 1, 2009
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Well I went down to my local mettle yard and they had some 12" x 12" 1/2" thick steel plates I bought for $20 each. They are not AR500 but I bought 4 plates for less than 1 plate of the AR500. I have shot them with a 7 Rem Mag 168 grain Berger's and all is good. It puts dents in them but who cares. They are serving their purpose. I just use them at 300 plus yards. I use them for good practice. I did buy one AR500 3/8" thick 18"x24" for 1000+ Yards. It's really easy to hit. I use that one to help get me on target a longer distances. It makes it more easy to get on target and to really dial in for smaller targets.
milo-2
Well-Known Member
They are extremely soft and crater easy. We used a few for awhile, trust me, it was not worth the trouble. Bullets impacting them came off them in all directions, we were worried about fire hazards. You hang AR plate in a spot, in less than a yr it will have a mini ditch underneath it, not happening with blind flanges.
thwatson2
Well-Known Member
With soule and vernier open sights on sharps we use 1'x1' out to 300 then 2'x2' out to 500 and 4'x4' out to 1000. with scoped rifles 1'x1' to 500 and 2x2 from there. We use remote camera and keep paint fresh so we can see the hits. Got to love the gong! Can listen to that all day long... rarely shoot steel under 300 yards unless pistol or plinking small calibers
jcap427
New Member
I practiced for Montana elk on 4 inch fluorescent clays at 200 yds. prone!
This past November 1 st I shot a trophy
6x6 at 401 yards and it was easier than shooting at clays on the back stop mound!
I totally recommend this method of practice !
Also, rang steel out to 900 yards in Montana w my Fierce Edge in 300 wm 165 Barnes ttsx!
gerpwaller
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2017
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- 73
I've got an assortment of 8"-12" gongs and a torso shaped plate as well. As I'm just getting into long range shooting and so far only have access to 770 yards my friend and I like to set up an 8" gong and the torso at 770 yards. We usually put some cardboard behind the target as well so that if we are wrong in reading the wind we can still tell which way we are missing. As we are in a very flat location spotting our misses can be tough without it. Once we are on the torso then we try and switch the gong. This has worked well for us with an atv on hand to check our misses and repaint the targets.
jlvandersnick
Well-Known Member
Bigger is better for the reasons mentioned earlier....until you need to move them. 
. Heavy.
I have 16 inch squares or circles at 600 and 24 inch at 800 and 1000
. Heavy.I have 16 inch squares or circles at 600 and 24 inch at 800 and 1000
Buzzsaw
Well-Known Member
If you can afford it.........the ideal set up is to have an MOA target at each range (square) AND a BIG target at 300 - 1000 to use as "sighters"
so
if you miss the MOA you can shoot the BIG target to see where your impact is, very helpful in wind
so
if you miss the MOA you can shoot the BIG target to see where your impact is, very helpful in wind
"Aim small miss small"
catamountsierra
Well-Known Member
I just have 3 square 8" plates that I set up at random distances. Since 8" is fairly close to the size of vitals on most big game, I figure if I get to where I am consistently making first round hits, then I could shoot that far on game; if I can't, then it is probably too far for the conditions.
I have 12" x 12" plates to 750 yards and then a 30" x 20" at 1000 yards. I paint a 3" dot on the plates for point of reference. Works out great. For me it represents the kill area of an elk which it what I hunt most of the time. If I can put all my rounds in the plate from sitting, standing off sticks and from the prone position it makes my day. Paint the steel with a bright color like white or orange and it make the hits very easy to see.
I'm with most folks, large as practical to increase the chances of hitting if I'm not performing as I should. With that said, most of mine seem to be 1-1.5 MOA although I do have a 24" at 1k to have some room for fluff. I also have some much smaller but don't see the difference of a 10" plate with a 2" group or hitting a 3" plate with a 2" group.
