Made some gong targets

[barnesuser28]

Put these together last weekend, used some rebar, and square pipe as the stands, a 1/4" thick 20" wide mild steel plate (from some type of stand) my grandpa had laying around for shooting at 1580 yards and four 1/8" thick by 14" wide cultivator disc's my grandpa also had laying around that my Dad welded together that we plan on hanging at 700 yards. We used some belt to hang them from. I am hoping to try them out this weekend, supposed to be very little wind (7-9) mph and will shoot them with a 30/375 S.I. pushing the 215 berger at roughly 2980 fps, and a 284 win pushing the 162 amax at 2890 fps. The square plate i am using as a handgun plate.

 

[barnesuser28]

Here is a close up of the brackets.

 

[Korhil78]

Nice looking targets! I tried the belt and the bullet fragments shred it around the bolt that goes through the plate. I have found that a snap hook works MUCH better. Below is a link to a picture of the kind of snap hook that I use. I just got mine from a hardware store though.

Snap Hook - 495116, Capacity: 750 lbs

Just got a close up of the pic that you posted. You hooked your belt up right so that it wont shred the belt as bad so hopefully it holds up.

 

[barnesuser28]

Thanks, i know the steel and belt wont hold up long term but once they are beat up pretty bad i will do it the right way and use AR500. The 4 piece one is going to sound funny when hit because of all those individual pieces!

 

[dragman]

Awesome work your one very impressive young man.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Nice targets, but would definitely weld up those seams completely on the leg brackets for added rigidity.

Other than that, I'd say you're ready to sling some lead at them. gun)

 

[barnesuser28]

Thanks
Mud, both sides are welded.

 

[Timber338]

Pretty cool. Nice work.

Barnesuser - just reading over your posts over the years, at your young age, I hope you give some serious thought to becoming a mechanical engineer. Your background and hands on experience, coupled with a solid education, would make you an asset to any engineering firm. Probably sounds a little random, but I've been thinking about that for a while now. I've been a mechanisms/structures engineer in the aerospace industry for a long time, and we need more guys like you. So maybe just tuck that thought into your back pocket as you continue to get older.

 

[barnesuser28]

Pretty cool. Nice work.

Barnesuser - just reading over your posts over the years, at your young age, I hope you give some serious thought to becoming a mechanical engineer. Your background and hands on experience, coupled with a solid education, would make you an asset to any engineering firm. Probably sounds a little random, but I've been thinking about that for a while now. I've been a mechanisms/structures engineer in the aerospace industry for a long time, and we need more guys like you. So maybe just tuck that thought into your back pocket as you continue to get older.

Thanks Timber, lately i have really been considering being a gunsmith, and building long range rifles, my Dad has a building i could use, and knows how to run CNC machines so he could show me, also, my uncle builds his own rifles so he could show me some tricks and save me some headaches.

Riley

 

[Timber338]

That's great. I view the gun industry very much like the aerospace industry in that it is a specialized niche where you use mechanical engineering practices. And if I had it to do all over again, with 20/20 hindsight, I very likely would have had more fun building rifles. gun)

 

[Iron Worker]

Love shooting stell also. That 1/4 plate even at 700 yds will look like swiss cheese in no time. But you got a welder ,fil up and shoot'em again .

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Yeah 1/4 doesnt hold up real well at medium range, i welded my plate up multiple times before i switched to 5/16. I also started using chains to hang my targets after shedding yards of paracord, but when the target is held from the back of the plate like yours are they usually hold up for a good while.

 

[barnesuser28]

I set up the 1/4" at 1581 yards and put three rounds of 30/375 si on it and one round of 284 win and the 284 didnt even take the paint off and the 30/375 si took the paint off with no dents except for one hit right on the edge, which bent it quite a bit. I set the 1/2" at 547 yards and put several rounds of 284 win and 30/375 si on it but i havent taken a look at it yet.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Your a bad dude riley!