AR500 steel target distance.

[Flammenwerfer]

I just ordered 8 AR500 silhouette targets in 1/2" thickness. What would be the safest minimum distance for rifles/carbines? Pistol calibers(mainly.45 acp & 9mm)?

I can back them up approximately 175 yards without having to move the berm, but I'd also like to stagger some closer at varying distances. I'll be mounting these using 6" conduit frames buried about 18" with 4' or 5' being above ground and the actual targets hung from chains.

 

[JBKnifeworks]

Smooth, new targets, 15 yards with a pistol.

 

[spavent]

they and my lawyer says 100yds. Velocity is the #1 issue with an AR and plate damage. I regularly shoot 30-50yards with Silver / Golden Bear 2900 fps out of a 16 in carbine and the plates have held up to 1000's of rounds. No one's been hurt yet. I shot one with XM193 3300fps out of a 24 in barrel once and near shot through a plate at 25 yards. Again no human danger. Now my plates are on pivot mounts so they can swing when hit.. putting a lot of the force downward and I always offest them a bit Left or Right. It would be wise to not shoot pistol at the same side of the plate you shoot rifle at as the rifle will ding them up creating a potential for danger. With that said, I've put 10's of thousands of pistol rounds into the same side of my plates and to date no one's been hurt. Again using swingers and offset. You need to figure your tolerance for danger and proceed accordingly. I'm stating my experience not giving you advice. I have a higher danger limit than many.

 

[MallNinja Team 6]

I've put thousands upon thousands of handgun rounds onto steel at under 10 yards. You'll get hit with some small jacket fragments, but they are barely carrying enough energy to nick open skin. On smooth steel, a significant majority of the energy is directed outward at 90 degrees in all directions. It only becomes dangerous after the targets have divots from rifle fire, allowing energy to be directed back and toward the shooter instead of at an angle. Due to their smaller cross section, .223\5.56 is actually more damaging than .308 on steel.

 

[jlw]

I have some small steel targets made from AR500 steel. The manufacturer rates them at 10 yards for pistol and 50 yards for carbine; however, these targets will swing when hit, and I suspect that does something with the energy. The silhouettes made by the same manufacturer are rated at 100 yards for rifle.

 

[Flammenwerfer]

I actually decided to use all of my silhouette targets for rifle/shooting. I found 6 8" circles to use with pistols and 4 12" circles to use with shotguns that I'm going to put on chains.

Now I just need to fire the tractor up and log splitter up so I can clean a few lanes up, reinforce the rear berm, and build a new fire pit.

 

[Revolver]

I do 10 yards for handgun and 100 for rifles. Any less than 100 and my 7.62x39 AK divots the targets a little with Brown Bear.

what do you guys use for close-range rifle targets?

Edit : that's 3/8" ar500 hanging from cheap shepherd's hooks.

 

[MallNinja Team 6]

what do you guys use for close-range rifle targets?

Paper or IDPA\USPSA cardboard

 

[jcamp2003]

Arntzen targets has a safe shooting distance chart on their website. I usually go a minimum of a 100 yards with rifles and no closer than 10 yards with pistols

 

[Tech Jacket]

Mine have been hammered at 30 yards with .223/7.62x30. No issues on current targets.

I have cracked some heads from shoulders on sillouettes where the interior corners were sharp cut vs rounded. Just too much for the sharp crease to withstand. Rounded transitions help a lot with this kind of damage.