bbbean Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Our club has some ancient poppers that were apparently in use when Moses came down from the mountain. Along the way, they've been used and abused enough that they are cratered and warped pretty badly. Is there a way to reface them or otherwise make them safer to use (we're getting tired of targets that shoot back), or are they just scrap metal? BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcmanis Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 If you have a fellow member that can weld.. See what they would charge.. We send our steel off every so often because people like shooting it with rifles.. He just welds in a piece and grinds it down.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle O Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Sounds like it's time for some new steel, whoo hoo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 The best bet is probably to order new target faces for them - and order them cut from AR400 or, if you can afford it, AR500. They'll last a lot longer. Someone out there can make those faces for you and cut the appropriate hole pattern in them for the popper bases that you already have without you needing to buy completely new poppers. That should make it affordable to use good steel. I have some plates that these guys made for me - http://www.ar15target.com/ - that'd be where I'd start calling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redmanfixit Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Some knothead (likely the departed property owners son, Long story) warped a bunch of our steel with large caliber black powder slugs close in and then used an FN 5.7 and added craters. Bummer! A pal of mine owns a welding shop and lets me talk him into small tasks for reasonable prices. (Friday afternoon beer supplies!) Happily, he has a good sized press, which he used to iron out most of the warpage. Easier than you might think. The craters can be fixed with hard facing rod or a nice hi alloy wire. We thought it would be fun to just shoot them till they break like glass. This treatment brought them back nicely and didn't cost very much. Target faces are a good idea as above. Again though there's the need for pretty heavy duty welders to get good welds, and someone that knows how they work. It's kinda nice to bring old stuff back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 We have ironed out warped poppers with a backhoe. Wedge something under one end (4x4) and press the shovel down on the popper to iron it out. It takes some weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 We had a problem this weekend with a piece of shrapnel coming back and hitting someone (no real damage but some blood and worry). It was suggested that the cupping was responsible - not sure I understand the physics of that myself, but what do I know... Anyway, I've seen it suggested that a cupped popper be turned around so it can flatten back the other direction. Is that a good idea or is it just creating a different problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 If it isn't too far gone, it may help to turn i t around. Might be a good idea to turn the others as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mainus Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 We have some poppers at our club that are made out of donated steel. They are pretty soft. Once a year I take them to a buddy's house and we straighten them on a hydraulic press. It takes us about a 12 pack to get them all straight again Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remoandiris Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Some machine shops have large (20 ton+) presses and that may help flatten the steel back out. As already mentioned, turn them around if possible. AR500 is best, but expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colt Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 We turn ares around as soon as they show any signs of warping and warp them the other way. Brent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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