tk4 Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 Can you shoot steel pistol targets(ar400) with 223 at long range? Say 400, 450, or possibly 500 without damaging it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve J Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 (edited) Those distances may be ok. You can test it out as MGM suggests to see what kind of a mark is left on the steel. Here is what MGM says about rifle on their AR500. http://www.mgmtargets.com/faqs/index.php#rifle Can I shoot my rifle at your targets? Of course, that is what many of them are designed for! MGM targets can withstand an incredible amount of wear, but even Armor plate can be abused. Every shot from a centerfire rifle at 100 yards is going to put a visible mark on the target. We reccomend shooting the target at this distance a couple of times so you can determine if the mark is acceptable to you before moving it closer. These small marks are what cause the bullet frags to come back... Shotgun slugs will also significantly mark the steel, and are not recommended at distances less than 50 yards. Steel shot should NEVER be used with steel targets. Buck shot of any size will not damage the steel, any more than twelve .38 caliber pistol bullets fired individually will. 00Buck is fine. Edited January 1, 2010 by Steve J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boats Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 (edited) Our Club longer range targets stand up Ok. 385 500 yards. They do show signs of bullets strike. 200 & 300 they get eaten up pretty quick, and a 223 ruins one at 200 in short order. We use whatever we can get no special steels. It's the small hole, like drilling in steel when you start with a small drill and work up hole sizes. Boats Edited January 1, 2010 by Boats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busyhawk Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 TK4, When I was the Range NCOIC at 1st Group, Fort Lewis I ordered both MGM and RandRTargets steel. The AR 500 is worth the extra monies. I had a ton of steel at 100 yards and beyond and even after my guys pounding thousands of green tip and 7.62 all targets held up! I couldn't watch my guys all the time and you know my plate racks at 50 yards got pounded on and yes the feet/legs are shot up and I have a couple of holes in the splash plate from a green tip bullet at what I was guessing about 12 yards:-( My suggestion is just use the 400 stuff for the pistol/shotgun and save some funds and get some good quality RandR or MGM targets. My .02 anyhow, RLTW, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 I would think that AR-400 would be OK with .223 at over 150 yards. Do expect the edges to nick easily with edge hits though. I know for a fact that .223 craters AR-500 steel (MGM stuff) easily at 50-60 yards. Haven't seen any damage to AR-500 once the distance gets a bit beyond 100 yards. Interestingly enuff, .308 doesn't faze AR-500 plates at 50-60 yards (except for edge hit dings of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMc Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I cratered some AR500 poppers pretty bad at 110 yds with steel jacket xm193 I will post a pic, if I can figure out how. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMc Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 XM193 at 110yds, don't attempt this at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggerJJ Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 (edited) A lot of the damage to steel by simple shooting it with rifle can be attributed to the ability of the steel move when hit... (I am not coming up with the right term ) IE; a popper will crater more than a 8 or 10 inch round target hanging by a strap. The popper will take the brunt of the impact, when the hanging target will "move easier" when it is hit so it will crater less... I would not expect much life out of an AR400 target, unless it is 1/2 inch thick and hanging, then it may survive a bit longer...but generaly AR400 just don't cut the mustard... jj Edited February 5, 2011 by RiggerJJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonF Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 (edited) Ordinary steel plate at 200 yds shot with 30-06 and 7.62x54r. Same piece of steel, same range but turned over and pelted with a load of .223 and 7.62x39. The steel plate painted white is an AR500 and although new in the pic, has since sustained hundreds of shots of .308, 8mm, x54, x39, .223, 7.5 swiss each at 100-200 yds and thousands of shots of various pistol calibers at close range with no perceptible cratering or damage. The frame is a little more worse for wear and i've go though a bunch of hinges but the plate is perfect save for some side nicks. Edited February 7, 2011 by JonF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggerJJ Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Good target! Now just add a steel flash flag at a right angle to the target face behind it, and you will really be able to see hits! A flat piece of steel, bent at 90* and fastened under the bolts, with orange paint on top... We do that same basic mod to our Metal Man targets, and they work well at 250yds and in. jj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Can you shoot steel pistol targets(ar400) with 223 at long range? Say 400, 450, or possibly 500 without damaging it? Short answer...yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Athouse Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 MGM targets are worth the money in my experience. They are easy to do business with and the targets hold up when used as recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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