I’ve realized there is an elephant in the steel target showroom. While there are significant benefits to shooting AR500 steel targets, there are drawbacks that must be discussed.  The big three criteria for pretty much anything you may deal with in life will be (in no particular order) cost, safety, and effectiveness.

COST- Steel targets, especially commercially built AR500 targets, rated to handle everything from 22LR up through 50 BMG, are expensive. MOA’s line of gongs, the most simple of targets, average about $4.75/lb. A standard 8″ diameter 3/8″ AR500 target (5.35 lbs) with two holes is $25 from MOA is $4.67/lb. For that price, you can get a whole packet of shoot and see or sight in paper targets. Simply put, AR500 steel targets are about the most expensive option out there for steel targets, even before getting into the reactive targets.

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Expensive, yes. However, if used per manufacturer direction, a typical AR500 steel target will last thousands to tens of thousands of rounds. With standard pistol calibers (9x19mm, .40S&W, .45ACP), a 3/8″ AR500 target will effectively never fail. With standard rifle calibers (5.56x45mm, 30-30 Win, 7.62×51) a 8″ diameter 3/8″ AR500 target will last several thousand rounds before replacement is required. Larger targets, due to increased surface area, will last even longer. You’ll need to do a major overhaul on your rifle before you’ll need to replace your target, if you follow manufacturer recommendations for use.

Shipping costs can be quite high on steel targets, due to weight. MOA uses US Postal Service Flat Rate shipping for as many target options as possible, and offers $5, $20, and free USPS flat rate shipping on many targets.

SAFETY- Safety is always a primary concern when using firearms. Shooting steel, even at manufacturer recommended distances, includes a degree of risk of projectile and target material rebounding and striking the shooter or bystanders. This risk exists with any sort of target that is not fully penetrated by the projectile, and backstops which do not fully engulf the projectile.

The deformation process which occurs when the projectile strikes the target surface transforms a good portion of the kinetic energy of the round into thermal energy. The higher the degree of deformation, the more energy converted to heat energy (as evidenced if you’ve ever picked up the deformed remains of a projectile immediately after striking a target). A portion of the kinetic energy is transferred to the target as kinetic energy (that’s what makes it swing) and a small portion as thermal energy. The goal is to leave as little energy in the projectile as possible, so that any pieces which do come back are slow and small. AR500 target, being much harder than copper and lead, typically tend to cause projectiles to flatten and fragment (pistol projectiles) or completely disintegrate (rifle projectiles). Mild steel, on the other hand, tends to deform with the projectile and often will not flatten or fragment projectiles as effectively as AR500. Rifle velocity projectiles will often crater mild steel, which adds to the hazard. Steel core projectiles raise the hazard significantly, as the steel core tends to not deform and can separate and rebound dramatically.

Target angle and ability to swing also should be taken into account. The safest steel targets will be made of hardened steel (AR400 for velocities less than 1200 fps, AR500 for velocities up to 2800 fps at the target) that can swing freely with strikes, and that angle slightly towards the shooter (5-20 degrees). The 5-20 degrees angle recommendation is based on industry standard recommendations, and should be measured not from the ground, but from the shooter position.

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Steel targets are commonly used in competition at both pistol and rifle ranges with great effectiveness. Millions of round are safely fired every year from a wide variety of platforms, at varied distances, and of many calibers. Manufacturers have recommended minimum distances and competitions have additional requirements for steel target use. These limitations are in place for a reason. Pay attention to manufacturer recommendations, club rules, and competition guidelines, and be safe.

EFFECTIVENESS- Steel targets are excellent training aids. Few other targets provide the immediate feedback that steel targets do. A visual cue (swinging, falling or other movement), combined with the audible ring of the projectile striking steel is irrefutable, the shooter hit the mark. Setting zero on a steel target can require a large piece of steel, depending on how off the firearm sighting system is, which can be expensive. A freshly painted piece of steel is fantastic for zeroing a new rifle, or confirming zero. Where steel targets fall short is for measuring grouping, as tight groups obliterate individual strikes quickly. The minimum safe distance requirements limit the effectiveness of steel targets for training self defense and close quarter battle situations, where cardboard may be more appropriate.

For individual use, steel targets allows one to call their own hits when practicing without walking back and forth to the target after every drill. The ring of projectile on steel is effective at pistol range and rifle. When shooting long range, a spotting scope may not even be required to confirm hits on long range targets, due to the delay in the return ring at the speed of sound. Engaging multiple targets in a single string is made easy with steel targets, and many ingenious mounting methods for the targets exist.

Carson City Public Range

Hybrid range environments, such as USPSA, IPSC, IDPA, and 3-Gun often include a mix of steel targets at appropriate distances and cardboard and clay targets at closer distances.

Steel targets are commonly used in competition settings because of the ease of scoring hits (audible or visual cue), easy of resetting targets (paper must be taped or replaced every time), and low cost over time. Once purchased, steel targets rarely need replacement, even after years of heavy use. Competitors often purchase steel targets to practice on outside of organized matchs. Standard shapes such as the NRA Steel Silhouette series (chicken, pig, turkey, and ram), have a long history of use and are available in a multitude of sizes and thicknesses.

CONCLUSION- Used properly, steel targets are a safe, cost effective, and highly effective way to train with firearms. Used improperly, you’re liable to hurt yourself (or someone else) and ruin some expensive steel in short order. Read the directions, use common sense, and have fun.

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A while back, an MOA customer contacted me with a “Is this normal?” type question regarding 5.45x39mm leaving pits on AR500 steel. I shoot quite a bit of 5.45x39mm myself, but all of it is milsurp 7N6 steel core ammo, which should not be shot at steel targets. The customer in question had been shooting a variety of 5.45, none of which was steel core. To answer the “Is this normal?” question, he kindly returned one of his targets to me and included a box of each type of ammo he was using for testing.

MOA started cutting a QA/QC target out of each sheet of AR500 used in making targets, to act as a test bed a couple months ago. It also provides a great excuse to have more targets for the MOA range. The Customer Target is from an older, pre QA/QC batch. AR steel is through hardened, not surface hardened. The hardness should be consistent throughout the sheet. However, as this is the real world, and the testing is destructive. Each batch is tested, not each sheet, and not each section of sheet. Pitting on factory steel is not uncommon, and softer and harder spots can exist. Additionally, the method used to cut the steel can affect hardness. MOA Targets uses a 4,000 watt CNC laser to do the cutting. It makes nice, smooth cuts, and has a heat affect zone (HAZ) typically less than 1/8” on 3/8” AR500. Torch cutting will have a far larger HAZ, as will plasma. Water jet has no HAZ, but is much, much slower.

For control, three known standards (known to me, anyhow) were used as well as the various 5.45 loadings. Controls were 7.62x51mm DAG milsurp with a 150 gr lead core nickle washed steel jacket projectile, 5.45x39mm milsurp 7N6 with a 52 gr steel core copper jacketed projectile, and 5.56x45mm XM193 with a 55 gr lead core copper jacketed projectile.

Photos from the testing can be found here.

The QA/QC target from a recent 1/2” AR500 batch was used for the test, as a standard to test the Customer Target performance against.

All testing was conducted at 100 yards on MOA’s private range.

Test ammunition, provided by the customer, included Wolf 60 gr, 69 gr, and 55 gr loadings, and Silver Bear 60 gr, all lead core with a copper washed steel jacket. Additionally, Hornedy 60 gr VMAX was provided, which is lead core with a copper jacket and a polymer ballistic tip.

At the conclusion of the test, it was evident that both the QA/QC and the Customer Target performed well within expected spec, but that the QA/QC target (from a more recent batch) appeared to be harder.

And that’s how we do science at MOA Targets.

PS: For the curious, the customer will be getting his target and ammo shipped back to him, along with some “Thanks for helping out with science” steel from MOA.

This is a follow up to my previous post How to choose the correct steel for your shooting needs. There are two primary ways that steel is affected by bullet strikes, pitting (cratering in the extreme) and denting. Pitting is material removal from the strike face, caused by super-heating the strike face. Think of an asteroid hitting the earth.

The asteroid is insignificant in size related to the earth but it’s moving pretty fast. That kinetic energy is converted largely into thermal energy when the strike occurs. The thermal energy weakens steel surface enough to eject some of the steel. It also affects the temper of the steel, weakening it to allow future damage. High velocity, low sectional density (small diameter), and hardened projectiles such as steel core and armor piercing all tend to cause pitting of steel targets. Varmint rounds tend to be small diameter and very high velocity, and can cause pitting and cratering far exceeding what you’d expect for something used to shoot rodents.

Harder steel target surfaces resist pitting better than softer surfaces. For our purposes the Brinell Hardness scale  (HB) is used for relative hardness. Per wikipedia, pine wood is about 1.6 HB, lead is 5-22 HB, depending on alloy, copper is 35 HB. Mild steel is 120-180 HB in my experience. Hardened tool steel, similar to what is used for AP core ammo, is 600-900 HB. Pure tungsten is 2570 HB.

For target purposes, I use 400 HB (pistol) and 500 HB (rifle) abrasion resistant (AR) steel. Why abrasion resistant? Because at the 400+ HB hardness, typically the material is sold as industrial plate steel for uses that need abrasion resistance. It doesn’t hurt anything for our use, and it’s what’s available at a reasonable price.

While the difference between mild steel and AR400 is pretty significant, the difference between AR400 and AR500 is less so, but still notable. It’s enough that you don’t want to use your AR400 pistol targets for rifles until you get several hundred yards out. The difference between AR500 and AR550 is barely perceptible. At 2570 HB, tungsten targets might last you forever, but it has a scrap price of about $15/lb (steel scrap is about $0.10/lb right now). Tungsten is about twice as dense as steel (0.54 lb/cubic inch as opposed to .28 lb/cubic inch), so an eight inch diameter, 3/8″ thick tungsten target would weight over 10 lbs, and probably retail for over $600.

Denting or deformation is caused by exceeding the strength of the material. Total energy is useful if you want to cause denting or deformation. Heavy projectiles tend to dent targets, as opposed to pitting them. They tend to be slower than their light projectile cousins, the 168 grain .308 (2700 fps) as opposed to the 55 grain .223 (3200 fps). Thicker targets resist denting and deformation better than thin targets.

Impact velocity, projectile hardness, projectile mass, and angle of impact are your factors that affect your targets, assuming the target isn’t the variable. The softer the projectile (no steel jacket, steel core, or AP), and the further away you are from the target, the longer that target will last. Total energy of impact decreases as you get further away from the target, due to drag in the air reducing your impact velocity. Angling the target reduces the energy absorbed as well. Make sure you always angle the target in a safe direction.

In a practical sense, here’s what all this information means to you. If you’re getting pitting on your target, going to a thicker steel won’t help. 5.56×45 M855 is going to pit AR500 at 100 yards, even if you upgrade to 1/2″ or 1″ steel from your current 3/8″. The only way you’re going to stop the pitting is to stop using steel core M855, move target further away, or go to a harder target.

If you’re denting your target, you’re in luck. You can go to a harder target (assuming you’re using mild steel), a thicker target (if you’re using a rifle), or simply move further away. It’s unlikely that you’re using a projectile that’s too hard or too fast if you’re denting instead of pitting the target. It is, however, possible to dent and pit (crater) a target at the same time. If you manage that, you’re doing something terribly wrong. That, or you need a medal for your creativity.

tl;dr – Hard targets resist pitting, thick targets resist denting

I stayed at a buddy’s place this weekend, and he’s got some steel from me on his home range. One plate is an old piece of mild steel I scrounged for him, the other was an early prototype target for his department (he’s a deputy in CA).

I took the opportunity to take a couple photos and write down my observations, because I typically never have mild steel on my ranges. If I’m going to shoot pistols, I’ll downgrade to 1/4 AR400.

The targets have been up for about a year. It’s a pistol range, but occasionally a rifle sneaks onto it. When something other than a non-magnum pistol caliber is used on the range, he’s careful to make sure it only goes at the AR500 target. As a result, the mild steel target is holding up very well, but the difference between the two is obvious when you look at it close.

I’ll probably be swapping out his mild steel target for more AR500 this summer, before the surface turns into a moonscape.

As of May 5, 2014, targets have been hung for about one year. A total of approximately 2,000 rounds fired down range, the majority of which are 40S&W.

Places paint has been removed and repainted with no impact mark are from 9mm, 40S&W, and 45ACP. On this private range owned by a law enforcement officer, pistols are used as close as seven yards. MOA recommends no closer than 12 yards for pistols due to concerns of lead and copper jacket splashing back.

There ya go. Thought you guys might enjoy this. As always, use common sense. I personally wouldn’t have mounted these the same way that my buddy did, there isn’t enough forward angle, it’s against a hard backstop so it can’t swing, and he shoots at it closer than I recommend. Plus, ewww, mild steel target?