Originally Posted By: Wallbass45I have never shot steel before and have bought a 6" 1/2"disk AR500 to shoot with .223.
Now I have read a article that AR500 is for Pistols and you need AR550 for Rifles.
Is it safe to shoot a .223 55gr Vmax at 1/2"AR500 with out Ricochet or damage to the Target ???
Whoever wrote that is a tool without much experience at all shooting steel targets. Before this horsehockey gets spread like butter across the Internet, I'll go a head and interject some real life experience.
The most common, widey used and sold steel for rifle targets is AR500 plate. I've got 6 plates in various sizes and have shot them with everything from fast 17's, 20's, 22cal, 6mm, 308, '06 and even 300 win mag without damage to the plate itself. For safety reasons and to keep the plates from damage, you will want those plates out at 200 or more when shooting those bigger 30 cal rifles. They can get pretty hard on them at closer ranges.
I've got a prairie dog popper plate from JC that my boys and I have pound the snot out of with vmax, ballistic tips, match bullets, spire points, hollow points well [beeep]... We've shot just about every type of bullet made at that thing out of a 223 without damaging the plate. The only exception to that would steel cored bullets, I don't buy that junk and there's a possibility that it could damage the plate so I don't and wouldn't shoot that ammo at plate.
If you bought AR500 plate and a 223 with a vmax damages the plate at 100 yards.... You surely didn't get what you supposedly paid for.
I don't have any current picks of plates from 223 at 100 yards but I can assure you it looks the same as the one below, no damage except for lead splatter marks. Notice, no pot marks or signs of penetration at all. 6x47L with 87gr vmax and 87gr Berger's. This was 400 yards but there's probably still more energy there than a 223 at 100. This last weekend my nephew shot one of my targets at 100 yards with my 6BR at 100 yards with 95gr SMK and it left no visible damage. This is 3/8 plate too, not 1/2"
Give Jake a call over at JC Steel targets. He sells quality stuff at good prices and the money goes to a good cause. Plus, he's got a cool t-post hanger for his plates too.
http://www.jcsteeltargets.com
BTW..
You can see my pistol targets in the background here. The rack with the two large plates is for centerfire and the small rack for rimfire. Both racks are mild steel, nothing special. The large ones are 3/8" that were cut from the center web of an I-beam. They've taken thousands of rounds from 9mm and 45acp. Larger pistol and I would want thicker plate to keep them from bending.
FYI on pistol targets. You want them on a solid mount with an angle towards the ground, not angled up for obvious reasons and not swinging. Swinging steel can put bullet jackets and lead right back at you, trust me.... I know this for fact.
