So I'm thinking about making a homemade steel gong target out of some wore out circular saw blades, free hanging of course. Dad's turning 80yrs old Thursday and mentioned the other day he wanted to refamilerize himself with his 22's, hence making the targets. "BANG- PING" Any thoughts, comments, experience?
Nothing is more fun than shooting CCI quiets or even better Aquila has a few subsonic low velocity loads down to 420fps. They are super quiet out of a bolt rifle... no need for hearing protection. I have a big 12" plate I put about 70yds off the the back deck, rings like a big bell... kids love it.
The harder the steel the better... may as well go buy an AR500 plate and you'll be good to go. You can get an 8" one on Amazon for $28. That and good eye protection is your friend.
I made myself a portable/collapsible AR500 plate target for less than $50. Here's the post with more info. and pics from the another thread: "I got a 12"x12" plate of ar500 in 5/16 thickness from my local steel shop, and it ran me about $30. Fab'd it into a collapsible target stand using an old saw horse I got for $5 at a garage sale. That stuff is tough! Near impossible to drill with any of the bits I had (black oxide, titanium, carbide) and welding on it pushed my 180 amp Tweco pretty hard. It is some seriously tough and heavy duty steel. The target turned out pretty good, too! "
My only concern is the hardness of the blades causing ricochet $28 , I spent $10. for 9 saw blades 3 of them brand new at yard sale. Smallest is 6.5"s
Maybe get a smaller 6" or 4" plate then. If the 22's put dimples in the saw blades that will make them more susceptible to ricochetting. You want the steel to be a flat as possible. The AR500 stuff will also last a lifetime against 22s.
I'm to broke, but creative. Some scrap metal tubing,S-hook, fence wire. Just needs some white paint and drive the pipes into ground at an angle. 6"@ 20yrds 10" @ 100yrds
