How thick steel need to be on gongs?

[Stinky Coyote]

Wondering if 3/4" thick plate (regular mild steel) will be able to handle 7 rem mag...300 win mags from say 200 yrds to 1000? I'm having some portable gongs built so i can set up impromptu long distance targets up etc. and the guy had the 3/4" plate around but just wanted to see if thats thick enough?....i don't want to blow through....i want to see the shiny marks with the spotter.

[bingo1010]

3/4 should be fine at 200 yards, for sure at 300 it is good.

[7 REM MAG]

you might get a little bend/warp goin at 200 yds

[Dick284]

Mild steel is a waste of time, even 2" thick galls so bad that over time they just fall apart.

3/4" 380 series wear plate is about ideal,(1" is nearly perfect) it resists bullets strikes well without being brittle.
I've used up to 425 wear plate, and at closer ranges hits on the edges will usually chip off pieces, at 300yds plus, at most all that happens to the 425 is maybe a slight dimple if the slug is small diameter and fast moving.

The added plus of wear plate is it usually has gone audible tone qualities, often ringing like a church bell when hit.

[Stinky Coyote]

where do you find this wear plate stuff? i may have to source it out and take it to my welder?

[bingo1010]

"wear" ever!!

[shirtr]

10 points for the smart ass!

[mud slug]

give me a couple of days and i'll see if i can come up with some old used grader blades for you (6ft to 8ft). the boss is on holidays tell monday. if we do have any how many would you like? i'm sure they will let you have they as there just scrap.kevin

[bingo1010]

hey mister "10 pointer" shouldn't you be at home practicing the diaper change technique!!

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by Stinky Coyote

where do you find this wear plate stuff? i may have to source it out and take it to my welder?

just call your local welding/machine shop.
i bought a 6x18 piece last year the labour to cut it equaled the steel price, see if they have any pieces in the scrap bin.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Stinky Coyote

where do you find this wear plate stuff? i may have to source it out and take it to my welder?

Go to a heavy machine shop, or a steel suplier.
Our 3/8" plate we have at 800 yards takes a pretty good beating from a 300 RUM, it's a medium grade stell.
We also have 3/4 " wear plate chicken silhouette at 200 meters, and a .50 cal BMG won't dent it with Amax's.
At 1,000 the 3/8" plate ( mild steel ) we have gets dented from Old badger's 338 lapua.
Cat

[Janitor Pants]

If you know anybody in the oilfield see if you can get a hold of some blind flanges, I've got a few I use, they are around an inch to 2 inches thick depending on the size. Depending on the pipe size you can get different diameters, the ones I use start at about 8 inches diameter and my biggest is around the 24" diameter. The only downside is they are quite heavy, but hey they were free.

[Stinky Coyote]

not sure how heavy the use will be, probably not often enough to worry about, i'll get them out a few times a year and maybe have a buddy with me sort of thing so will probably just see how the 3/4 plate does first then source out some tougher stuff if i bash it all to heck in no time....but now i know what to go after if this first stuff doesn't work out....thanks guys...

its amazing how much info about any tiny aspect of the stuff we do can be found here!

[aulrich]

I have been thinking about one from this place. a single gong is not all that expensive, though the life size deer with vital cutout would be great if I was made of money.

http://www.metaltargets.com/

The big unknown is shipping

[Eager_Beaver]

you will almost undoubtedly punch through 3/4 with a 7mm rem mag at 200 yards, ive got a 1 inch at 200 and it just about peirces it and 1/2 doesnt stand a chance

[Canuck44]

not really of any relavance but I was shooting 3/8" at 200 with hp 90 grainers from the 270 today and was suprised to see them blow though, I thought they would frag apart. the 22 was barely leaving marks on it but with about a 5' hold over was hitting it pretty regularly.

[Solothurn]

Originally Posted by aulrich

I have been thinking about one from this place. a single gong is not all that expensive, though the life size deer with vital cutout would be great if I was made of money.

http://www.metaltargets.com/

The big unknown is shipping

I am not positive, but believe this is the place that a fellow who was the Summerland shoot 2 weeks ago got his plate from.
We were hammering it with our 338LAIs, which whistle through 3/4" plat at 700 yards with ease. i was shocked to see NO damage at all despite the plate being only 3/8 thick.
I called 1 of my steel suppliers and a 4x8 sheet of AT500 which is what these targets are made of is $1200.00. We were contemplating making some gongs up in the IPSC type target, but for the prices metal targets charge, even with shipping I can not come close.

I will contact the fellow who brought his to Summerland and confirm where he got his gong. It was the cats arse!!

[matathonman]

My plates are only 3/8" thick but hard steel.Shooting a 300 win mag with 165 gr handloads stops going through them at 600 yrds,but leaves a pretty deep indent still.A buddy of mine knows a fella that can spray it with a compound that is bullet proof,apparently this is what it's used for.He gaurantees that nothing will shoot through the plate with an 1/8" of this stuff sprayed on.Cost is $15' .I'm going to try it on a couple and see if it is really going to work.

[Dmay]

This I gotta see.........

[aulrich]

I was watching a discovery chanel thing a while back (blast lab I think) and they coated a brick building with truck bed liner inside and out and detonated a car bomb beside it, the building though wrecked was still standing.

makes you wonder if it would work?

If you do that, please post pic's

[Eager_Beaver]

i definitley dont believe that any line-x coating or similar coating could be bullet proof, like on the discovery channel shows it is shock-resistant, not bulletproof.

[Bobby B.]

Best thing to use, of course, is a deerhide cover for the gong. From what I've read on this board, deerhide will stop anything short of a extremely stout bullet. Don't even think twice about damaging steel with anything less than a Barnes Triple Shok. Everything else simply explodes on deerhide much less steel. Or sumptin likeasthat.

Bobby B.

Or for the more serious type, defer to Dick's recommendations, they'll work. He and I shot all manner of cartridges with an interesting diverse types of bullets without punching through the gong at 100 yds. Nonetheless, we were doing such experiments without the involvement of rounds such as the 338 Lapua and such. Still for the 7Rm to 300 mag rounds Stinky wants to shoot, Dick's recommendation will hold sway.

Bobby B.

[matathonman]

I took a gong in today and got it linexed both sides.Gonna take it out this weekend and give it a couple of shots. If this doesn't work they're gonna do it with the military grade stuff and we'll see if that works.I guess it isn't bullet proof but blast resistant,my mistake.I guess we'll see just how bullet resistant they are I don't think you'll hear the smack when the bullet hits though.

[Stinky Coyote]

Originally Posted by Eager_Beaver_Welding

you will almost undoubtedly punch through 3/4 with a 7mm rem mag at 200 yards, ive got a 1 inch at 200 and it just about peirces it and 1/2 doesnt stand a chance

good to know, will just punch paper at 200 then....zeroing range, really just want the gongs for long range practice at random ranges set up on impromptu ranges in the pre-season...

[Double Shovel]

If any of you work in the oilpatch or know of someone that does,get or ask for a 6" or 8" 150 or 300 blind flange.They are about a foot across and 1-1.5 inches thick and have holes on the edges which make them easy to hang.I haven't had a bullet go through one yet.The 150 ansi flange will bulge a little at 200yds with a big gun but most all the time they stand up really well.

[Eager_Beaver]

ive got hold of as many as i want, lol im a pipeline and facility welder. right now ive got a 16" 600 ansi blind, but i dont even know how much it weighs but i cant barely budge it so not much happening with that.

[Double Shovel]

16" 600 would be a massive flange.8"300 flange is stout.But if you got that
16"one set up at 4 or 500 yds,what a target

[Eager_Beaver]

lol yea, i cant even lift it into the truck ill need to use a bobcat to move it.

[archdlx]

Thanks for the tip on the blinds guys.....work(ed) with them at least a few times a month, at least 10 of them during turnarounds! Never even entered my mind how great they would be for L.R. gongs!! Add some studs, nuts, and chain, and a stout target holder-too easy! They ring pretty good when you grab the wrong one and fire it across the treater building....
Now I gotta find a sucker-uh-friend to lift them for me ...not supposed to lift over 10 to 12 lbs.

Thanks again fellas,
archdlx