At what velocity/energy DON'T I need AR steel?

[Doyputasos]

So it's always fun to get new targets, especially steel, but that stuff is expensive when you shoot AR 500. I want to know approximately how slow and/or how much energy bullet would need to have to safely hit mild steel and not damage the target. I'm sure it matters some, so, I am shooting a 260 Rem with 140 grain Bergers and I'm getting about 2800 ft./s. I know that pistol rounds can hit mild steel safely at 1100 ft./s or a little faster, but I'm not sure about the shape of the rifle bullets and their higher sectional density. Any experienced opinions out there?

 

[milo 2.0]

Speed kills steel. It seems 3200 fps for ar500, around 2700fps for ar400, T-1, I'm not sure, I wouldn't mess with A-36.

I'm not going to open a ballistics calculator to figure this one out, but a lot of factors go into it. Is target rigid, or free swinging, weight or plate thickness? You have to consider what other calibers are going to fire on it, it wont always be the .260.

At 500 yards, ar400 will take just about all modern calibers, at 1000 yards T-1 steel should handle most hits, but will absorb a lot of the sound on impact- no ping. A plate that is too heavy to swing will pock faster than one that will.
Really, sometimes it's best just to shell out the coin, even the best laid plans for use gets thrown under the rug by a hair brained scheme.

As for buying the steel, location plays hard, look at places in Nevada, or Arizona with mining around, ar plate abounds. Also, it depends on who's buying it, find someone who buys a lot of steel, he'll pay 66% less than you. I'll stop here.

 

[Jerrrrstanley]

I have some A-36 3/8" steel we shoot 308 at. 400 yards is my minimum shooting distance. No dings or divits and it is not a swinger, just on a stand. At 400 yards with my rifle Im around 1850 FPS and 1280 ft/lbs of energy

I had a friend who brought his Barrett MRAD in 300 Win Mag over. At 450 he drilled holes through my steel. At 800 he punched halfway through. His LRP-07 in 6.5 Creedmor punched halfway through at 450 and at 800 it barely dented it.

I think with a 260 anything 400 and beyond you should be fine. Go to a metal shop or welding shop and see if they have any scrap steel. I stop buy our local steel shop and get scrap all the time. We shoot the shit out of it and throw it away.

 

[Dogtown]

I had a friend who brought his Barrett MRAD in 300 Win Mag over.

MRAD in .300WM? How he get one of those?!

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

at 400, the mild (a36?) 3/8" swinging discs i use gets dimpled and cupped after 100 rounds or so of .308 fmj and hp, more so with .3006 (obviously). 7.62x54 steel core goes through it like butter at that distance, .223 bounces off. at 300 severe cratering with the .308 and .3006, at 200 forget it.

you should be good at 400 with the 260 for many rounds with mild steel, then flip it over.

but i learned that going with at least the AR400 from the start is much better, those mosin steel core rounds mentioned earlier bounced off that at 200 and 300 with no damage to the AR targets.

when i was looking to get steel for my shoots this year i needed alot of it, luckily alot of ar400 was "donated" by someone that worked at a local metal supplier for this year. last year i used mild steel for a feeler event, the difference is night and day. if i have to get any more targets it'll be at least ar400, as i know it'll survive and will only have to mess with it once.

there's a few places that you can get ar400 for alot less than you think, already cut into targets, 3 of which are hide members and offers groups buys every now and then (you just missed one). you just have to do a little shopping around, but it is worth it.

i know that doesn't really answer the question on velocity / energy, but should give you a little feel for what you need / want.

 

[redirt78]

there's a few places that you can get ar400 for alot less than you think, already cut into targets, 3 of which are hide members and offers groups buys every now and then (you just missed one). you just have to do a little shopping around, but it is worth it.

i know that doesn't really answer the question on velocity / energy, but should give you a little feel for what you need / want.

I've never seen any of the vendors here advertise AR400

 

[Jerrrrstanley]

Dogtown, it was given to him to T&E. I tried to steal it but it was too obvious when I stuck it in my pants. It is a damn good shooting gun.

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

I've never seen any of the vendors here advertise AR400

i stand corrected, i just double checked, you are correct. which is even better yet, AR500 for the price of what others sell AR400.

 

[phreakmode]

I don't think any reputable target companies would sell AR400 item for use as a center fire rifle target, they would have a large amount of unhappy customers in very short order.

I have not found where geometry of normal lead core/brass projectiles plays a factor. If the target is secured without free movement, it will be forced to absorb the energy in a very short time window, if it is free to move during impacts the energy time frame is spread over a longer window and less damage(pits, chips, cracks, bends) will occur.