BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

[BigDKC]

Hey guys, I just got a set of square 1/2" AR500 steel targets from Ryan (osuarchitect) at Big Dog Steel. Outstanding service to say the least, got them in 3 days! Ordered on Sunday evening, received in the mail on Wed! (I'm betting my lazy ass mailman was pissed lol) I have an outing planned on Saturday out of town to do some shooting, and asked him if he thought he could get them to me in time. Needless to say he delivered, and then some! Very happy with the targets and the service! Do not hesitate to do business with Ryan!

Here is what I got:

The set came as a 4", 6", 8" and a 12", with hardware!

Anyway while waiting in anticipation for them to arrive I went to home depot for some chain and other stuff and ran into something that seemed perfect to hang these with! They are cheap, readily available and easy to setup by myself. That is of course IF they actually work out! I will be giving them the test this weekend!

In the outdoor/garden section I passed by these and thought "PERFECT", metal hanging plant stands!!

They came in three sizes, though I only bought medium and small. The large was just too damn big! I dunno if anyone else has tried these or not, and I don't know if they will work out, but the mediums were $11 each and the small were $7 each. Cheap enough to give them a try anyway.

So tonight after I got the targets, I cut up some chains and set them up to see how they will work out.

Here is the 12" & 6" on them:

And here is the 8" and 4" on them:

As you can see the small sized hangers bend quite a bit in with the weight of the steel. I didn't take more pics, but I did take them down and re-insert them in the ground this time angled out from the bottom a bit more in a "V" shape, and it fixed that problem!

I also hauled off and give them each a solid flat footed kick to see if impact would swing or knock them off the hangers, (or cause them to collapse completely lol) and had no issues. We will see how they do over the weekend!!

 

[bohem]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

I found that if you hit them with anything larger than a 22 WMR and they're going to swing off the top of that hanger and you have to go put them back up. I didn't shoot the 12" version though. I have some wooden stakes that I hammer into the ground and hang the chain via 2 deck screws.

You might try bending that hook almost closed, just enough to get the chain in/out of it and have better luck. I didn't have anything to do that with and I had some stakes and a hammer and cordless drill as the backup in the car.

 

[AXEMAN]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

turn them around so the face the opposite direction and when the target is impacted, i think you will have better luck with then staying on. i was going to bend some of these myself for my steel. thought about just trying to hang the 3/8" on a single hook. they sell something ike this for the smaller deck of cards set for rimfires, but i figured it would be perfect in a field of tall grass. keep us posted

 

[BigDKC]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

Thanks for the input guys! I'd like to try to get away without bending them up if possible at first. I'll go that route as a last resort. I thought about turning them around the other way also, but I wonder if the rear-brace arm being in front of the pivot point of the weight on the upright will allow the stands to fall over after a couple rounds? Will be interesting to see!

Another thought I had is I could also give each place where the hook and chain meet a couple of quick wraps with 100mph tape. oughta be enough to hold it on there I would think!

I'm betting the biggest concern will just be if they will stay in the ground and hold the targets up for more then a small handfull of rounds!

 

[Outsydlooknin75]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

take a couple of cinder blocks with you ... put them on the flats to help hold?

 

[elkkid3]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Outsydlooknin75</div><div class="ubbcode-body">take a couple of cinder blocks with you ... put them on the flats to help hold?</div></div>

+1 That would work great, If you need more weight then that grout the hole(s) of the cinder block solid.

 

[BigDKC]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

Outsyd, that is a good idea, and I think I will use it but modify it to meet my needs a bit better.

The problem is I am an urban dweller unfortunately, so anytime I will get to go shoot will require me to pack up my gear and drive to the country to shoot on private land as there are no long distance ranges here. If these hangers end up working out I will buy another set of each so I can then set out all 4 targets at once.

To use cinderblocks I would have to store 8 of them on hand as well as transport them to the shooting site each time. Not to mention huff them out to place them all each time, and collect them. (Im lazy!). If I was to have a permanent or atleast semi-permanent place to shoot I could leave them setup. But my site will change throughout the year based on hunting season's, crop seasons, landowner work being performed etc etc.

Since I really liked these hangers for the simple ease of storage, transport, and use in the field I think I will go buy a set of heavy duty tent stakes from cabelas or bass pro, and use them to support the bottom of the hangers that go into the ground! Then if possible use any big rocks, or chunks of fallen tree or other heavy materials that might be laying around once on site for more support.

The tent stakes should fit in perfectly along the lines of the storage, transport, and ease of use in the field guidelines!

 

[Outsydlooknin75]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

Good idea on the ten stakes, I would drive them in at an angle towards the shooter where the foot meets the upright and criss cross them so the hooks on the tent stakes catch in the L of the hanger if that makes sense.

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

Looking forward to seeing how this works out.

 

[BigDKC]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

Well we took them out this weekend and to summerize, they seem to work pretty well! I decided on turning them around opposite of the above pics right from the start.

We hung the 6" plate on the small sized hangers at 100yds. I fired one shot of Black Hills 175gr .308 Match and it knocked it right off the hangers, so I thought! When we went to check it out it actually just spun it completely up over the hoops! Had the stands been facing as I had them in the above photo's it would have flown off the hangers. The solution was simple, I took and wrapped duct-tape around the chain/hanger junction a couple times and didn't have another problem with it. It held up fine the rest of the day, and never came off until we packed it up.

We hung the 12" plate on the bigger hangers at 200yds. No problems here what so ever, no duct-tape required. That is until we decided to move it back to 300yds. Here is where I learned my first lesson on wind. I fired one round and scored a hit, fired another round and cut the chain on the right side of the plate!! I was shooting using holdover since my scope played games with me again. I was so focused on holding over correctly that I didn't take any wind into consideration and when I fired I clipped the link of chain that was bolted to the plate!! Was a pretty funny moment!

At any rate, I think these hangers worked perfectly for me! A couple wraps of duct-tape is not a big deal at all on the smaller hoops and plates. I'd much rather live with that then lug around and store a much bulkier target frame system! The only caveat I can see is the question of "what would happen if you hit the hangers with a round?" And in that case I can speculate that it will cause a complete failure of the hanger! I did manage to hit one of the small hanger's with a .40 S&W round fired out of a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 from 100yds and it put a nice dent in it but I continued to use it with no issues. A .308 round would easily cut it in half I'm sure! But I will take the gamble on that easily since these worked out so well in all other aspects!

I will continue to use them until I have a major failure of some kind, if/when that happens I will report back!

Here is a couple pics of the chain & hardware damage! I plan on doing a Newbie range report on my experience with more pictures at some point today..

 

[Pete E]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

Try using seatbelt or other similar webbing instead of chain to hang them...

The link of chain, unless *very* heavy duty will nearly always break if it takes a hit from a bullet...With webbing however the bullet simply punches a hole through it. Usually, the material needs several hits in the same area to effectively cut it.

In the very limited testing I've done, bullet splatter from shots hitting the edge of the plate seem to cause more damage to the webbing, but the straps still survive multiple hits, which is not usually the case with chain...

On the smaller steel targets, I've heard of people using contractors glue to bond the webbing directly to the rear of the plates, elimintaing the need for holes or bolts, but I've no idea how well this would work as I've not tried it myself..

Regards,

Peter

 

[Bobcape]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Pete E</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Try using seatbelt or other similar webbing instead of chain to hang them...

The link of chain, unless *very* heavy duty will nearly always break if it takes a hit from a bullet...With webbing however the bullet simply punches a hole through it. Usually, the material needs several hits in the same area to effectively cut it.

In the very limited testing I've done, bullet splatter from shots hitting the edge of the plate seem to cause more damage to the webbing, but the straps still survive multiple hits, which is not the usually the case with chain...

On the smaller steel targets, I've heard of people using contractors glue to bond the webbing directly to the rear of the plates, elimintaing the need for holes or bolts, but I've no idea who well this would work as I've not tried it myself..

Regards,

Peter
</div></div>

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'"> <span style="font-size: 11pt">Excellent idea! I have been breaking chains almost everytime I shoot. I will try this. Thanks.

Bob
</span> </span>

 

[AXEMAN]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

guys mention using old fire hose too.

hey one thing about these stands, i was going to use these also since the place i have access to now will ne a field with tall grass. these will keep the targets high enough to stay above the grass. plus, if you happen to cut one with a shot or you want a beefier one for a heavier target, just buy another and weld them together. at the same time, remember, you can always bend it so the hook curls the other way and that way the extra little "leg" that supports the whole thing will be towards the back. or just cut the leg off and reweld it on the other side. i welded two together for a double hook for my bird feeders. and you can close the hooks up a little so the tape will be easier to use, or close them and use a snap of some sort to attach to the stand. like a big dog leash snap deal or a quick link like this ... http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/use...ized+Quick+Link

im lazy too, so i keep coming up with ideas. i snagged a 300 ftt roll of 550 para cord for setting the targets out at 100 yard intervals

 

[Pete E]

Re: BDS Steel Targets, & cheap hanging solution..?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bobcape</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'"> <span style="font-size: 11pt">Excellent idea! I have been breaking chains almost everytime I shoot. I will try this. Thanks.

Bob</span> </span> </div></div>

Bob,

I totally agree and wish I could take the credit for it, but I came across the idea in an old thread here on Snipers Hide

Its well worth a look as it has other ideas for target frames ect..

Regards,

Peter