Setting Up Targets

[Storm Bringer]

Hello:

I have an AR500 plate that I would like to mount statically to a post.

Should the post (and plate) be canted forward to reduce the chance of ricochets?

If so, is there a recommended angle?

Thanks

 

[hafejd30]

Yes. Not only reduces ricocheting but also reduces the ft lbs transferred to your target/post. Not sure on specific angles. Just an obvious can’t is sufficient. The bullet fragments will chew up your post or anything under it.

I made wooden plate hangers that I can set anywhere for mine. The fragments have just about cut the 2X4 down the center on them

Have extra posts ready to go. The chance of you hitting a 1” post at 500 yards is next to zero. Once you hang your target on it that chance somehow goes up immensely.

 

[R_A_W]

Once you hang your target on it that chance somehow goes up immensely.

ain't that the truth

 

[Storm Bringer]

Would it be better to hang the target than mount it fixed to a post?

 

[hafejd30]

Would it be better to hang the target than mount it fixed to a post?

Giving it the ability to swing will help with the life of the steel. It also helps absorb some energy when the bullet hits. It also allows you to see an impact better at longer ranges if the target is washed out from the sun

 

[Slides]

I found the easiest mounting solution was cheap wide footprint child swing frames. Timber looks like a PITA.

I assume you can buy something similar in North America from chain stores.

 

[Tanstaafl]

That kid’s swing is a simple solution, cool.

The previous input is spot on. Here’s a few pictures. Hanging is good for longer ranges where energy has been expended. Angled is good for target life, and required for safety if you’re going to do anything close up like pistol caliber drills. The 2x4 and conduit bracket kits are easy to find at Scheels, Cabela’s, Amazon etc. The angled brackets tend be at 15 degrees. Buy a grade 5 bolt for the 2x4 hanger and it will survive longer. And don’t shoot green tip 5.56 at anything unless you like replacing AR500 targets.

 

[Simonsza1]

The T post mount from mk machine are easy to setup, work well and puts the target at an angle.

 

[hafejd30]

These are my setups

 

[Smokenaces]

No help on static mount but here a a few I use.

 

[Sheldon N]

I really like the T-post target hanger system from D-M Targets. He also has an angled hanger bracket if you want the target sloped downward.

https://www.d-mtargets.com/store/c6/hangersstands

I use them for both long range and also for close up pistol targets, have thousands of rounds on them trouble free. The hangers from JC Steel are good too.

Centerfire AR500 Steel Target Hangers - Steel Target Hanger

Find top-quality centerfire AR500 steel target hangers for your shooting range. Durable and reliable steel target hanger options available.

jcsteeltargets.com

 

[Storm Bringer]

Hi everyone. Thanks for all the information. We have a long weekend coming up this weekend, so I am definitely going to get something going. So excited!

 

[vinconco]

The Hang Fast System allows the plate to hang at an angle by a single mounting point. The plate hangs naturally at a back angle and is super reactive. Easy to set up and take down. Tools are built into the hanger.

 

[Simonsza1]

Seems like an extreme angle, you lose half the target height.

 

[vinconco]

Seems like an extreme angle, you lose half the target height.

Angles are very adjustable with this system depending on the plate/hanger and mounting combination you select.
The standard angle is 17 degrees which leaves 96% of the plate visible. A 12" plate would have a 11.52" visible exposure.
The 66% IPSC Extreme angle (12 x 20") hangs at 40 degrees and has a 76% exposure with 15 inches showing.

 

[Stone111]

JC steel targets has a T post bracket in several sizes. I use them on my carbine course... top notch and fairly cheap, easy install and hangs the target at an angle... best design out there IMO.
https://jcsteeltargets.com/6-t-post-bracket-1/

 

[DFOOSKING]

^^^I have used the JC Steel tpost hangers. Work great with my 66% IPSC's.

Consider tposts consumable. Farmers are usually sitting on a pile of old bent rusty ones that are perfect for the task. I call around and never buy new ones. Old steel is often better steel too.

They never fail immediately.....you should get plenty of life out of a single tpost. They can take having multiple chunks taken out. And we've broken them off and just slipped them onto whatever remains and pulled the remainder out with a chain and atv when a replacement is actually needed. We've had tposts last entire summers with high round counts.

 

[912173]

With hanging targets you can add some angle by putting a nut or spacer between the plate and the chain or strap.

 

[FieldGaugeFailure]

I found the easiest mounting solution was cheap wide footprint child swing frames. Timber looks like a PITA.

I assume you can buy something similar in North America from chain stores.

View attachment 8418470

We have chain stores in America that have lumber (Home Depot/Lowes), and they'll even cut it for us.

 

[vinconco]

We have chain stores in America that have lumber (Home Depot/Lowes), and they'll even cut it for us.

They also have T Posts that don't need to be cut or built into a frame that can get shot apart and costs more to replace.
I can hang a T Post target in about 30 seconds and the post cost 7 bucks.

 

[FieldGaugeFailure]

They also have T Posts that don't need to be cut or built into a frame that can get shot apart and costs more to replace.
I can hang a T Post target in about 30 seconds and the post cost 7 bucks.

You're not wrong. My point though, was that the person I was replying to was talking about what was available in chain stores, which lumber is. I wasn't debating what was the better medium.

 

[higginsworksforme]

Some manufacturers have a spring mechanism that allows some give but the target resets faster than on a chain.

 

[vinconco]

Hang Fast Targets chain design solved the problem of slow re-sets and enhanced reactivity and sound.
This video demonstrates the target being hit with a 12 ga. slug @ 25 yards to show the target system will withstand the heavy hitters and still reset within 3 seconds.

 

[Storm Bringer]

Hello all:

Thanks for the replies and great information. Here's what I ended up doing for one target.

It's an AR500 target suspended on chains.

I can get up to 200 meters on this one target.

 

[vinconco]

Here is a pic of my 500-yard setup. Large target as a sighter and progressively smaller, all on a single 6' T Post.
Because of their single mounting point on a 3-link chain, they react noticeably with hits and reset within 3 seconds, and they ring like a bell.
This target has been in place and shot on a regular basis for 5 years with the same T post probably because the targets are stacked with very little room for the bullet to get through to the T Post.

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

When I was managing the Dugdemona range, east of Jonesboro, Louisiana, I built a gong holder for the regular folks to shoot at. It was a very heavy chunk of steel, a good foot or more in diameter. I used treated 4x4 posts/timbers to mount it on, at 100 yards. Sorry shooters, shot the 4x4 posts more often than they hit the gong with at least a foot and a half separating the gong from the timbers. The accuracy potential of the typical Louisiana deer hunter is really, really really scary. They could not hit water if they fell out of a boat.

Back to the point. As far as target holders, I go back to my silhouette swingers. Using a welded rod, forming a three sided box, it slips into couple pieces of angle iron with a tube welded. Chains or heavy straps hold the targets. Had the kids at the shop class at Quitman high school weld them up for me as a class training project fifteen years ago. As long as a fellow does not plaster the the steel rods, they last forever. They aren't pretty but as I said, been shooting at them for a decade and a half and they keep on hanging on. Pun intended.

I needed something easily movable and transportable. See first paragraph. they can't hit the but of a bull with a bass fiddle but they love to destroy targets with their magnum rifles at ranges far too close to be shooting rifles. I think they refer to it as a mark of manhood. (destroying stuff that isn't doing them any harm). Damn near the only thing about Louisiana that I don't like.

I will try to get pictures to add to this post tomorrow.