Gong targets?

murph226

Does anyone have any good links for DIY gong style targets?

I'm making up one at the moment with a few bits of steel plate and bar that I had around the place, but I'd like to see what other designs/ideas are around the place?

Cheers Murph.

poulo6.5

murph226 wrote: »

Does anyone have any good links for DIY gong style targets?

I'm making up one at the moment with a few bits of steel plate and bar that I had around the place, but I'd like to see what other designs/ideas are around the place?

Cheers Murph.

well murph. i'v seen a few different types but i think the handiest way to do it is to bolt on 2 chains and hang them on a frame.
if you spray it white or yellow with the line marking spray that you get in a hardware store it makes it easy to see the strike.

what thickness plate are you using.
i'v bin using 6mm plate steel but the .223 penetrates that out to about 250-280m . after 300m it dings of it nicely
i was out yesterday with my .223 and .308 and i 0'd my rifles and set up my deer silhouette that i have made from that 6mm plate steel out to 350m and the .308 had no trouble passing threw.
i need thicker plate:D
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx159/poulo69/th_350m3082.jpg?t=1279994233
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx159/poulo69/th_350m308.jpg?t=1279994233
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx159/poulo69/th_350mtarget.jpg?t=1279994233
these ar some pics of my practice.
can anyone tell me how to make the pic come up on the thread

johngalway

poulo6.5 wrote: »

well murph. i'v seen a few different types but i think the handiest way to do it is to bolt on 2 chains and hang them on a frame.
if you spray it white or yellow with the line marking spray that you get in a hardware store it makes it easy to see the strike.

what thickness plate are you using.
i'v bin using 6mm plate steel but the .223 penetrates that out to about 250-280m . after 300m it dings of it nicely
i was out yesterday with my .223 and .308 and i 0'd my rifles and set up my deer silhouette that i have made from that 6mm plate steel out to 350m and the .308 had no trouble passing threw.
i need thicker plate:D
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx159/poulo69/th_350m3082.jpg?t=1279994233
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx159/poulo69/th_350m308.jpg?t=1279994233
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx159/poulo69/th_350mtarget.jpg?t=1279994233
these ar some pics of my practice.
can anyone tell me how to make the pic come up on the thread

Copy the IMG code from Photobucket and paste it into your post

murph226

Hi Poulo, thats kinda what I'm throwing together at the moment, 4 legged frame with a few links of chain onto a 11 inch round piece of 6 mil plate.

Just experimenting at the moment, surprised to hear that the .223 penetrates that thickness of plate at that distance!

Good idea on the silhouette aswell, I'll have to get a fox one made up!

Just have to make time to get out with the rifle now, done very little with it since I've got it:(

poulo6.5

murph226 wrote: »

Hi Poulo, thats kinda what I'm throwing together at the moment, 4 legged frame with a few links of chain onto a 11 inch round piece of 6 mil plate.

Just experimenting at the moment, surprised to hear that the .223 penetrates that thickness of plate at that distance!

Good idea on the silhouette aswell, I'll have to get a fox one made up!

Just have to make time to get out with the rifle now, done very little with it since I've got it:(

murph i have a couple of fox silhouette if you want one you can have one

cheers john i just tried that on the photo thread and it worked a treat

Rovi

Weld the hanger chains about 1/4 way down the back of the gong, not to the top.
That way, it'll hang at an angle and the bullet splash will be deflected towards the ground.

Mild steel isn't really up to the job for high-velocity centrefire rifle bullets though, especially FMJ, unless it'll never be shot at below 300 yards or so. It's simply too soft and will either be penetrated if too thin, or will dimple/crater if thicker or at longer ranges.
Holes/dimples/craters in the gong will give rise to unpredictable ricochet/splash behaviour at bullet impact, which has obvious safety concerns.

Ideally, gongs for rifle shooting should be made of hard/armour plate steel, and even that will suffer damage at short ranges (sub 100 yards).

murph226

poulo6.5 wrote: »

murph i have a couple of fox silhouette if you want one you can have one

cheers john i just tried that on the photo thread and it worked a treat

Cheers Poulo, I'll be getting a few gongs cut out by a friend with a plasma cutter and I'll get him to do me one or two and see how he gets on!

ianoo

i think its better to drill your plate and bolt the chains on ,any ones i welded all broke at the weld even at long range with the .223 ,hitting them with a .338 didnt help either:D:D:D
how you drill 10mm plate is another story .....
ian

Tackleberrywho

ianoo wrote: »

i think its better to drill your plate and bolt the chains on ,any ones i welded all broke at the weld even at long range with the .223 ,hitting them with a .338 didnt help either:D:D:D
how you drill 10mm plate is another story .....
ian

milling machine, or more likely plasma cutter

Thomasofmel

I got one made (see photo) - the smaller swinger is made of 10mm steel plate (for .22), and the gong is made from 15mm thick 400 Brinell toughened steel (for .223). Of course I had to try to hit the swinger with .223, hence the marks

Rovi

A properly sharpened bit in a pillar drill running at the correct speed with plenty of coolant will easily go through 10mm mild steel, and hardened steels shouldn't be out of the question either.
Mild steel of that thickness and more can be done with a hand drill by starting with a small bit and working up to the desired size, just be careful to keep control of the drill when breaking through with the bigger bits.

Plasma and acetylene will cut much rougher holes, which probably doesn't matter too much in this application, but the acetylene torch will considerably soften the material around the hole, and 10mm plate is at the very top end of the range of most single phase plasma machines.

murph226

Nice work Thomas, is there much of a sound off the gong?

Thomasofmel

Not much sound, probably too small & heavy - see it swinging though

Tackleberrywho

Rovi wrote: »

A properly sharpened bit in a pillar drill running at the correct speed with plenty of coolant will easily go through 10mm mild steel, and hardened steels shouldn't be out of the question either.
Mild steel of that thickness and more can be done with a hand drill by starting with a small bit and working up to the desired size, just be careful to keep control of the drill when breaking through with the bigger bits.

Plasma and acetylene will cut much rougher holes, which probably doesn't matter too much in this application, but the acetylene torch will considerably soften the material around the hole, and 10mm plate is at the very top end of the range of most single phase plasma machines.

Ah my mates Plasma cutter is no single phase toy

He did not buy it in Lidl, 100K second hand from Germany

Can cut weights off the front of a tractor on the flat.

We may be biffo's ; but Us Bogmen are master craftsmen at machining bog machinery and the like

PM me if you need details.
He would not be expensive and may even have a bit of a digger bucket lying around.

We converted a JCB bucket to fit a teleporter and that involved serious cutting of tough steel

Rovi

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Ah my mates Plasma cutter is no single phase toy

3-phase industrial plant is a horse of an entirely different colour, all right.

Tackleberrywho

Rovi wrote: »

3-phase industrial plant is a horse of an entirely different colour, all right.

Tis in deedie

So never be stuck!
He'd prob laugh at fellas wanting a GONG

"sur how would tha make ya money, or be of any use on tha farm?"

At the end of the day, all one wants is a chunk of metal to go Donggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg IF hit

clivej

John Greene has gongs in his shop.

Tackleberrywho

clivej wrote: »

John Greene has gongs in his shop.

Why pay when one can get for free!

I'm home wed, I might make one up for pig iron; pardon the pun

4gun

what are the odds of ricochet... the area where I zero my rifles has plenth of natural back stops when shooting to a plywood cut out....River levees to a height of over 10 feet sort of and plenty of forest on the other side
I was worried about using gongs because I thought maybe that the bullet could ricochet and travel along some distance on a new trajectory ....Is the bullet destroyed on impact

Tackleberrywho

4gun wrote: »

what are the odds of ricochet... the area where I zero my rifles has plenth of natural back stops when shooting to a plywood cut out....River levees to a height of over 10 feet sort of and plenty of forest on the other side
I was worried about using gongs because I thought maybe that the bullet could ricochet and travel along some distance on a new trajectory ....Is the bullet destroyed on impact

Depends on bullet BT's are the best to break up on impact

4gun

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Depends on bullet BT's are the best to break up on impact

I've seem slow-mo vids of bullet impact on hard surfaces would have thought psp's would have been safer then again if hitting a flat hard surface the bullet can't go any where shooting at between 70-90deg to target..... on the other hand if shooting at a shallow angle increases chance of rebound
going to do it... got some old stanley covers that i can try or would they shatter presuming they're cast..are they?

Tackleberrywho

4gun wrote: »

I've seem slow-mo vids of bullet impact on hard surfaces would have thought psp's would have been safer then again if hitting a flat hard surface the bullet can't go any where shooting at between 70-90deg to target..... on the other hand if shooting at a shallow angle increases chance of rebound
going to do it... got some old stanley covers that i can try or would they shatter presuming they're cast..are they?

Cast AFAIK, prob will shatter

In hind sight I can see this thread causing arguments

Less said easily mended

FISMA

Murph,
What are you shooting?

My cousin had a nice plinking target like this

Fine for smaller rounds, claimed to be fine up to 30-06, soft nose. Well, he wouldn't listen to me when I told him not to shoot the core-lokt stuff at it. Destroyed in one shot.

If you are handy with a torch, get some plate metal, weld on a bit of a hanger, spray paint orange, and setup. Nothing fancy, all you want is a bit of noise.

ianoo

this is why i need to drill the plates :(

ian

gunhappy_ie

If anyone is in cork area and wanting this kinda stuff done i may be able to help pm me with requirements

rowa

this is a link to a bianchi "plate rack" i made up for the club , its 6 x 8inch diameter steel plates 10mm thick , the purpose is to shoot them down as quickly as possible against the clock , the world record is something ridiculous like 2.2 seconds. the centrefire pistols really knock them down but as can be seen from the video .22's can struggle.
the plates are angled forward by about 15 degrees so any debris is directed into the ground, the light rope on the right is pulled and the plates reset. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC5s7WN94jQ

landkeeper

ianoo wrote: »

i think its better to drill your plate and bolt the chains on ,any ones i welded all broke at the weld even at long range with the .223 ,hitting them with a .338 didnt help either:D:D:D
how you drill 10mm plate is another story .....
ian

well placed shot with some full metal jacket 223 stuff should do the trick
making sure there is a good backstop of course

Spannerman7

Tack,
I'd be interested to see if the plasma cut plate ends up brittle on the edges, when I made the one for Thomas the plate was waterjet cut so there would be no heat, I was concerned that this may happen, I got a strip of AR400 in 15mm for the job, I did a bit of testing before making it, a swift round will almost go through 15mm mild steel at 50 mtrs, leaves a bulge in 20mm mild steel, just a large creator in EN24T and just a mark in AR400.
Wear plates in a digger bucket should have fairly similar properties, let us know how you get on Tack.
Spannerman

Tackleberrywho

Spannerman7 wrote: »

Tack,
I'd be interested to see if the plasma cut plate ends up brittle on the edges, when I made the one for Thomas the plate was waterjet cut so there would be no heat, I was concerned that this may happen, I got a strip of AR400 in 15mm for the job, I did a bit of testing before making it, a swift round will almost go through 15mm mild steel at 50 mtrs, leaves a bulge in 20mm mild steel, just a large creator in EN24T and just a mark in AR400.
Wear plates in a digger bucket should have fairly similar properties, let us know how you get on Tack.
Spannerman

I will indeed, I'm off tomorrow. I'll visit a few places where I may get a piece of a bucket ior similar.

Thats project 2, I have to get my mates fox trap photographed/filmed in operation too.

Hope the rain keeps off

Dusty87

FISMA wrote: »

Murph,
What are you shooting?

My cousin had a nice plinking target like this

Fine for smaller rounds, claimed to be fine up to 30-06, soft nose. Well, he wouldn't listen to me when I told him not to shoot the core-lokt stuff at it. Destroyed in one shot.

If you are handy with a torch, get some plate metal, weld on a bit of a hanger, spray paint orange, and setup. Nothing fancy, all you want is a bit of noise.

Local dealers has somethin similar but i would have thought it only good for 22. Must ask him. Have my JCB bucket sorted anyway:)

ianoo

landkeeper wrote: »

well placed shot with some full metal jacket 223 stuff should do the trick
making sure there is a good backstop of course

you'd think so landkeeper ,,but if you look at the pic i posted you will see all the craters that were made with full metal jacket .223 rds from 200 yrds :Dtheres even a couple from a 300win mag ,
have a local welder drilling them for me so i'm sorted

ian