Long range rifle targets

[Browneye]

So for several years now I have had hanging metal targets by the house that my family shoot the pistols at with much enjoyment. For years I have wanted to get a long range setup for rifle shooting set up but just have not got it done. Last weekend I finally did. I set them in 100 yard increments from 100 to 500 yards. For the 100 and 200 yard set I went to Palhke steel and got their 12" AR 500 hardened round targets so the high power rifles couldn't tear them up. The rest I went with 12x16" 3/8 steel plate. Just pounded 2 steel posts in sided by side and hung the targets from them. Last weekend my son and I brought out the heavy barreled .223 and had a blast with them. I don't yet have any adjustable to zero turreted scopes so I just went to the back of the reloading book and made a cheat sheet of dropage at each distance and let it rip. It was fun just doping the dropage and wind drift by the seat of our pants. Surprisingly even with snow on the ground alot of the times you could see your misses and eventually walk your shots in till you got a hit and a clang. For my old ears the 400 to 500 hits were hard to hear. I just picked up another target i will put out at 800 yards. I went with 1/4" for this one hoping the clang will be louder and at that distance I'm thinking even big calibers wont have enough ft lbs left at 800 to damage the target. Awesome way to learn the real world limitations of all the different calibers you shoot and have fun while you do it.

 

[AR-15]

For hanging the targets I use that belting they use in balers instead of chain, you can shoot through the belting, if you hit the chain it's shot

 

[SupressYourself]

I'm a big fan of Atlas Target Works out of SD. Their pipe-style plate hangers are awesome:
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://www.atlastargetworks.com/co...get-hanger-hook-for-3-4-conduit-or-black-pipe

Just put them on a piece of 3/4" galvanized conduit and strap that to two t-posts. That setup will give you the best "clang", and they're made out of AR500, so you can't really break them.



[/FONT]1/4" AR500 is fine for 800 yards and will give you the loudest ring if you have it mounted right.

 

[SupressYourself]

Here's the one we put at 1270 yards. It's a 12" plate hanging on a pipe inside of busted grain cart rim.
Finally got a decent wind (not much) last Friday morning and scored a first-round hit. Then the wind kept switching around and all I could hit was the rim.

- - - Updated - - -

And this is the back side of our 66% IPSC at 800 yds. Our shooting platform is in the big grove of trees in the background.​

 

[SDMF]

I really like that big rim solution. Good job!

 

[Kentucky Windage]

Rim jobs have always been his thing

 

[SDMF]

Rim jobs have always been his thing

Ouch! Touché.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

In all seriousness, I do like that tire rim gong idea.

 

[PrairieGhost]

I used 1/2 inch steel rod that I heated, bent to shape, and welded. The chain is hardened steel but you need to have a few extra S hooks if you hit them. Steel plates are AR500 steel 4 inch, 6 inch, 8 inch, and 10 inch. Most often I set them where it requires minute of angle to hit them. Sometimes I set them all at 800 or 1000yd and start with the largest and try work my way to the smallest.
One side is white and the other is black. I found that paint blows right off with a couple of hits, but primer sticks much better.
I'm sure glad they started selling targets at various places because I had the 8 inch made locally and it run me $75.

 

[Jiffy]

Prairieghost,
How come I see lots of hits on the big target and none on the others? :;:stirthepot

- - - Updated - - -

Here's the one we put at 1270 yards. It's a 12" plate hanging on a pipe inside of busted grain cart rim.
Finally got a decent wind (not much) last Friday morning and scored a first-round hit. Then the wind kept switching around and all I could hit was the rim.

Agreed, this is a very good idea!

 

[PrairieGhost]

Prairieghost,
How come I see lots of hits on the big target and none on the others?

Hellooooo Jiffy. I can't hit the small targets. :;:thumbsup

 

[SupressYourself]

In all seriousness, I do like that tire rim gong idea.

I've only had one session with it so far, but it works pretty well. If you miss the 12" plate, you still get feedback from the rim. We needed a spotting scope though. I could tell I was hitting the rim, but couldn't tell where and didn't know how to correct.