Shooting Range back stop

[iceman4226]

Hello all
Thought I would pick a few brains from those that are smarter than myself.
I have a 5' wide pistol range. 1/4" steel plates angled at a 45° over a sand pit with sides covered. It has worked very well for several yrs now. I am going to widen it to 10'. What I want to do is add on 1 side a swinging rifle plate inside of it 2'x2' or 2'x3' by1/2" thick. Swinging to take some of the energy out. I am able to stretch my distance to 80yards. This will be used to just to get rifle on paper and test firing. No larger than 308cal and or 3000fps will be used. I have read a little about rifle steel and what is listed AR550 steel. Its hard to come by and $$$. Is there anything else I can use or or that you have used that works well. I have a Baseball home plate shaped and size target now 5/8" thick that works pretty good just would like something square shape and a little bigger. If anybody has any good ideas that they have done for their back stop range or hanging small steel targets or paper targets. I have always found people have had some creative ideas in the past and I scratch my head and wonder why I didn't think of that. Picture would be great also.

 

[Keith_Indy]

I used dirt backed by telephone poles as a backstop at my ex-wife and I's place.

Had 4x4 fence posts in front of that to hang targets.

 

[teddy12b]

For targets, you're right that AR500 is expensive, but there's some people on amazon who make targets and I have no idea how they sell it for what they do. I've bought several plates from RMP on Amazon and they hold up. I have a 338 Lapua and their 3/8" AR500 plate held up for way more hits than I thought it would before I started seeing chunks flying off of it. For a 308 though, you'll need a new barrel before you wear these out. https://www.amazon.com/RMP-Gong-Swi...ords=rmp+steel+targets&qid=1604516672&sr=8-11


I use this kind of setup in my backyard:

Basically, it's a couple of AR500 steel brackets ($20 ish) that also require four 3/4 black iron pipe legs, and one 2x4 piece of wood. The beauty of this design is it's cheap, anything that gets destroyed is easily/cheaply replaced, and it is easy to take apart and put in the back of a vehicle for transport.

 

[iceman4226]

I will check those plates on amazon i need to get some of those. What I'm really looking for is a 2'x2' or 3' to hang behind the paper target in my pistol back stop. to stop rifle rounds

 

[teddy12b]

I will check those plates on amazon i need to get some of those. What I'm really looking for is a 2'x2' or 3' to hang behind the paper target in my pistol back stop. to stop rifle rounds

I plate that size that's 3/8" is going to be in the hundreds. If you're looking for a plate as a backstop, I'd suggest abandoning that idea and going with dirt. You could get a load of top soil dropped off at your location for less than you'd have in a steel plate. If there's a cosmetic concern, use garden soil and throw a bunch of wild flower mix on it and all of a sudden it becomes decorative landscaping.

 

[STFU]

...Basically, it's a couple of AR500 steel brackets ($20 ish) that also require four 3/4 black iron pipe legs, and one 2x4 piece of wood. The beauty of this design is...

Where did you find those brackets? I really like those.

 

[Kdf101]

That is some pretty cheap plates! I just ordered two to add to my back yard range. I second the question on where did you get the brackets?

 

[STFU]

Kdf101, I found these:
https://www.amazon.com/Highwild-AR5...TV7B6WYKYNG&psc=1&refRID=7M2Y5ZVD1TV7B6WYKYNG

 

[jstrahl]

We did about the same thing as Keith_Indy except we used old railroad ties instead of telephone poles. A lumber yard in Columbus sells them relatively cheap and they're easy to stack. I believe we did them 8 high with angled sides and then filled the center with dirt. We do have a small tractor with a front bucket that helped quite a bit with the stacking and filling.

 

[teddy12b]

These are the brackets I've purchased in the past: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VR6XL16/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've never tried to pin the bracket to a 3/4" pipe leg. I've also shot steel plates with a 50 BMG from 50 yards and not knocked it over with these brackets. It was just a few shots, but still.

 

[Kdf101]

Kdf101, I found these:
https://www.amazon.com/Highwild-AR5...TV7B6WYKYNG&psc=1&refRID=7M2Y5ZVD1TV7B6WYKYNG

Thanks! I just ordered two and we will how they work out.