Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Stands for LR steel targets?

Did a search but wondering what set-ups you guys are using to hang your steel targets? The ground here can vary from very soft to extremely hard so pounding posts in the ground isn't that desirable.

I've been shooting scrap steel and heavy machine parts from work but a bud and I got qty=6, 3/8" thick, 12"x12" armor plate from another bud. He overheard us talking about steel targets and showed up the next day with plate used for .mil projects/contracts.

I'm no welder but can run a Mig and have steel stock. Just wondering if you've found some simple yet effective stands without a lot of bulk or fuss.

Oh... some mud flaps got torn off of one of our forklifts last week (flaps got stuck between tire and fender) so I snagged those.

Jason

Sorry for the terrible pic, but at the moment, it's the best I got.

Anyhow, it will free stand and the legs which extend about 3" below the cross braces at the bottom can be pushed into the soil if needed. Rebar is cheap and would work just fine for something like this

I'm not a welder either so I used threaded pipe elbows and "T" from the hardware store. I had a bunch of odd length pieces of electrical conduit from my wall tent frame so I used those. I had to grind the thread so the conduit would fit. I also use some pins to take it apart when I ride to a quad accessible only location. You could also just use threaded pipe to make it even simpler. This was just a test, the horizontal bar and legs are longer and I'm using straps instead of chains.

Simple swing set brackets and 1/2" rebar

Sendero
Are those blind end caps? We use the same thing for our long range gongs! They work great.

T post and a bracket on the back of my steel plate.

I used some 1/2" pipe fittings and came up with this.





Not good picture but you get the idea. Those are 4' rebar and the weight from the steel helps stabilize the set up.

yes, the top pic is

bottom is a Disc off a farm implement

I use the same setup, but hang my targets with cut lengths of fire hose.

I've used various metal stands, but now prefer to just pound a couple lengths of 2 x 4 into the ground with a single cross piece connecting the tops. The gongs are hung on 2 loops of nylon strapping from broken semi tie-downs and 1/2" grade 8 bolts. My target boards are the same thing with a piece of plywood nailed to it.I can put them up in minutes and since it is my own land they stay there until a moose knocks them over.

I've found that the portables get knocked over when shooting, and most metal stands get shot up and jagged.

Some interesting ideas fellas.

I think I'll weld some 1/2-13 bolt(s) on the backside of the targets, then hang with those mudflaps. I like the bungees though. And re-bar is a good idea for legs on the cheap.

Just need to get some legs made. I've got a 110v wire-feed at home but its easier to do this stuff at work.

Jason

You might avoid welding on the armor plate due to its hardness and the flex that takes place with each hit, which causes welds to break eventually. Punch some 1/2" holes in the plate with a plasma and bolt your belting on that way.

Good point Lonny... I thought about that. But how is the armor welded? The source of our plates has to scrap 3" around the cut due to .mil standard. Wouldn't small tacks around a bolt be less heat than a plasma hole?

I could drill holes, but then the hardware is exposed. And yes, I'm the guy that'll hit the hardware

I suppose we could just wing it and get more plates if needed. Don't want to gut the goose laying the golden eggs for us though

Jason

What kind of swing set brackets and where do I find them? Thanks

Looks like I need to go dig around in the boneyard at work and see if I can find any blind flanges...

had them made outta 3/4" conduit LSU.

one 20' stick of rebar does on stand. 4-4' for legs and one 3' for cross piece. very cheap and very sturdy stand !

Used wire the first year, but have since upgraded to nylon tow strap and belt like Scenar is using.

Thanks. When you said swing set brackets I was hoping there was something easy I could buy. Can probably get all the rebar scraps I need from work but getting the brackets welded up is a little tougher.

Somebody on Snipershide was selling them a few years back. I bought enough to make a half-dozen stands for pretty cheap. You might ask around on the various shooting forums.

It sounds like you have access to a variety of true armor plate and not the AR 4-500 or "Abrasion Resistant" varieties that most people use for targets. That should be some really good stuff.

Whenever you heat these types of materials to cut or weld, it compromises the steel. Plasma cutting does heat it up and the edges near it are now softer, but it still works pretty darn well. Water-jet would be the bomb. Welding will do the same as plaz and small tacks have a high chance of eventually breaking. Larger welds hold better but have more heat input which softens the material even more. With armor plate and building commercial bullet traps, we used very small tacks to hold in position until we could bolt pieces into place. My pick for a home use target would be plaz cutting holes for hanging so as to not have the chance of welds breaking. You might have to replace a bolt every now and again, but that better than rewelding again and again.

The guy that sells the targets on here bolts on a deal on the back that slips over a standard $3 tpost fence post. Yes, believe it or not you will shoot the fence post, but mine has taken 3 rounds and it's still standing. If it breaks, another $3 fence post and you are back in the game.

Assuming of course you actually have some dirt where you intend to place your target.