Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Hanging Steel Targets on the cheap

I've been selling AR500 rifle targets in the classifieds for a bit and I get a bunch of guys asking how to hang them so I figured it would be helpful to post a few things I've figured out. My shooting spot is somewhat remote and getting to targets requires hiking so some of this stuff may not be of concern for some.

I always cobbled together brackets and used rebar as legs but dang it if they didn't always fall over with the crazy wind and weather at my shooting spot. Rust and sharp edges from bullet strikes really suck and putting them in a pack is sorta necessary where I hang my steels so I was looking for a better solution.

I ran across these target brackets and bought several. Uses 1" electrical conduit for the cross member and 3/4" for the legs. Electrical conduit is super cheap, galvanized, light weight and easy to cut with a hacksaw. Drill some holes and use lock pins if you're in a hurry or just bolt them to save a few bucks. Looks like this.



Old firehose is still my favorite way to hang them as it can absorb a bunch of hits and it's free. Check local stations. It can be a bit hard to work with though. A good set of tin snips will make fairly quick cuts and a sharp drill bit with one end of the hose in a vise works pretty good. I always start with a smaller bit and work up to 1/2". Make sure to put hose on back side of steel so bullet shrapnel doesn't kill it prematurely (Cough, Kingston. Cough.) Throw a couple hose clamps on either side to keep the target from walking to the low side of cross member.

I like targets with square holes as they allow for use of carriage bolts. Carriage bolts only need one wrench vs. a standard hex type bolt that will get pummeled with splatter from your bullets and be a bit hard to get a hold on when it comes time to change things around.

Results might vary.

Feel free to post up your solutions.

Happy Thanksgiving.