Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Shooting range gong ?

I am going to get a steel gong for my own range, and may also donate a gong to my local range.

For 100 yds. what do you recommend for high power rifles. 10" round or ? Double tab or single hole ?

I just checked with my local steel supplier, and he has AR500 1/2". I will cut to fit.

10" for open sites or standing/offhand

For bench and scopes 8" is plenty and 4 or 6" is fine too.

Make sure you anchor the schit out of it that close...

There is no down side to going big, especially if you're trying to stop the bullet. If you go 12" you can have multiple aiming points on the same plate.

This is true. I often put multiple spots on a 14" square plate I have at 200yds. At 100, be careful with AP ammo or ultra-vel stuff like the 257wby. Might get some damage.

I had a 6" 1/2" plate at 200 hanging off a saw horse at 200 and hit it with a 162 Amax out of my 7Mag. Funny as schit. Then had it hanging from a target frame with old conveyor belt rubber and the first shot sheared the heads off the bolts. Even funnier.

My range used to make gongs out of mild steel scrap. Even at 300 yards an 87 grain Hornady from a 257 Weatherby would tear them up quick.

A few observations from large and small targets with properly fitting and poorly fitting bolts. This only applies to targets hung from a support of some kind, I’ve never hard mounted them to a post so can’t say how those react.

A larger target will have more inertia so won’t stress the mounting system as much, assuming a hanging mount of some kind. I have an 8” round and 12” square of AR500, each ½” thick, each held with two strips of hard rubber cut from a trailer mud guard. At 200 yards most hits from a .243 on up will bounce the 8” target around, while even a .30-06 at that range only moves the 12” square a little bit. Two holes are better than one, one hanging strap lets the target twist around and it can take a while for the target to settle down again.

AR500 is the way to go. My 8" round at 200 yards has a couple thousand hits by now with everything from a .223, .22-250, 243, .25-06 - all full power going 3200-3800 fps, , 6.5's of various kinds, .270's, .308, .30-06, and 8x57. The moon looks like a cue ball compared to the surface of the target but it's still hanging in there, pun intended. FWIW, the 12" target gets a lot of hits from a .223 with 55 gr. FMJ but mostly it's used for lighter loaded military or .30 caliber rounds and it still looks almost new.

Size the bolts to the holes properly. The JC Vibby targets I use have nice precise holes for ½” bolts but I was using 3/8” bolts. The attaching nuts would loosen to the point of falling off after a couple or three dozen hits. The bolts would also break repeatedly, I assume from bouncing around in their holes. I replaced them with ½” bolts and with a washer, lock washer and nut on the back the nut doesn’t loosen at all after a full range session of 100 to 120 high velocity rounds or more. The bolts last far longer and are only replaced when a few direct hits destroy their heads and start to push them through the steel.

Hardened bolts don’t hold up much better than standard, they just cost more. They may last a little bit longer, I haven't proved it one way or the other. but direct hits will kill both of them, so I quit paying more for the hardened ones.

The hanging straps obviously attach to the back of the gong but try to hang them so they are behind the supporting structure as well. I.e., behind the plane of the target face, otherwise shrapnel tends to tear them up prematurely.

Anything downrange WILL get hit eventually, so whatever you rig up should either be a) literally bulletproof and stand up to thousands of hits or b) easily, cheaply and quickly replaceable.


Here is a thread from a while ago with some pics of my target set up. I've replaced the wing nuts with a washer, lock washer and hex nut but the general setup remains the same. In the pic you can see how the wings of the nuts broke off just from the shock of bullets hitting the target.

Gong hanging advice

Google JC Steel Targets, he has what you need and is good to deal with.

Pre-cut and drilled.

Gong(s) at our club cannot withstand the punishment from even hunting rounds. The gongs are made of tough stuff, but the welds holding the eyes to attach suspending chains get shattered. Towing strap options shredded eventually, hardened steel frames get holes in them, etc. I slid pipe over chains to try more than the coated wire some were using and -- shot through in no time. Also, don't use anything that can ricochet, especially NOT back at ya! Seen the result on YouTube and that was a return from 500 yards! (Set it up to swing a bit / deflect downward.) It sure is fun to hit 'em tho. Ours ar at 350 yards.

Barry

Thanks for all of the advice. The range here is in a small rural area, so not used hard as many are.
It is not an organized affair, it is come as you are, probably alone, post your target and shoot.
They also have a trap and skeet range.
I talked to one of the members, and they have targets at 100, 125, and 200.
Most all is from the bench, and I am thinking a 12" square steel from 200 yds. would be best,
so they don't tear things up as much.

I found one seller, who sells a gong that hangs from a single hook through the top center of a round target.
I like that idea. Simpler is sometimes better. Anyone with opinions on that style ?

All depends on the distance. Try these guys:

Shooting Target 7

We bought a pile of them and they've held up well. Thought the prices were good too.

Another vote for JC Steel targets!! Shooting steel is so much more fun than punching paper and, FWIW, I really like my 12"x24" targets the best. We usually paint multiple small diamonds on the target for shooting groups and that way you can continue to get visual feedback without having to run down and repaint. Also you can hang them the long way and use them as torso-targets for short range pistol shooting. For deer season, I paint a brown deer body and do a red outline for the heart/lung area and let my son bang away. Using his Bushnell 3200 3-9x w/ the ballistic reticle, he's consistent out to 330 & 440 yards before deer season opens which really builds confidence for the shorter ranges we typically see in the field.....

This outfit might save you some work.
I have several of the 8" and 12" (1/2") gongs from them. And the A frame brackets (to work with a 2x4) and aluminum tube legs make for great portability.

https://www.ar500targetsolutions.com/shop/

I gave up on gongs for rifles. It is less fun now.

......but I make up for it by shooting them with the handguns.



water filled containers are a hoot.

Mine are mild steel but I'm far enough away that they hold up ok. The hard part is hanging them in a way that lasts... bullets (and bullet fragments) play hell on however you do it. These days I lag them to stumps with TimberLok brand screws.

My local Walmart had 2 sizes of AR500 gongs today. Both were 3/8 thick. Didnt pay close attention, 4" and 8" diameter maybe?

Here's a great way to hang them from Hang Fast Targets

The plate protects the hanging hardware from bullet damage.
T Posts are less than 5 bucks and tough as hell

This is a 10" AR500 1/2" target on a short chain section. Very reactive.


This is the same plate on a different hanger that limits movement but is still reactive
Impossible to knock off the hanger.


You can hang multiples on the same post

Now THAT'S the bees knees!!!

I made mine out of 3/4 plate, 18"x18". They hold up well. Got them out to 600 yards at the deer lease.