Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles rifle gong

didnt know where to post this but does anyone have the Caldwell rifle gong?? If so whats the good and bad of it? will it hold up to a 300 RUM at 400 yards?

This might be a better bet:

http://www.themetalman.com/targ_swinger.html

I'd just make your own... go to a junkyard and find some pieces of metal and build a small wooden stand. Worked well for me.

Seems like a lot of money for 10" gong. there are a bunch of places you can buy ar500 steel and depending on your needs putting together a mobile or permenant frame isn't that hard.

you can actually buy Ar500 plates on ebay for pretty cheap as well... just make sure of the seller I guess..

I purchased some ar500 steel plates here, then got some fire hose (from a customer) and looped it around and bolted it. Using some rebar to make a stand. Cheap and easy!

Clay pigeons are a lot cheaper and easier to transport...

http://wideners.com/itemview.cfm?dir=1020|1022

get AR 500 here on the fire
look in the classified section

+1 use cull lumber from home depot for a stand. Works great and is a hell of a lot of fun.

The Caldwell rifle gong is expensive and it WILL get shot up. Anything you put downrange will eventually take a hit so except for the target itself everything else should be considered expendable.

The one pictured here goes anywhere. Pound two holes in the ground about 8 to 10" deep and just stick the legs in the holes.

- Steel plate from Jcvibby here on 24hcf. You may find stuff cheaper but his are sold for a good cause.
- Bent piece of rebar, a few bucks from Home Depot or any construction supply place. Any grown man can bend 1/2" rebar by hand.
- Cut up strips of mud flap from a truck supply company. Mud flap was $8, it's big enough to make about 16 strips. If you can find one used or free that would be even cheaper. The rubber takes a lot of hits and keeps going.
- mounting hardware from anywhere. Use hardened bolts but the nuts and washers can be whatever.

My hanging system is probably needlessly complicated in it's use of hardware, I'm sure inventive minds can come up with something even easier.

Just remember that whatever you use to hang the target will get shot eventually. The further away the target the greater the odds of that.

That AR500 is the bee's knees. The 8" plate here has taken hundreds of hits from .270's, .223's, .30-06, .243's, .250 AI, etc., they only put the faintest of dimples in it. It laughs at 9mm and .357 Magnums at 25 yards, they barely tickle it.

Jim,

How thick is that plate?

Jim thats a sweet setup

Same here, although I bought some swingset-style brackets on snipershide for the rebar stands. I do need to find some firehose or mudflaps to carve up, as rope and wire don't last too long.

We have just been welding chain to the plate. Made a square frame and put two lil clips on top to hang chain from. Very simple and nothing to break....unless it accidentally get ran over.

Sorry, just got back to this thread.

That's an 8" round by 1/2" thick plate.

I'm stealing your idea Jim! Simple and looks easily storable..

You're more than welcome to steal it.

The nice thing is this sets up anywhere you can pound two holes in the ground. I bought that steel stake you see and marked it off at 8, 10 and 12 inches, 8 to 10 is deep enough. When you're done for the day the whole thing lifts out of the ground with one hand and goes in teh back of the car, no disassembly required.

On the straps, the reason I have those electrical conduit things holding them apart is that bullet impacts will move them closer together and the target will rock side to side, but you do want the hanging system free to swing front to back. I couldn't believe the shock this whole setup takes from bullet hits. You can see those wing nuts each have one wing broken off. That wasn't from a bullet strike, it was purely from shock transmitted through the steel plate.

Good idea to make some spare straps and have them along. Direct hits don't bother the rubber, but I caught just the edge of the target once with a .308 right in front of a strap - the shrapnel from the bullet cut the strap in two like a hot knife.

Lots of ways to mount these targets and some of you builders and welders can probably do better, but this setup has lasted me several months now with no signs of slowing down.

Thanks. I just ordered some 3/8" AR500, and am hoping it'll hold up to .223, 7Mag, .25-06, etc at 200 yards and farther.

I like your setup.

You are correct about the effect of metal fatigue and shrapnel. The life of a plate hanger is a hard, hard life. My 600-yard hangers in particular take a beating.

I just nail plates to stumps with BIG spikes these days.

If anyone is in the Eugene area I still have some free mild steel plates to give away.