Can anybody help me on this, I want to use a mild steel plate as a back stop for zeroing but I am not sure what thickness I should use, the only ammunition I’ll be using is .223 expanding bullets, I want to keep the weight of the sheet to a minimum, I know that 12mm would do the trick but was wondering if 6mm would be enough.
Zeroing back stop
- Thread starter Gluggs
- Start date
6mm is fine for .22LR
I would not use any mild steel for centre fire
It might stop the impact, but over time will crater and then there is a risk of ricochet
If it were me I'd bite the bullet and go for hardened steel with an earth backstop
PS - I once used an RSJ as a target for GGG 5.56 ammo - the ammo went straight through the RSJ
I then moved on to mild steel 19mm - the crater was about 10mm deep
Finally learned my lesson
I would not use any mild steel for centre fire
It might stop the impact, but over time will crater and then there is a risk of ricochet
If it were me I'd bite the bullet and go for hardened steel with an earth backstop
PS - I once used an RSJ as a target for GGG 5.56 ammo - the ammo went straight through the RSJ
I then moved on to mild steel 19mm - the crater was about 10mm deep
Finally learned my lesson
Milk no sugar please
Well-Known Member
6mm won’t work, this is a picture of 6mm plate at 150 yards. The craters are hmr. The holes are 55gr vmax. I wouldn’t want anything I cared about behind the plate as the hmr cause big bits to fragment off the back and the 223 you can see why for yourself. Find a good solid earth backstop instead
This ^^^^^
Squirrelbasher
Well-Known Member
Agreed, I’ve tried steel sheets before, found as above. I now use an old disused railway embankment, it works very well, but they aren’t that easy to come by, and not very portable 
If you are absolutely wedded to steel plate, target makers will make up an AR500 plate up to and including 200cm square
I have one at 60cm by 90cm - bit pricey but it is an option
I have one at 60cm by 90cm - bit pricey but it is an option
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
A good earth or sand bank is probably the best. I use a couple of slices off a large ash tree - about 3ft in diameter and a couple of feet thick in front of a good earth bank. I attach targets to these. The logs stop a rifle bullet. But after several shots in the same place they do go through, hence the earth bank behind.
That’s a good shout. I’m in construction and a ton bags about £40 could make quiet the backstop with that
No! It might take a few impacts with lower energy firearms but I have seen really thick mild steel shot through after work hardening . 12mm is inadequate for continued use entirely
Big point here ITS ABSOLUTELY THE WRONG THING TO USE TO STOP THE BULLET OR PARTS OF THE BULLET TRAVELING FURTHER !
My 22 hornet will soon ruin a 10 mm spinning plate at 200 yards . Expanding or not
Add a second bit of 12mm as .223 will cut right through 12mm M/S
my .243 cuts a clean hole @ 200 yds.
best would be to find a lump of 16mm ar450 as it will last for a very long time, call up any laser cutting profile company have a chat as worth an ask, just have a size in mind and see what they have. ar400/450/500
Ask for 2xholes in the corners would be a bonus. It will always sell if you need to move it on.
This is mine @25mm hardox as I swapped a leg of muntjac for it lol
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Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
Yep. Not for nothing are the steel backstops in old Police Stations angled downwards and backwards so that the deflected bullet goes into the sand trap at the foot of the plates. That said fmj do have a habit of coming back off the edge of the plate - my old rifle and pistol club floor was littered with plenty of evidence even though we hung old conveyor belt 3 feet in front of the plates! A few members also have scars to prove just how fast a bit of copper jacket can travel 25 yards!
It would only be 16 swg maybe less , a good air rifle might manage that
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