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BE Steel Plates for training

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:09 pm
by GCSInc
This might be a bit strange (if so, I’m sure you folks will show me the error of my ways), but I'm looking at building two sets (50 yd and 25 yd) steel plates for some early Bullseye training. Down the road, I may go with something else, but this seems to make sense to me. Looking for comments and other ideas.

One additional thought was to laser cut the 9 ring out of the round steel plates. This way 9's and above are visually (and audibly) rewarded, and 8's and below are recorded (plate falls), but require pulling the rope to reset.

What outside Diameter would you go with? White with Black, or only the Black? Does anyone have a reference for the overall diameters?

Thanks,

Trying to break the code.

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:42 pm
by GunRunner
If your using this for BE training i would make the scoring rings regulation size.

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 7:24 pm
by Isabel1130
I think the concept is good, and it could be fun but are you training with a dot, or iron sights? A lot of people really freak out when they first try and shoot at 50 yards, and your steel targets have a totally different look to them than the 50 yard NRA target. If you are not used to looking down range and seeing that tiny black dot with your sights or the dot bouncing around all over the place, it might hurt you.
On the other hand, the negative feedback at the short line, when you hit the steel plate, might provide instant feedback on triggering and grip errors. This could be very helpful.

Training

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 7:21 pm
by GCSInc
Open sights only. I'm not really into the whole dot thing.

Thanks

This works

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:37 pm
by Peter B
Get a plate of the size you want and cut the center the size you want be 9 ring for 25 yards or 8 for fifty and mount it on a hinge back in place. The inner plate will swing on the hinge when hit. Friend of mine made one. Be carefull not to watch the plate during timmed and rapid with iron sights.

Re: BE Steel Plates for training

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 2:13 am
by BenEnglishTX
GCSInc wrote:... steel plates for some early Bullseye training....
I have neither the facilities or skill to build any such thing but I have given it some thought.

What I'd like to see is a steel plate the full size of the target with a hole cut in the center of whatever size you feel is appropriate (i.e., the size groups you feel close to shooting and wish to consistently achieve).

On this large plate, carefully paint the correct-size center black. Then mount it downrange and dampen it. Screw it down between wooden frames with gaskets and possibly apply some putty to the rear. Thus, when you hit it, you get nothing but a dull thud for feedback.

Behind that plate, mount a large, black painted steel plate that's fairly thin and held with minimal attachments. That plate should ring like a bell when it's hit.

With that set-up, a good shot rings a bell. A bad shot returns a dull "thunk". Instant feedback is provided with no need to build any sort of reset mechanism.

When you get so good that you never hear anything but bells ringing, replace the front plate with one that has a smaller hole.

How's that sound for a concept?

If I had a place of my own in the country to shoot, I would definitely find someone to cut the steel and I'd build something like I've just described.

I have built some of them

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:41 pm
by crankythunder
Having minimal manufacturing tools I have scavenged the local junk yard and have been fortunate to aquire quite a number of steel disks and donuts of various sizes such that I can set up a couple scoring rings for bullseye practice.

Unfortunatly, most of my targets are a donut and a center mounted behind it, and since I cannot get them precisly sized I need to adjust the distance shot to make the diameter correct for the black bull MOA similar for bullseye. I was able to make a two donut and center target and dimension wise it needs to be at 40 yards. Since these are soft cold rolled steel, they are only good for rimfire shooting only.

When painted black, they are a excellent representation of the black bull on a bullseye target, they are set at the proper distance to approximate the fifty foot/25 yard/50 yard standard bullseye target. Unfortunatly, when hit, I cannot differentiate between the center being hit or a lower scoring donut from sound alone. When touched up with a cheap rattle can spray paint, hits are easily observed for a approximate compilation of my score.

I have thought about manufacturing a similar target with a-500 steel with either electronic vibration sensors or a microphone recording the sounds and then scoring the hits on either a smart phone or laptop, with the appropiate software. Unfortunately, I will not be able to pursue this in the near future, and hope somebody here can take the idea and run with it.

If you need pics of some of my targets, shoot me a pm with your phone number and I will send some your way.

Regards,
Cranky