How to harden 1/2" mild steel plate for gun target

[Ben Jackson]

I picked up a chunk of 1/2" mild steel plate at a scrap yard with the
intention of turning it into various pistol/rifle targets. What is
the best way to treat it after welding it up to prolong the life of
the target?

Case hardening sounds like a good idea. Can I do that with just a
rosebud tip on a OA torch?

Any pointers on target construction welcome.
--
Ben Jackson
b...@ben.com
http://www.ben.com/

[Tom Martin]

Weld another 1/2" plate in front of it!
Tom

Ben Jackson wrote:
>
> I picked up a chunk of 1/2" mild steel plate at a scrap yard with the
> intention of turning it into various pistol/rifle targets. What is
> the best way to treat it after welding it up to prolong the life of
> the target?

> Any pointers on target construction welcome.

[Dan Bollinger]

Don't bother. Shoot at it for awhile, when it gets domed, turn it around.
<g> Dan

Ben Jackson <b...@ben.com> wrote in message
news:evON5.62137$E85.1...@news1.sttls1.wa.home.com...

[Vito Longo]

hat's cool. we have this little 25 auto the we shoot once in a while after
work. I'm wondering where I can get a drawing of the bullet deflector. It
looks like as louver, with a sand filled bullet catch at the bottom the
bullets are deflected into.

ben.com
> > http://www.ben.com/
>
>

[Jack Erbes]

Ben Jackson wrote:
>
> I picked up a chunk of 1/2" mild steel plate at a scrap yard with the
> intention of turning it into various pistol/rifle targets. What is
> the best way to treat it after welding it up to prolong the life of
> the target?

You basically want to bring it to a bright red heat and plunge it in a
cold water quench. I know one person that did that buy building a bon
fire and then putting the plates in when it was burned down to the point
where there was a big pile of glowing embers and still a lot of fire.
When the plates got hot he dragged them out with tongs and dropped them
into a galvanized wash tub of water.

They out lasted the ones that had not been treated but after they
started to curve a little they started cracking.

> Case hardening sounds like a good idea. Can I do that with just a
> rosebud tip on a OA torch?

That only puts surface hardness on, and we're talking about needing a
lot of Kasenite.

--
Jack in Sonoma, CA, USA (ja...@vom.com)

[Randy O'Brian]

Heating and quenching is a waste of time unless the steel has at least .4%
carbon. More is better. Mild steel is probably 1018/1020 and will not
harden.

Randy

"Jack Erbes" <ja...@vom.com> wrote in message news:3A081E00...@vom.com.
..
>snip

> You basically want to bring it to a bright red heat and plunge it in a
> cold water quench. I know one person that did that buy building a bon
> fire and then putting the plates in when it was burned down to the point
> where there was a big pile of glowing embers and still a lot of fire.
> When the plates got hot he dragged them out with tongs and dropped them
> into a galvanized wash tub of water.
>
> They out lasted the ones that had not been treated but after they
> started to curve a little they started cracking.
>

> > Case hardening sounds like a good idea. Can I do that with just a
> > rosebud tip on a OA torch?
>

[Powers]

>Heating and quenching is a waste of time unless the steel has at least .4%
>carbon. More is better. Mild steel is probably 1018/1020 and will not
>harden.

*Modern* mild steel is probably A36 and has a variable carbon content.
(Its sold by yield strength 36KPSI not by alloy content)

Much A36 can be appreciably hardened using Rob Gunter's "super quench" formula.
It can be found on the ABANA websit IIRC or do a search on superquench.

Warning: quenching of high carbon steels in superquench can resut in
shattering of the part.

The era of nice clean "new" steels is over---unless you are willing to pay
the price!

Thomas
--
Best Regards,

W.Thomas Powers

[Glen]

Id' say,
unless you are firing 50 cal steel jackets you will never
pierce the plate as is. It's a waste of time and energy to attempt a
heat treat on mild steel. And could be dangerous in a brittle state if
you somehow did manage to harden it.

Glen G.

[John Page]

>...Unless you are firing 50 cal steel jackets you will never

> pierce the plate as is. It's a waste of time and energy to attempt a
> heat treat on mild steel. And could be dangerous in a brittle state
> if you somehow did manage to harden it. Glen G.

Low to medium velocity pistol loads will not damage anything. .223 full
copper jacket rifle rounds easily pierce 1/4" common steel plate. I've
never shot at 1/2" steel targets, so I have no stories to relate.

I'd suggest you take precautions to insure that direct hits are
deflected DOWN. The first time some friends and I shot pistol ammo at
steel plates, neighboring shooters packed up and left the range
immediately with some some hot comments including 4-letter expressions
of stupidity NOT intended to describe their "lack of intelligence!"

I thought they were being unfair and over-cautious until a spent
ricochet round bounced back and made a noise on the side of my pickup.
The shooting distance was probably about 50 feet; I don't remember if
we were shooting 22 rimfire or larger centerfire cartridges at the time.
--
John R Page
Medford, Oregon
Trying to learn to be smarter and safer is possible.
Thank you ALL RCM'ers for all the great machining education!!!

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

[jann...@gmail.com]

I've shot steel gongs extensively and if you make the gong to big and heavy the inertia is to great, thus every round you fire will cause more damage I've found that if you make a 1/2 inch plate less than 40 cm diameter and you hang it at a slight angle(allowing it to face downwards) the bullets ricochet into the ground thus exerting less energy in your gong and prolonging its lifetime,

OR ask a friend on a farm or at a scrap yard for a Disc implements ,old discs and weld something to cover the hole in the middle and you have a higher carbon steel gong already nice and round ready to shoot and cheaper than sheet metal. I also found that they outlast the mild steel sheet metal gongs by far. And on low velocity cartridges ricochets are not dangerous I have been hit a few times and I would compare the worst to bee sting just be shore to wear eye protection, but if you suspend your gongs at the right angles downward the chance of ricochets coming back at you are very small.

Jan Griesel

[Neon John]

>On Tuesday, November 7, 2000 at 9:50:34 AM UTC+2, Ben Jackson wrote:
>> I picked up a chunk of 1/2" mild steel plate at a scrap yard with the
>> intention of turning it into various pistol/rifle targets. What is
>> the best way to treat it after welding it up to prolong the life of
>> the target?

You can't heat treat mild steel. You might as well not bother, as it
will be shot up in no time.

The material specified for NRA and IMHSA Silhouette targets is "T1
armor plate". My .308 pistol won't even leave a mark on it at 50
meters.

About a year ago I ask here what T1 is. Lots of good answers. Here's
the thread

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.crafts.metalworking/zJdaD-g6-MM

John
John DeArmond
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.tnduction.com
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
See website for email address

[Tom Gardner]

What cartridges will you be using? Consider low power reloads,
Sections of tire treads will reduce the damage.