Addicted to steel
Hello, my name is Rob and I have an addiction… to shooting steel targets. Some of the most fun I ever have on the range is ringing steel targets. There is just something about that sound that never ceases to put a grin on my face.
One of the biggest advantages to shooting steel is it helps me remember that there is such a thing as “good enough.” When shooting at paper I’m always striving for a better grouping. I know that I will never be satisfied with my grouping, no matter how small of a ragged hole I make in the target. Steel can really help my ignore the grouping and just shoot the target. I especially like it for working on drawing from the holster and firing.
I got my first experience with shooting steel targets while visiting my dad in Phoenix. He had gotten a hold of some 3/8″ steel cutouts that were 2″ squares and looked like they would be perfect for spinner targets. A little time with some paper and pencil, a trip to Home Depot, some time welding and we had a homemade steel spinner target.
We took it out to the desert and started shooting it at ~15 yards with .22LR, 9mm, .40SW, and .45ACP. We had no issues what so ever. The targets reacted great, sounded better, and showed no damage at all. Later we moved back to almost 50 yards (if I remembered my pace count correctly) and took some shots with my 1911. I won’t lie and say I spun the targets every shot but when I did it was amazing. *BOOM* slight pause *TING*
After a while we couldn’t resist and just had to try shooting it with my AR just to see what would happen. I have a 16″ AR and was shooting XM193. We shot from the same position ~50 yards out. I carefully squeezed off one shot and saw the target spin. We walked up and found a good sized hole in the target. It was actually kind of interesting to look at. The hole was big enough to pass a piece of .223 brass through and was blown out on both sides. Guess I won’t be doing that again. I ended up leaving that target with my dad so he could have some more fun with it.
More recently my wife and daughter got me a Birchwod-Casey steel 
resetting target for .22LR. It has 4 hanging circles that are 2.5″ in diameter and then a fifth circle on top that will reset the lower 4 targets after they have been hit. Little did my wife know the only .22LR I have is a Remington 416 which is a single shot bolt action. Not the best thing to use on multiple steel targets. Now I have a good excuse to buy a Ruger 10/22, I can use it on my new target and also have something for my daughter to learn on. One of my favorite things about this target is the fact that it has fold out legs and you don’t have to stake it to the ground. Here on the ragged edge of civilization we call Fairbanks the ground is still frozen and hammering in any kind of stake is damn near impossible.
Now I’m looking into getting at least one good steel target for centerfire pistols and maybe even my AR. Right now I’m looking hard at MGM Targets from Mike Gibson. I have heard lots of good things about them. Daniel Shaw from the Gunfighter Cast has one and loves it. He even runs monthly specials and you can even get a 10% discount from them if you order your target unpainted.
So do we have any others out there ready to step out and admit their addiction?
Keep up the good fight
-Rob
Tactical Texan 