The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

For those who shoot steel, how do you hang your plates?

I originally used to a frame and now use steel bars and a pair of chains + d links. I'm finding that the d links are warping over time. Does anyone have any solutions for this?

New links every so often......

I have never shot at steel plates but have often wondered how safe it is, is there a risk of ricocheting rounds?

at BWSS matches, the plates have a bit of angle iron welded to the back of them (the tips against the plate to form a V shape) and they have stands made out of bar or tube , with a bit of flatstock across to form a stop. the bar goes up inside the V, and as the stop is flatstock, it allows the plate to move side to side a little bit.

There is a risk yes, there are usually minimum distances dependant on caliber, eye protection is absolutely mandatory, the plates are usually either angled down or swing so that an impact will allow the shrapnel to be angled toward the ground.

If you shoot enough steel you will be hit sooner or later. Good clothing, eyes and ears are the order of the day.

I welded a old towbar bolt to the back & drilled a holes in a sheet of ply to mount two; one above the other & a hole for rope behind the top steel to hold them in place behind. - then you can use 2 nuts / washers to bolt them hard on & tune them too! Ping Ping! plink plink! ding ding!

90% of the splash goes sideways so its not that bad but you should always have a good 10-15 degree downward angle.
As above eye protection is a must for close range stuff.
You could get some better quality d links as the cheap ones are just mild steel but you can get much higher quality ones.
Have a look at GS Products. They are in Birmingham.

We use 6" and 8" plates with two holes in the top corners and another two centre top and bottom. This gives us flexibility on how they are hung - by chains (swingers), from a corner (diamond) from the centre (square) etc.
We have two ways to suspend them, one from chains in the corners off a hanging bar and frame and the other is to use road spikes and these are the most versatile, easily moved or set up and different hanging positions, and a lot easier to transport.

Checkout Hickok45 - he 'd done a video on shooting steel safely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GpKZzt29BM

Triffid

Triffid wrote:Checkout Hickok45 - he 'd done a video on shooting steel safely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GpKZzt29BM

Triffid

Never heard of her.