Frying Pan, meet the 300 Win Mag.

Thanks Guy Jr! :D

That scope is huge!

It's got a sunshade on it. It was bright out. :D

Your best bet for targets would be to go to a farm equip. dealership and ask to go through their scrap iron bins. You'd be surprised what you will find and someone might even help you cut the sizes you need. Old discers work great (concave facing you)
Gun looks AWESOME!!!!!

Thanks man! :D I actually stopped by a metal fabricators about 10 minutes too late on Friday, I was going to pick up some 1/4" or 1/2" scrap metal from them, they said I could just have a few pieces for targets. I'm going to stop by there today and see what I can get. :D There are lots of farm equipment places around too...thanks for the tip.

I may end up picking up some 500 brinell steel but I'm going to see what I can find for free first.
 
If your going for a piece of mild steel it will need to be at least 5/8" thick .and then it probley will not last that long.

Well I picked up a 3/8" steel plate, it is mild steel...is there any way to harden it? I figure let it sit in some coals until it's red hot then dip in cold water and repeat....would that do the trick?
 
Well I picked up a 3/8" steel plate, it is mild steel...is there any way to harden it? I figure let it sit in some coals until it's red hot then dip in cold water and repeat....would that do the trick?

It'll get hard, but it'll also probably get quite brittle. Heat it to non-magnetic, quench in oil or brine (what kind of steel is it?) and then re-heat gently and cool in air (i.e. 'slowly') to give it back just a little 'toughness.' If it's just hot-rolled mill steel, it's going to be a crapshoot at best.

If it was free, give it a shot... but don't expect it to last very long.

-M
 
It'll get hard, but it'll also probably get quite brittle. Heat it to non-magnetic, quench in oil or brine (what kind of steel is it?) and then re-heat gently and cool in air (i.e. 'slowly') to give it back just a little 'toughness.' If it's just hot-rolled mill steel, it's going to be a crapshoot at best.

If it was free, give it a shot... but don't expect it to last very long.

-M

I paid the guy $10 for it...so I'm not worried about wrecking it. :D

I'm assuming its rolled steel but I didn't ask.
 

Ok so that says "Hardening involves heating a steel to its normalising temperature and cooling (Quenching ) rapidly in a suitable fluid e.g oil, water or air."

So I just have to find the right mix of hard and brittle.

I'll probably just shoot at it until there's a bunch of holes, and then buy some hardened steel. :D
 
Negative - Unless the carbon content is sufficiently high, you wont be able to heat treat your "mild" steel. But carry on with the plate - you'll see the plasma holes.
If you want a reactive target, try some large blocks of hardwood, or some plastic pop bottles filled with water.
 
Cosmic is right - unless you're over a certain carbon content, your steel is
'unhardenable.'

For example, A36 hot rolled is about 0.26% Carbon, nominally.

1018 is about 0.18% C.

In my area, A36 is the most common HR steel around - angle, sheet, tube, plate, round, square, etc.

If you can harden A36 enough to take a bullet, you're going to be a rich man when you sell the process to industry...

-M
 
A 300 win mag will still pass cleanly through even the hardest of hardened steel if it's only 3/8" thick. i like old bucket scrapers off bobcats or front end loaders. cut em up into 4"x4" squares to shoot at.
 
Go to a machine shop and ask for a plate of 3\8 or 1\2 inch AR500 steel. Hardest steel your gonna find. .308 only chips the paint of my stand. you can shoot 1000's of rounds at it. As for the larger calibers I'm pretty sure its not gonna affect it to much. Adds a whole new flavour to shooting then just punching paper!
 
Mmmmmm. She just slid though that pan. See, this is why I love the 300WM cartridge: With a 190gr @ 2900 MV, it still has more energy at 500m than a 44 Mag does point-blank.

For small targets, I've been using torch-cut pieces of old, worn snowplough blade. Hard as tits and cheap too.
 
Lots of stuff to be found for shooting, just lying around on the sides of the road. Helps if you have a job where you drive around all day long, passengers give wierd looks when I stop to go pick things up, but they mostly look wierd anyway.
 
I like your initiative, for a new shooter you are doing more then most. Did the pan spin....nope.....did ya have fun.....yep! Thats what it's all about. Hang some different stuff off that rack and have a blast. Moving targets are great also. Hang em with a good solid twine and watch em swing in the wind. ;) That will really work on your timing. Balloons are cheap fun also. You can blow them up to different sizes, fill them with water or a bit of flour for some extra effects......the sky is the limit. Just be safe.
 
If your looking for a gong try a tool and die shop that does dies for highspeed or high tonnage presses, They may have some scrap bolster plates. Made from 4130 alloy they are often heat treated 1.0 inch or thicker, weld a few links of chain to each top corner and hang, gives a good ring + a good impact whap. Also good anti trespass medicine anyone on your 100 acres knows your there and active. Sorry if I upset some of you! all the best art.h
 
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