What steel target do you guys recommend for shotgun shooting practice?

mild steel 3/8 will take anything but slugs.....just dont shoot steel with steel shot
 
If you are just looking for something to indicate if you hit it or not, and just using bird shot, make a T shaped bar and hang 5 or 6 lengths of about 6" long heavy chain.
If it swings, you hit it. if you were off center, only half the chains will be swinging.
No resetting.

Or, if you are practicing for competition, make up targets you will likely see.
AR500 isn't necessary for bird shot.
 
They sell different sizes of AR500 on flebay. You can buy one and hang it from a made up stand using plumbing pipes or wood or whatever. dvor has sales all the time on targets. I just purchased a Caldwell dual spinner 6" and 4" spinner for AR550 for $64.00 then $9.00 shipped to a border parcel service. Shipping to my door was $74 vs the 9.00. Still cheaper then the single one at cabelas.

My brother in-law works for a steel manufacturer and every scrap he can get we shoot and it doesn't last long. Do it right the first time and get the AR500.
 
Be very cautious about shooting foster style slugs at steel. They can send a sliver of lead strait back the way they came from, it is due to the large hollow base.
 
stoop14 said:
I want the audible sound from the steel.
Click to expand...

I've shot 1000's of steel targets with shotgun. Lead shot on steel only makes a dull thump or "whack" depending how your target is held, such as solid-swinging-Knockdowns-etc. The only ones that hear the whack are bystander off to the side. All you will hear is the muzzle blast from the gun. The only thing you will hear from the target is if its action from shot energy allows it to counter act with a metal target stand, such as knockdowns.
If you are talking steel shot on steel target there is only 2 ways I would be anywhere close to that operation. One is a very large target that the whole thing (no hangers,chains or stands of any kind facing 90 deg to the shooter) slopes at least 30 deg into the ground. The only other scenario that I can see that would be safe is to fire the shotgun remotely with a trigger string while I hide in a bunker of some sort.

in answer to the steel question and I only offer this if you are using lead shot, thickness concerns will decide what steel hardness you require. If you only want 1/4" thick then a harder steel will be required for any longevity of safe use ( 1/4 " mild steel will start to warp & concave within a few rounds and spashback becomes a very unpleasant problem). If you can handle 3/8 or 7/16 thick plates, mild steel will probably outlast you. Our club has some 3/8 mild steel shotgun targets that are 15 yrs old, been hit 10's of thousands of times and are still good to go.
 
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