Best Big Bore Gong?

[Brod]

In your opinion, who makes the best large caliber gong? Or, if you have a custom setup, would you mind posting a photo of your craftsmanship?

 

[BourbonTrail]

My buddy has some 5/8” AR500 plate for a gong. It’s the only one yet to deflect 50 BMG penetrators consistently. I use railroad tie plates for my 416 Rem, and they work pretty well, but not as well as the AR500.

Swift A-Frame Impact from 416 Rem.

 

[Brod]

My buddy has some 5/8” AR500 plate for a gong. It’s the only one yet to deflect 50 BMG penetrators consistently. I use railroad tie plates for my 416 Rem, and they work pretty well, but not as well as the AR500.

View attachment 518527
Swift A-Frame Impact from 416 Rem.

Railroad tie plates are an interesting idea. Thanks.. I find that I continue to struggle with vibration and continuous replacement of chain and bolt nuts.

 

[Brod]

168 views and only 1 response?
Does everyone else just shoot paper every week?

 

[Spearhead]

168 views and only 1 response?
Does everyone else just shoot paper every week?

Yes for me. I'm more into grouping than ringing. Even when I practice walking fast and throwing sticks up to shoot I like to keep paper with load data on it.

 

[mdwest]

168 views and only 1 response?
Does everyone else just shoot paper every week?

Pretty much

I still occasionally shoot steel with pistols and small caliber centerfire (556)... but thats more for speed and the fun of hearing the hit and watching the plate drop.. Its not something I do as a matter of routine or with any regularity anymore..

The only big bores I have are built for close range encounters (DG).. so my interests are much more centered around putting the bullet exactly where it goes.. I mostly shoot them for groups off of the bench and off of sticks.. but occasionally will put up non bullseye paper targets that help me gauge where vitals are on a particular animal, ensure Im putting the bullet where it belongs, etc..

As I think back.. the only things bigger than a 556 that I think I have ever rung steel with were a few 308's and a 300WM that I used to do some long range shooting with (600-1000 meter shooting).. but even then I was typically more interested in practicing on paper bullseyes than banging gongs... (id guess I put 500 rounds on paper for every 5 I ever put on steel when doing distance shooting)..

 

[K E Johnson]

168 views and only 1 response?
Does everyone else just shoot paper every week?

No, but I don’t carry pics of steel on my phone either.
My original intent was using this for a handgun target. It has seen some minor use from .375 H&H and .416 Rigby as well as some other rounds.
The large circle was a drop from a large stock sprocket that I modified for a piece of equipment being built. It is hardened somewhat as one bullet strike shows a crack through it. The plate welded on the front is mild steel.
It has had paper punched in front of it with it, with it serving as a backstop.
I can always weld it up and grind it back down!

The small circle hanging is for .22 Rimfire practice off sticks at 100 yards.

Please be very careful with shooting steel. A friend and I were shooting steel with my Whitworth .375 H&H close to 35 years ago. It has been quite a while back, but at about 60 yards to my recollection, the friend shot offhand and hit a relatively small piece of steel. The jacket from the bullet was turned inside out and came back and hit him in a highly sensitive and private area. I have kept my distance from steel when shooting ever since.
I also have an excavator bucket tooth that the .22 makes use of off sticks.

 

[BRICKBURN]

168 views and only 1 response?
Does everyone else just shoot paper every week?

Pretty much.

 

[cash_tx]

Back in early October 2022, I had just finished up some accuracy testing with my 458 Win Mag on paper targets at a friend's range; when I decided to fire it at a torso-shaped AR500 plate from a distance of 25 yards. The plate was hanging by a metal hook from a standard t-post (for barbed wire fences), and the 405gr soft point somehow lifted the plate off the hook and it fell firmly to the ground. I only fired one shot, as I felt that the caliber's power had sufficiently been displayed.

 

[Phil Giordano]

168 views and only 1 response?
Does everyone else just shoot paper every week?

I confess I do

 

[Brod]

Wow. This surprises me a bit.

I'll use paper sighting in a new gun, new scope, new load, or to troubleshoot etc. but once locked in, I find it incredibly boring to continue shooting paper... and sometimes even frustrating if my groupings are a 1/4" off from the previous week.

I'll shoot 60-100 rounds per week (mostly mid caliber, .300 WM and below) and find a certain satisfaction hearing that steel ring. I find I can concentrate more on my form, mechanics, and various shooting positions without the added stress of continuously fine tuning on paper and never achieving perfection.

I know this logic defies the competitive shooters here but, I didn't realize I would be such a minority on this topic.

Thanks everyone for your inputs!!!

 

[Brod]

No, but I don’t carry pics of steel on my phone either.
My original intent was using this for a handgun target. It has seen some minor use from .375 H&H and .416 Rigby as well as some other rounds.
The large circle was a drop from a large stock sprocket that I modified for a piece of equipment being built. It is hardened somewhat as one bullet strike shows a crack through it. The plate welded on the front is mild steel.
It has had paper punched in front of it with it, with it serving as a backstop.
I can always weld it up and grind it back down!

The small circle hanging is for .22 Rimfire practice off sticks at 100 yards.

Please be very careful with shooting steel. A friend and I were shooting steel with my Whitworth .375 H&H close to 35 years ago. It has been quite a while back, but at about 60 yards to my recollection, the friend shot offhand and hit a relatively small piece of steel. The jacket from the bullet was turned inside out and came back and hit him in a highly sensitive and private area. I have kept my distance from steel when shooting ever since.
I also have an excavator bucket tooth that the .22 makes use of off sticks.
View attachment 518681View attachment 518684View attachment 518682

Super cool pics, thanks for sending....along with the warning attached.

 

[TucsonFX4]

Another word of caution with shooting mild steel, railroad ties, or anything that deforms when impacted. This pretty half moon craters act as very effective slingshots for jacketing and shrapnel to return in the direction of the shooter. That is why advertised shooting plates are hardened steel and rated for certain calibers and distances, depending on thickness and hardness. Once a crater has been formed, that piece of shooting steel is a liability. Use caution if shooting those types of steel.

 

[Brod]

Another word of caution with shooting mild steel, railroad ties, or anything that deforms when impacted. This pretty half moon craters act as very effective slingshots for jacketing and shrapnel to return in the direction of the shooter. That is why advertised shooting plates are hardened steel and rated for certain calibers and distances, depending on thickness and hardness. Once a crater has been formed, that piece of shooting steel is a liability. Use caution if shooting those types of steel.

Valid point! Thank you!!

 

[MTA]

I am about to try this set out. All 5/8" thick

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RC5MNRN/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=AHDMDPG8BMI74&psc=1

 

[93marlin]

Another word of caution with shooting mild steel, railroad ties, or anything that deforms when impacted. This pretty half moon craters act as very effective slingshots for jacketing and shrapnel to return in the direction of the shooter. That is why advertised shooting plates are hardened steel and rated for certain calibers and distances, depending on thickness and hardness. Once a crater has been formed, that piece of shooting steel is a liability. Use caution if shooting those types of steel.

I've seen and felt that happen more than once!!

 

[Brod]

I am about to try this set out. All 5/8" thick

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RC5MNRN/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=AHDMDPG8BMI74&psc=1

That looks like a pretty good deal. How do you plan to hang them?

 

[sgt_zim]

Once I have a load developed, I rarely shoot paper. I know what my load will do, it's then only a question of what I can do.

Ringing a 12" gong from 1000 yards with my 308 tells me I'm doing what I did to paper at 100 yards, plus accounting for wind drift, spin drift, and elevation.

For my hunting guns, a 6" or 10" gong from 300 yards tells me everything I need to know - the bullet is hitting within the vital zone of whatever I'm hunting. Auditory affirmation means more to me than visual when I'm practicing. YMMV.

 

[Philip Glass]

In your opinion, who makes the best large caliber gong? Or, if you have a custom setup, would you mind posting a photo of your craftsmanship?

Please don't use solids on gongs. Only expanding bullets. I've heard of some near misses with big rifles and solid bullets.
This is a good question.watching...

 

[Philip Glass]

Railroad tie plates are an interesting idea. Thanks.. I find that I continue to struggle with vibration and continuous replacement of chain and bolt nuts.

I got away from chains a while back. Now my gongs have 2" strap steel bolted to the gong, heated and bent forward facing (so you won't hit it most likely), and then bent around the horizontal pipe on the gong frames. Nearly indestructible. I learned this from Tim Fallon at SAAM. I've learned a lot from him!