My calipers measure it at 0.276", a tad over a quarter inch. I'll hang it on the hundred yard line, between my A500 targets and my mild steel targets. We'll see how it holds up. If it does well, I might have a supply for hard steel scrap pieces.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
316 Stainless
I've got an acquaintance who works in a metal shop and he saw me fooling about with steel targets. I've done some favors for him in the past and yesterday he dropped by with a freebie. This guy's shop makes high-end metal products with demanding applications and he had some scrap steel that he thought I might be able to use as a target.
That's a 10-inch disk of what he calls 316 stainless. He says that it is hard, and tough. "We have to use special tools to cut that material. A normal drill bit won't cut it, and we had to cut those holes on the plasma table. It will destroy a standard grinding wheel." He thinks that it will make good target material, and I'm willing to fling bullets at it. It's a freebie, after all.
My calipers measure it at 0.276", a tad over a quarter inch. I'll hang it on the hundred yard line, between my A500 targets and my mild steel targets. We'll see how it holds up. If it does well, I might have a supply for hard steel scrap pieces.
My calipers measure it at 0.276", a tad over a quarter inch. I'll hang it on the hundred yard line, between my A500 targets and my mild steel targets. We'll see how it holds up. If it does well, I might have a supply for hard steel scrap pieces.
It should work pretty well, it's actually got a higher tensile strength than A500.
ReplyDeleteThat's a 10" S/S blind flang, about $80-$90 worth of target.
ReplyDeleteIf it's out of spec., it's scrap. Shooting it full of dents won't lessen the value a whit. Busting it into bits won't either. I'm waiting with bated breath to see the results of bullet wounds on it.
ReplyDeleteGerry N.
Termite's right.
ReplyDeleteI use the stuff all the time, working in a salt-water environment.
That baby's gonna hold up to whatever you throw at it.
Make sure you post pictures.
It's nasty thing to cut, but I'm thinking that a quarter inch of it won't stand up long to high power rifles.
ReplyDeleteMC