Those are rifle rounds, probably 223. You'll never get that kind of focused energy from a 9mm.
Those are rifle rounds, probably 223. You'll never get that kind of focused energy from a 9mm.
-Seconds Count. Misses Don't-
I agree with above. Usual problems is some yahoo shooting rifle at pistol steel. We had to lock up all our pistol steel when we were gone.
Second is that old steel gets thinned out until it isn't rated the same anymore.
Of course 9mm is smaller than and faster than the 40. More force in less space. We've seen frangible punch holes right through the steel pillars of our shoot house. So maybe the steel wasn't rated for it?
What you do right before you know you're going to be in a use of force incident, often determines the outcome of that use of force.
Shooting PCC the past five months, I have noticed that 9mm at faster velocities than out of the pistols, has been hard on our MGM eight inch steel challenge plates and the hangars. Just had to order more of each.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
GJM - are you seeing this kind of damage being done to your steel?Originally Posted by GJM
BTW, this is a MGM product.
I will try to take some pictures of the plates tomorrow. As the hangars break, we toss them, so they are no longer around. The steel challenge targets we use, utilize a wood 2x4 post, so they obviously get shot up over time.
Ten yards is the minimum I shoot steel with the PCC, and most often at further distances.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
MP5 barrels are less than 9" so I don't think you'll see a huge increase in MV. We shot the same steel with 9mm pistols and MP5s without issue.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
I use mainly MGM steel and have shot it a lot with 7.62 x 39 and a huge amount with a FAL in 7.62 x 51.
After very heavy (thousands of rounds) use with the FAL, some within 25 yards, I would get some cracks around bolt holes on bigger targets have the head crack off of mini (about 14'') poppers. MGM held up better than Blackwater steel. Hits on the very edge with FAL would take a scallop out sometimes.
The only time I have seen dimpling like you show is 5.56 x 45.
I'm out of my lane, but is the damage to the rail/rack and not the targets themselves? Could the rail/rack be made from lesser grade material?
"It's surprising how often you start wondering just how featureless a desert some people's inner landscapes must be."
-Maple Syrup Actual
The rack stand is most certainly made of less hardened steel than the targets themselves.
Angus, we have MGM plate racks at my place and we shoot .357 sig, which is practically a 125 gr. 9mm round going 1300 FPS. .357 sig doesn't damage the rack stands like that.
But we had 2 rack stands (both less than one month on the range) cratered like yours due to someone shooting what we assume to be rifle rounds wayyyy to close (we assume because no one ever fessed up to the damage...whoever it was it was a fellow cop...). We believe it was .308 or perhaps green tip that did the damage because we had a hole burned clean through one of the target plates as well.
More likely 5.56, M193 or maybe Q3131 or something fairly hot along those lines. I have clocked Federal XM193 from a 16" AR-15 barrel at 3200 fps and it WILL zip right through most pistol plates at short range. 308 is heaver and slower and LESS likely to do damage from speed/heat, although the impact can be impressive and might cause warping of the plate.
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