Shooting steel plates- need to know

[Beendare]

I bought some steel plates to do a little shooting on; (9" round, and 6"=/- standing targets. I figured I would just bend up some 1/2" rebar so the round plate hangs out in front of the bar jammed into the ground. Pistol shooting; 9mm, .45. .44mag, etc..... with a big dirt berm backdrop- of course

What do I need to know about ricochets? Setup tips?

Is there an unsafe distance or angle?

I've heard stories of bullets bouncing straight back 10',15' to the shooter.....

[HopetonBrown]

Steel Challenge and USPSA have a 7 yard minimum for steel.

[olstyn]

23 feet, actually (7.66667 yards). That's splitting hairs, I suppose, but one thing to note is that none of the steel targets used in those sports are rigidly mounted; they're all either knockdowns or mounted in such a way that they've got some wobble to them, which significantly reduces the ricochet issue. Even so, when shooting steel, eye protection is even more important than usual.

[HCM]

To prevent ricochets the steel target needs to either move as a swinger or a knock down like a pepper popper. Fixed position steel should be at at least an 11 degree forward angle so rounds hit and go down into the dirt in front of the target. I've seen swingers / gongs hung from chains and from strips of heavy rubber like truck mud flip type material or old conveyer belt.

The min safe distances we use at work are:

Duty (JHP) pistol and buckshot - 10 yards
Frangible pistol and buckshot - 3 yards
Duty .223 and slugs - 50 yards
Frangible .223 and frang slugs - 25 yards

Even with these distancesor frangible ammo you may get some bounce back- full wrap eye pro or side shields are a must.

[LOKNLOD]

Also, since the description of steel plates is not specific, exactly what kind of steel did you get?

Different grades/thicknesses may have different ratings.

[Beendare]

Thanks guys.

I bought these a year ago and now finally have a ranch where I can set them up and shoot. The hanging plates will have swing to them....the stationary targets would be just sitting on the dirt...or I could drag a 2x4 out there to set them on top.

Quality of steel? These were the cheapest I could find so I doubt they are top quality tempered plate steel.

[Clusterfrack]

Steel just sitting on the dirt... just be careful. At a recent USPSA match I was ROing a shooter and when she shot a knock-down plate at about 10 yds, a ball of bullet jacket about .22 caliber came back fast enough to penetrate my jersey and go about 1/4” into my tummy.