Shooting Gongs

[Canute Rex]

If you have any stone working industry in your area, look for worn out diamond saw blades. We have granite quarries around here, and they have big (up to about 10' diameter) circular saws. Eventually they get too worn or warped for resurfacing and get sent to the scrap yard. Great quality steel. I have cut some gongs out of the stuff and it takes a pounding.

[heelerau]

 We used to shoot sillouhete against the lever action boys once a year comp between those boys and the Adelaide Black Powder club. Chickens at 50 yds, pigs 100yds, turkeys 150 yds and rams at 200yds. 5/8 steel plate and a gong at 300 I think.   I used a pat 58 parker hale repro navy rifle, but some used long rifles up to .54. From memory only the Enfields and maybe a .54 was heavy enough to knock off the rams and turkeys.   I reckon a seneka run with gongs at varous ranges and shapes would be a bunch of fun !!  The light steel gongs could allways go into a hot fire and get beaten flat on an anvil from time to time.

Cheers

[Hungry Horse]

 Hey guys, don't get too attached to your steel gongs. I am the vice President of our local gun club ( in Northern California), and as such have been put in charge of the lead retrieval/salvage on our range. The counties risk management devision has stalled our operation, because we have been shooting steel reactive targets on the range, since the early seventies.  The legal beagles have bought into the theory that lead bullets impacting steel targets fragments the lead into small enough particles, that if disturbed would become airborne, and create a health risk.
 I thought this was a local/county misconception, but upon talking to other clubs in my area, that have ranges that regularly use steel reactive targets, I find this is the new, and pervasive theory, among legal departments. One of the clubs farther north has already been forced into using rubber reactive targets, with plastic sand barrels behind them to catch the spend bullets.
 Just be aware that  invasive stupidity, always seems to start on the coasts, and works towards the middle.

                    Hungry Horse

[Kermit]

Win one for paper punching?

[Candle Snuffer]

Yet our military sniper schools uses metal targets to qualify.  Amazing isn't it.  Kind of a "do as we say, not what we do" attitude.

[Vomitus]

  At our range,we have many gongs! Our trailwalk is about 1 km long(1/2mile?) and has at any time 50-60 active gong-like targets.Throw in some cards,string,briquets and straws. This kind of shooting I enjoy the most. Targets are from 15ft to 110 yards. I compare it to a hunting situation type shoot. Great way to spend a day!

[yip]

   I might need so help. we holding a youth day shoot, in years past we had the kids shoot at clay birds glued to card board at 25yd, I'm thinking maybe to have swinger targets (gongs) at 25yd. would there be a possibility of bounce back that close? thinking of two 1/4" plate 4" diameter plates hung by chain so they would swing when hit. any thoughts?

[Hungry Horse]

 At our youth shoot we have a variety of short range gongs. You should always work towards giving a youthful new shooter some degree of success. The ones that are the most popular are the tops of old oxygen cylinders, about a foot long. They ring like a church bell, and the kids never tire of hearing them. We have an armor plate coyote target that has a kill zone that is hinged, that we place a fifty yards that is never without shooters as well. Just remember that it is better to have new shooters have to have a shoot off than to have some of them go home without a single hit. Bigger is better.

                  Hungry Horse

[Candle Snuffer]

   I might need so help. we holding a youth day shoot, in years past we had the kids shoot at clay birds glued to card board at 25yd, I'm thinking maybe to have swinger targets (gongs) at 25yd. would there be a possibility of bounce back that close? thinking of two 1/4" plate 4" diameter plates hung by chain so they would swing when hit. any thoughts?

I would suggest hanging the gongs in this manner for ball deflection just as added safety;


1/4" seems a bit thin to me, but if it's AR steel it should be fine.  I'm always leaning towards over kill on thickness anyway.

The downward angle also prolongs the life of the target.

Also, I'm always for easy targets when it comes to our youth.  Let them build their confidence and shooting fun at the same time.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

You will get bounce-back from light loads where regular loads flatten the ball and it does not bounce back.  So, yes:  when you load light for kids, you have the potential for bounce-back, unless you angle the targets similar to the above post.  Our Cowboy Action Shooting targets are made that way, for these very reasons.

[Virginiarifleman]

several years ago i was attending a Novelty Blackpowder Shoot. a gong of around 10" in size was one of the targets at 75yds. as a competitor fired a round at the gong the ball struck almost dead center and the ball was sent back to the firing line hitting a young boy in the chest. luckily it had lost velosity and only left a red rash on his skin. but could have been a very bad situation.

[Candle Snuffer]

several years ago i was attending a Novelty Blackpowder Shoot. a gong of around 10" in size was one of the targets at 75yds. as a competitor fired a round at the gong the ball struck almost dead center and the ball was sent back to the firing line hitting a young boy in the chest. luckily it had lost velosity and only left a red rash on his skin. but could have been a very bad situation.

That's what will happen when gongs get craters in them.  At that point it's time to dispose of them.  At some shoots I've seen some mighty cratered and pitted gongs they hang out to take practice shots on,,, almost like just because it's a practice target / gong, it must be safe enough for that purpose.  Well, we know it's not.  Sometimes those holding the shoot don't want to hear the truth, so I avoid those fools.