I recently purchased a 3/8" 2’x5’ steel “deck plate” at my local metal recycling plant to use as a silhouette target. I fired a several rounds at it to check things out and it held up just fine, no pitting or dimpling of the steel. But, my question is, should I be using a particulat type of bullet to guard against ricochets? Or is FMJ ok? By looking at the plate it appears that my FMJ’s are splatting pretty well. And if I do need special ammo, where is the cheapest/best place to buy it. Most of my regular ammo suppliers are out of many of the most economical and only carry premium stuff. Thanks!
We shoot FMJ’s at steel constantly here. In my opinion the real inside trick to shooting steel safely is to mount it so that it sits at an angle instead of straight up and down. That way your rounds should deflect downward into the ground.
That said I have caught some fragments here and there so don’t forget your eye protection.
Overall I suppose some type of fragmenting ammunition would be tops. But I never use it.
How close are you able to get to the steel without too many frags??
you could try precision bullets coated lead bullets.
berry’s plated bullets or something similar would probably work too. the “jacket” is only like .005 thick or something i think on those.
I’ve done it way, way closer than is safe or that I’d ever recommend. But I think for the most part you’ll be ok at 15 to 25 yds. I think most of the companies producing steel targets usually say 25 yds on pistol.
Make sure you have a good quality hardened steel. We get yokels that show up at the range here with soft steel flat plates that they hang straight up and down and that causes incredible splatter back to 25 and 30 yards. It’s a combination of the steel deforming quickly and cratering and direct back blast.
Quality hardened steel
Appropriate downward angle for deflection
Shooting glasses
I’ll second the plated bullets, and keeping the target at an angle. I use the Rainier 200gr HP for our local steel challenge matches. The pure lead and thin copper plating deform easily making for less frag hazard and longer steel target life. If you don’t reload Mastercast bullets sells remanufactured and new ammo in several bullet styles.
http://www.mastercast.net/index.html
My Club mandates plain lead bullets for all steel shooting to minimize ricochet. our range is in an industrial park and despite multiple saftey measures (60+ foot high backstop, baffle system) some dented FMJ’s have been found in the parking lot of a building nearby. we have not had any issues with plain lead breaking up. If you have lots of money you can but frangible bullets(international cartridge is an example but everyone now has a line just about) they will run 2-3x the cost of regular ammo.
Ranges seem to always have silly rules that aren’t based in reality. 
I use both jacketed and berry’s plated bullets. Don’t let the berrys bullets get to too laxed on safety. You can find plenty of bullet bases on the ground by my gongs at the end of the day. They still have the round plating on the back of the bullet. And they’d hurt if you were hit by one.
I’ve never had any issues with shooting gongs. But I personally switch to paper if it’s inside of 5 yards.
I’ve built a dozen of my own steel targets and I use them frequently.
You do not need special bullets to shoot steel. If you use lead bullets, jacketed or plated lead bullets you should be fine. How close you can stand to the plates depends entirely on the plate mount and the stand design. You do need enough velocity to break up the bullet. I’d recommend staying at least 30 ft or more from the plates and do -not- use rifles.
If you have the targets this close and are at a range with a long firing line, scatter may reach shooters several bays away to your left or right so be courteous and move your targets back further. Spatter can carry more than 50ft to the left, right.
Don’t shoot at plates with pockmarks made by high velocity bullets or shotgun slugs. They will redirect spatter and jacket fragments back at the line. Anything with a deep mark in the face of the target is ruined as a pistol target. Trot it out to the 200yd line and use it as a rifle target if you can.
Velocity is what destroys targets. Link
Steel plate with a high hardness (~ Brinell 500) will resist warping longer than softer material. The plate -will- cup if you shoot it enough. A good mounting design allows the plate to be reversed to counter act the cupping effect.
If you do have properly hard plates, know that welding to the plate will ruin the temper in the weld area.
I use 3/8" Grade 8 bolts and standard nylon-locking nuts to hang my plates. I put a stiff spring behind the plate and the support bracket. It absorbs some of the impact and it helps them ring better.
Bullet spatter can reflect off of poorly designed stands and poorly located nearby targets.
When a bullet splatters, it comes off the plate in a broad cone of fragments. With hard steel targets the cone is nearly parallel to the face of the plate. This is easy to see when shooting over snow or soft mud. Softer steel throws a deeper cone. The fragments scatter at an angle to the plate. Link
If you intend to tip the top of the plate toward you in an effort to redirect the fragments, be aware that some scatter does go up into the sky, a small amount of lean will actually succeed in throwing fragments over the top of the shooting line. You’ll shoot, the plate will ring and a moment later bits of lead may drop on you or people near you from above. This can frighten people. Obviously eye protection is mandatory for everyone there.
Wildcat
So shooting this one with a pistol at 5 yards would be a bad idea? 
