I just picked up a AR500 steel target. Looking forward to shooting it but have never shot at steel and am concerned about safety. What I’m worried about is the heads of the carriage bolts sitting on the front face of the plate creating a surface that is not uniformly flat. This is probably a non-issue right? What do you all think?
The bolts should just deform if hit, they are going to be much softer.
Steel bolts are softer then lead bullets? How do you figure? But the hanging plate should absorb much of the energy from the bullet, even should the bullet hit the crown of the bolt I don’t see how it could become a problem. I’m sure someone else on this forum has considerably more experience in this matter and could chime in.
I’ve shot a lot at a steel FBI Q target. It hangs from a single bolt in the center of the “head” or “neck”. I shot the bolt thousands of times before it ever broke. And when it did the head didn’t break off, it was down in the threaded body.
All that happened was the target fell straight down onto the ground and I bought a couple new bolts the next day and started the process all over again.
You should have way less problems with your two bolts being off center of aim as opposed to where my single one is located.
Than the plate I meant (also assuming 5.56/.223). Any off angle deflection would most likely be avoided as the bolt would deform rather than allow the bullet to deflect beyond the backstop.
instead of through bolts why not weld a couple of rods at the rear of the plate and then attach your string to that rod?
it should give you the same hanging angle as those bolts.
if you do hit one of those bolts they will be a PITA to change out if they get deformed enough.
If you are using standard rated bolts, they will not last long with direct hits. FMJ 223 will chew the head up with 5-6 hits. Get a higher grade hardened bolt or weld studs on the back of the target to hang the target with.
Or do like I did…I welded a peice of steel pipe on the back of the head, at the top, then use a short peice of heavy steel rod thru it to hang the target up with. This setup allows the target to swing, gets the hanging system high to minimize bullet hits. And if and when the rod gets damaged you just replace the steel rod, affords quick and easy range repair.
41Gunner
You’re fine. Your target should give you years of good service.
If/when the bolts break get some new ones.
I’ve put untold thousands of rounds on steel. Not a problem. The bolt does eventually fatigue and give out but have a couple super hardened steel bolts as spares on hand for this event so you can keep the shooting going with a few minutes time of repair. Those steel cables will be vulnerable if you have a wild shot so be careful of that.
Have the steel plate angled either up or down a bit and you’ll have no “return fire” from the target.
Steel is my all-time favorite by far. I only use paper targets for fine-tuning my sights. Once the sights are set it’s always steel that I’m shooting at - or fur… 
Hit it with a spray paint of your liking (I prefer white paint) to freshen it up after some hits and you can always see where your rounds are going.
I finally took my plate out and shot it. Two of us hammered it with our AR-15s at 225 yards. Went great! No damage to the plate after approx 150 - 200 rounds other than a couple insignificant chips on the edge. Shooting at steel is fun. Below are some pictures for anyone interested.
Jimmy
Awesome - Looks like a Natchez special.
What did you use to drill the steel if I may ask?
I had the guy I bought it from put a square hole in each shoulder so I could use carriage bolts to hang it. He uses a plasma cutter.
http://www.qualitytargets.com
JH
man i miss shooting steel.
It’s a bit like dating a midget.
Do tell!
j/k that’s disturbing 
how so?
I’d be more worried about that backstop than the bolt heads causing somegoofy ricochet. You’re eventually going to tear up the bolts if you keep missing COM but they are cheap to replace, even if you buy higher grade than standard Home Depot inventory. May want to invest in a shovel brigade and build up the berm behind your target.
I think he’s comparing it to the target itself. I can attest that when the bolts get hit by bullets, it takes a nice half-moon chunk out of it.
To the OP - buy some spare bolts and nuts so that it they are hit you can just replace them and drive on. FWIW, I have 2 “Q” steel targets from LETargets.com and I have yet to replace the bolts - I just don’t aim for them. I also shoot these targets at 100-yards.
Correct, soft enough to be damaged by the bullet rather than deflect a solid bullet into the window of a nursery and/or orphanage
It’s mainly a joke I coined in regards to a comment about my shooting ability at a class once. Some of the regulars around here were in class with me and one commented on how fast I cleared a plate rack. In reality it looked a lot more impressive than it was because of the circumstances. Add to this that a few of them had been trading tips on free porn sites complete with discussion of midget porn that had occurred a short time before, and suddenly I had the perfect metaphor…which hopefully I don’t have to explain in any more graphic detail.