Have you wanted a steel target or two, but you thought cost was a hindrance?
Get shooting for $15, plus the cost of the steel target. The rebar and anchor shackles for this project cost me $14.74.
I finished this swinging target frame in about an hour.
The tools you will need are a welder. If you don’t have one you probably know someone with a welder. You also need a hacksaw or grinder with cut off wheels. A pencil, tape measure, and square.
Materials:
- You need an Ar500 target, I acquired mine; a 10”x 3/8” round plate, from MGM targets.
- Two 3/8” galvanized anchor shackles, they really allow the plate to swing freely.
- Two 10’ pieces of 1/2” rebar.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Cut the rebar into the following lengths: 4 pieces 3’ 6”, 4 pieces 6”, 2 pieces 12”, and one piece about 20” that is the left over from the two rods once you have cut everything else.
- Next it is time to break out the welder and weld up two A-frames. Mark down on the 3’ 6” rods 18”. Place them on a flat level nonflammable surface and place one of the 12” pieces at the 18” marks, and tack them up. Check how they look and do your final welds.
- Then take the two A-frames and tack weld the 20” piece to the top of each A-frame. The rod should rest in the angle created by welding the two rebar legs together. Once you have the cross piece tacked to the A-frames square them up and place a final weld. Then take the 4 6” pieces of rebar and weld one to the cross piece and each leg in turn. It should end up looking like this
- Add a coat of paint and it is time to hit the range.
The anchor shackles really allow the plate to swing freely on the frame so you can easily see your hits. I tested the setup with some steel case Wolf .223 Polyformance and the MGM plate, and the swinging frame performed flawlessly
You can use this design as the basis for a number of different swinging plate frames, especially if you were to use 5/8” rebar. Then you could have more than one plate on the same plate frame for instance.
