Murphy and steel target’s

[manureman]

   I don’t have any experience with public ranges to speak of and have always just set up something on the farm to shoot at. Usually some kind of scrap leaned against a tree and a rolled up coat and truck for a rest to shoot off of.

      I’m wanting to set up a range here for my family and friends ,I’ve got 7 grand kids so far and everyone comes here to shoot.I bought some steel spinner targets and shot them a little bit and would really like to set up several steel targets especially out at long ranges.

     But I stopped shooting them because of my cattle ,I’m concerned about them getting hardware disease ( metal in their  guts) from all the shredded lead and copper of the fired bullets they might ingest while grazing.

      Have you all that have experience with steel targets seen anything that might reduce the chance of my cows getting their bellies full of scrap?

Ive got a bunch of old light poles that I’ve thought about using to build small 3 sided structures 4ft x 4ft x 4ft or so putting a foot or so of sand in the bottom of and putting the steel targets back in them to catch most of the bullet fragments . I really can’t afford to fence off a thousand yard strip and I need the grazing too so I’m hoping you all may have some ideas to keep ole Murphy out of my cows. 
        Thanks Jim

 

 

[AzRednek]

Afraid I can’t offer any advice on the metal fragments. Two things to consider. Clay pigeon targets if you could assure the bullets path would lead it away from the cattle. Years ago I had a box of clay pigeons I used for handgun targets. The box had a large written warning not to use where they might come in contact swine. There wasn’t a reason, I assume it might be poisonous or hazardous to hogs. Back in the 80’s had a stray pig wonder into my yard the kids made into a pet. It would eat just about anything not nailed down. Not sure if the clay targets would affect cattle.

If your shooting handguns at steel and roll your own. Might want to look into frangible bullets, they disintegrate on contact with steel leaving a powdery residue beneath the target you could catch with a tarp. Store bought frangible ammo will quickly break the bank unless being purchased by a govt agency with tax $$’s. About $1.25 per round of Federal brand 9MM and 40 at Cabelas about 3-4 years ago.

I have plastic 55 gallon drums I use for a target. So far no handgun loads have gone clean through catching the bullets inside. 223 and 762x39 rifle goes clean through. It was either a soft nose 270 or 7 MM Mag blew a big exit hole. The plastic drums might work for you for pistol or 22 RF shooting but won’t stop a rifle.

Don’t make the mistake I did and buy drums from a recycler. I bought three, two were marked olive oil the other maple flavored syrup. Within a few days had to take them to the dump. The number of flies the drums attracted was unbelievable. Even attracted a few bats at sundown I assume were feeding on the flies. After my X discovered maggots on top of the drums I got a royal arse chewing. Later I bought two new clean drums on sale at Harbor Freight I still have today. 

[Dr.Hess]

Some barrels filled with sand would make a pretty good backstop.

I bought a plastic barrel from a guy down the road.  It looked to have been filled with soap for a car wash.  I use it to store my used motor oil for my shop heater.

 

I know nothing about cows.  I haven't even eaten any in >30 years.  However, perhaps if you built something to keep them out of the target/backstop area, maybe some barb wire across the front of a U section of something for the target pit?  You can shoot through the barb wire front but the cows would be kept out.  The chance of a bullet hitting the barb wire would be pretty small, but if it happened, just patch it.  Or maybe even use one of those barb wire gate contraptions and open it up prior to shooting, then close it afterwards?

[FC]

I thought the same thing- just fence right around the target area.

[AzRednek]

Might want to consider renting a dozer and build a 6’ high dirt back stop. Im no cattle expert but I can’t imagine a cow digging into the dirt. Growing up in the 50’s near farms and ranches. Saw some crude looking but clever barbed wire fences and gates the cattle and pig ranchers built. The fences looked flimsy but did the job keeping livestock out of crop fields.

There was a nearby horse and donkey ranch with an electrified fence. Kids myself included, were often double dared to touch it. Naturally  with our youthful toxic masculinity we did it just to prove how tough we were.  

[manureman]

    Cows are very curious animals and use taste to figure out a lot, they’ll usually ,after getting shocked the first time or two by an electric fence , smell it then lick it and then they’re educated. From that time on they will smell every electric fence they see , I don’t believe they smell it being on but that they’re noses are sensitive enough to feel or sense it because they can tell if it’s hot or not , if it’s on they won’t bother it , if not they ignore it and ride it down. 
    Calves will chew on beer cans, Walmart sacks,  soda cups or anything else litter bugs throw out driving by.

    Last year the power company replaced the poles on the big lines running from Bagnel dam at lake of the Ozarks to St. Louis. They gave the old ones to any of the land owners that wanted them. I got a huge pile of them , a neighbor kept some to use for corner post but changed his mind in favor of used oil field pipe and sucker rod so just burned his. His cattle , every single last one of them died in a short time , turned out they had ingested the ashes and the creasote in them killed em . Power company bought his cows cleaned up the burnt spot and went back around and picked up any poles that had been left that people decided they didn’t want. Actually it wasn’t the power company it was an out of state line building contractor company.

    Az do you have anything in them plastic barrels that pistols don’t shoot through? I bought several this morning that have removable lids to use . Was planning on 2 or 3 layers of used carpet to line the inside then filling the center with sand.

    May just have to use backstops on everything it just gets old having to drive out to the farthest ones to see if your on target, it ain’t a straight drive to get to the farthest ones I have to shoot diagonally across a creek bottom from ridge to ridge and up into a clearing in the timber I pushed out with a skid steer, eats up a lot of time.

   I’m just to tight I guess but I can’t hardly stand to fence cows out of a place just to have to mow it to see targets, I was raised to believe if I had a blade of grass standing I needed a cow to stand over it and eat it.

      Jim

[manureman]

   Az don’t know if they still make them the same way or not but clay pigeons used to have pitch in them and that’s what “they say”kills hogs but they don’t bother cows. 
        Jim