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.223 portable backstop


30-6
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Last time I zeroed my .223 I had a sloping field and behind it a 5 bar metal gate leading into a second field with a steep bank. But one of the bullets somehow must have instead of burying itself into the ground bounced up and left a nice dent in the top bar of the gate. At least it certainly looks like I was the culprit. There is no hole or lead residue, but looks like a dent that could have come from a bullet strike. I did when I had the gun new try a few target rounds but now only use v max. There is no 100 % proof that I done it but I am assuming that I did. I might add that the ground in that area is wet and should absorb a bullet impact easily, so just shows how careful one needs to be.

So, I know a simple backstop can be made with cardboard box and carpet for say an air rifle, but is there same type of thing that would accomadate a .223 zeroing session ? Would need to be portable and light to move. Or I was thinking of digging a hole, using the earth as a stop and then backfilling the hole. I do not have the luxury of a purpose made set up, and need to go and use fields as cattle, sheep and farmer dictates. 

Edit to add - the gate was about 30 yds behind my target, and like mentioned dent might not even be down to me, but a portable solid backstop I think would be an asset for zeroing sessions.

Edited by 30-6
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3 minutes ago, hafod said:

Any chance you could get your farmer friend to put an old round bale of silage as a backstop a round bale is 4ft thick that.ll stop a bullet 

Yep they are easily portable :lol: Whatever you have it needs to be substantial and fairly large so unlikely to be easily portable. 

If it's just for zeroing is there no where else? Can you get some elevation? 

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Umm its ok to take the mick 

its a hell of a lot safer than a steel plate and ricochets hitting and killing livestock take it from me I'm a farmer I know rather be safe than sorry 

I'd rather put up a bale of silage for someone's backstop any day of the week.

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Depending on how much weight you could carry you could try a steel plate and line it with a few layers of thick rubber. Conveyor belt rubber is good for it. Apparently the SAS killing house was done like this at the start to prevent ricochet in the rooms when you had 4 guys rattling live 9mm off inches from each other.

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I do try to get as much elevation as I can, and to be honest as all my zeroing is done on my friends farm, he is very accommodating and I have the run of the place. We are good friends, and I hold the position of " Senior Vermin Control Officer ", or " Only Vermin Control Officer ". 

But as you can imagine, stock has more priority than me. I'll run it past him and see if he can think of anything.

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Don’t forget that different bullet types will penetrate differently.  
Greener stated that he penetration of the then comparatively new .303 round was 36 inches of English oak or 48 inches of soft Pine. This was, of course, with FMJ bullets. I find that soft point deer calibres will not usually penetrate a Silver Birch tree about 15 inches diameter. But I have fired solids in .416 Rigby and .470 NE through very substantial trees.

Edited by London Best
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On 04/09/2020 at 11:13, rbrowning2 said:

Just get a AR500 type steel target and angle it downwards.

or park your vehicle their and use that as the backstop 😂

 Yes a piece of AR 500 will stop your bullet  Dead  but it needs to be hung from some chains so when the bullet strikes the plate it angles The  pieces down to the floor  The bullets disintegrate on impact  As Ar 500 is bullet- Proof   And will last you years I zero my 223  at 100 yards using this, no messing about with expensive targets  just a can of spray paint, have a look  at best Fox call UK website Tom’s targets hope this helps regards Silverfox  ps  it will be cheaper than your car 😂

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2 hours ago, Nuke said:

Why do you need to zero it in the field? I go to the range once a year, before I shoot the moose test, and that's it for the whole season for me.

/Markus 

Not everyone has a range/club.

Plus , are you confident your setup will hold zero for a year of use ? 

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