I recently got ahold a decent supply of “scrap” 3/8” cold rolled steel plate and am wanting to make some IPSC and circular targets for both handgun and rifle (both rimfire and centerfire). What sizes would the board recommend for the centerfire targets. All I could find in a quick google search was for rimfire or handgun. I’m thinking of making 3 “sets”… a 100 yard, a 200 yard, and a 300 yard set. Rifle calibers would be .243 Win, 6.5 CM, .308 Win, and 300 Win Mag mainly but some .223 Rem and 7mm Rem Mag occasionally. Thanks in advance for y’all’s help.
For rifle, a 10” plate is very common. For me, though, I’ve always found it a bit boring unless you’re doing positional speed stuff. I mean, a 10” target at 200 yards is kinda tough to miss.
Why not have a few target sizes from like 5 moa down to 1/2 moa or whatever in a few steps like Cortina does for his 500 yd setup?
You could make one set for 300 yds with larger targets that act like a 100 yd target.
That’s kind of what I’m thinking. An example of what is going through my mind for the 100 yard set is 1-10”, 1-8”, 1-6”, 1-4”, and 1-2”. I had not thought about doing them in MOA/MILS though, that sounds like a great idea!
I think the smallest target for the Cortina KYL is 2”so a 2/5 MOA or 0.4 inch sq for 100 yds equivalent. That would be fun to shoot at.
Centerfire KYL targets of reasonable size get beat up too much up close. Where it makes sense is something like a 8", 5", and 3" at 500 yards.
So you are saying 200 yards, 300 yards, and 400 yards instead of a 100 yard group? ![]()
Here is the KYL rack I made for myself. It’s worked out great so far. 8”, 6”, 4”, 2”. The picture is out of my 10x binoculars at 400 yards. It’s a fun challenge for sure. When Cortina said it’s difficult when your crosshairs are covering the entire target, he wasn’t kidding lol!
Very nice! Thanks for sharing. What did you use for the “straps”?
I just used a spare horse stall mat we had laying around. Secured it with bolts and wing nuts. Super durable and easy to work with!
Nice target set ups. Just would add one thought.
Have a backstop target, piece of plywood or frame you can put up a cardboard or some sort of paper target where you can see the pattern of your misses. Steel is great, you get immediate results for a hit…but you don’t always know where your misses are going. Shooting into the dirt will give a signature for adjustment while shooting, but if you want to track and pattern, think about a backstop target. Helps with wind, tilt, etc.
Good luck
So your moa’s are 2, 1.5, 1, 1/2 by design?
Very nice.
FYI, the AR500 steel used for many steel targets has about 4 times the hardness and tensile strength of common cold rolled steel. I’m not sure how well cold rolled will hold up to the larger calibers at closer ranges. Just an observation from an old machinist and hobbyist blacksmith.
Thanks for the info, I appreciate it

