We have some 1/2"x 16 x 24 steel plates at work that were leftovers from a job we did over 10 yrs ago. I have been torching up into 8" steel plates and pepper popper targets during my lunch breaks. Just got done welding this batch up and I just tried out the pepper popper..... works great and I can even adjust it to drop with a .22 pistol hit. Going to slap some paint on them later today.
These things are great for IDPA practice and show hits clearly when gone over first with a shot of cheap white spray paint. So far no fragments have come back after shooting my first batch of plates (10-15 yards) over the last couple weeks with probably 500 rounds (both .22 and 9mm) and I have collected small pile of bullet noses laying in the grass directly below the hanging plates. All my targets are designed to hang such that they "should" direct ricochets towards the ground.
Next up will be some swingers and drop turners that will get cardboard silloeuttes stapled to them. The (2) poppers I made will have strings attached to them that when hit, will activate the swingers and drop turners.
Not bad for using free scrap metal.
