Birchwood Casey AR500 3/8″ Gopher Silhouette Steel Target

Description

There's a reason steel targets have become a range-day staple, and this Birchwood Casey gopher silhouette is a great example of why. That instant PING when you connect beats punching paper any day, and this little critter shape gives you a fun, challenging point of aim whether you're running a pistol up close or reaching out with a rifle. It's cut from 3/8-inch AR500 steel, the go-to grade for target work because it's heat-treated hard enough to shrug off centerfire hits and keep its shape instead of cratering.

What Makes the AR500 Gopher Target Hold Up

This plate is rated to handle up to 3,000 foot-pounds of bullet energy, which covers the vast majority of common handgun and centerfire rifle loads you'll be feeding it. The edges are precision laser-cut so you get a clean, burr-free perimeter, and the whole thing wears a bright white powder coat that makes it easy to pick up in your optic or irons at distance. When you land a hit, the paint scuffs away so you can spot your shots and dial in your accuracy.

Setting Up Your Gopher Silhouette for the Long Haul

Birchwood Casey built in multiple mounting points, so you've got flexibility on how you rig it. The smart move with any AR500 plate is to hang it loose from chains or rubber straps rather than bolting it down tight. Letting it swing lets the steel absorb energy and shed spall safely toward the ground, and it rings louder and lasts longer that way. Aim for a slight forward lean of around 15 to 20 degrees to keep fragments heading down and away from the firing line.

Keep your distances sensible and you'll get years out of this thing. General guidance is a minimum of around 25 yards for typical pistol calibers and 100 yards for centerfire rifle. Stick with standard copper-jacketed lead-core ammo, skip the armor-piercing and steel-core stuff, and never shoot at steel that's gotten pitted or damaged. Do that, and this gopher will be ringing for a very long time.