shooting steel targets with 5.56 AR-15 @250 yards?

A couple of reasons you might hear differently.

1. The smaller the target the higher the frequency when it is hit...more ping-like.

2. Microphones used on YouTube are generally not high fidelity and not a sensitive as your ears.

BTW: ZQI 62 grain is steel core. You were probably tearing that target up. That's why steel core is banned at most ranges. Recommend any other load except 62 grain steel core when shooting metal targets. The owner of the targets will appreciate it.

Ar 15 Steel Targets

I shoot steel at 200 and 300 yards just about every couple weekends at with .223 Rem, 6.5 Grendel, and 308 Winchester.

Bigger plates that touch the ground don't ring very much with .223 Rem, especially if they deflect, so I could definitely see them making more of a THWACK or POP sound.

Smaller plates being hit by bigger rounds will certainly ring like a bell if they are free hanging.

I guess it would depend on the type of steel and the thickness. Also if it was suspended in the air it will vibrate more and probably make a ping sound. ZQ1 uses the SS109 projectile with a mild steel penetrator btw.

We have 24" armor plate gong at 250 yards. It makes the same sound you describe. I think it just has too much mass to really ring with fast moving small projectile like that. It's 3/8" thick and hung by two chains, and even when you hit it repeatedly with .223, it doesn't move.

How thick was it? Where did you hit it? What kind of steel? And what hearing protection were you wearing and where was the mic for the Youtube video at? What kind of mic was it and what speakers did you listen to it through? At A lot of steel targets I have shot at do not ping. At 250 yard it is not surprising you did not hear it.

That "ping" sound is caused by high frequency vibration. If the steel target is small enough and suspended above the ground, the target can vibrate at a high enough frequency to make said sound.

If the target is fixed on the ground or is rather large, the vibration will be at a lower frequency, causing the "thwack" sound you described.

It's not Chinese metal, more likely german