Targets

I’ve done a number of my own gel tests with self-defense and hunting handgun rounds and watched ammunition company staff do many more of these tests.

For the past three years, SEVR Broadheads have filled my quiver, and in the future, that trend will continue. Bowhunting is all about confidence, and these streamlined, razor-sharp, and deadly accurate mechanicals have filled my freezer and made my taxidermist a pile of money. 

For those who have had the opportunity to shoot somewhere besides a public gun range, you have most likely scrounge around looking for targets minutes before leaving. My homemade steel targets would constantly need to be repaired or replaced and would allow a dangerous amount of spalling to fly in all directions. That is why back in 2018 I started researching steel targets.

At $30-$55 a pop, Birchwood-Casey’s targets are small enough to be challenging and cheap enough to buy four or five for the price of one centerfire-rated target. They’re also light, portable, reactive, and easy to set up.

There is a whole industry geared up to supply all of your shooting needs but a fun day in your garage doesn’t require a second mortgage. There is a world of targets and gadgets that are cheap or even free if you know where to look.

If you are preparing for a competition or just plinking with your kids, you need targets or you are just converting money into noise. Some ranges provide everything, others just provide stands. Your training or fun can hinge on your targets.

With so many different types of rifle and pistol shooting it can be a real challenge to pick the best targets for your money to take to the range. However, after 30 years of shooting these are my top five picks for getting in some great practice, and they can be used for rifle or pistol.

MGM is the largest portable target maker in the world for a reason: they pay attention to the little things and, as their company slogan says, “leave nothing to chance.”

If there is one thing on God’s green Earth that makes my blood boil, it is when paint chip eating retards litter public lands with trash for targets. Not one day have I gone out shooting in Idaho and not seen mufflers or beer bottles left with a pile of shotgun hulls, clear evidence of paint huffing jackassery. I fully realize we will never stop all the stupidity. But my hope is that products like Target Factory’s Complete Target Frame can stop at least some of the stupidity.