Starvin Larry

“I have never hammered a steel plate with a hammer, but I have hammered steel targets for more than 20 years. The sound is loud and rewarding. Steel targets are an aid in gaining proficiency with firearms, particularly handguns. We use paper targets for sighting in, ensuring our sights are properly zeroed. We also use paper targets when stressing decision making. But on my own time and my own dime, I would rather shoot steel than anything.

This target just took a hard smack from a 9mm +P.

Paper targets are time consuming. You have to change the paper once the bullseye is obliterated. Even if you use target pasters, there is a walk to the target stand. I don’t mind a good walk but I walk and run at night when it is cool—and keep shooting for sport separate from running!

When you are doing a 300-yard shoot with the .308, well, it is a 600-yard round trip to set the targets up. Once you have zeroed the particular firearm, the rest of your shooting is simply practice and practice makes perfect. A quality steel target just may be the answer to many of your shooting needs. Maintenance is low and the targets will withstand thousands of rounds of ammunition hitting them foursquare in the center.

There is any number of steel targets. Fixed, reaction, and moving targets are available. Fixed targets are fine for longer range, but reaction or resetting targets are best. Remember, your firearm is sighted in so you are practicing marksmanship. Firing at known and unknown ranges is a better test of marksmanship than firing at paper at a set distance.

Among the simplest targets are the manual reset designs. The target is struck and toppled over. There are also plate rack designs with several eight-inch diameter plates that may be shot and tipped over. They are reset all at once, typically by yanking a lever or rope.”

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