PT ASSEMBLY MANUAL - Action Target

12. SteelTargetSafetyandUseInformationinthisarticlewastakenfromtheFBITrainingBulletin.Therearepresentlyavarietyofsteeltargetsonthemarketallowingawiderangeoffirearmstrainingtechniques.However,manyofthesetargetsdonotprovideadequateprotectionfrombulletsplatter(thebulletfragmentsthatarereflectedwhenatargetishit),soaccidentscanoccur.Itisimportant,therefore,thattheuserknowwhatfactorsmaketrainingonsteeltargetsassafeandeffectiveaspossible.Whenshootingsteeltargets,a"splatterzone"appears.Thiszoneistheareainwhichthegreatmajorityofbulletfragmentseventuallywindup.Thetotalamountofsplatterinthiszoneisprimarilydependentonthefollowingfourkeyissues:1)Angleofdeflection,2)Targethardness,3)Bulletdesignand4)Targetplacement.12.1. AngleofDeflectionThetypeanddesignofasteeltargetdeterminestheangleofdeflection.Testingforangleofdeflectionisdonebyshootingasteelplatetargetsurroundedbyaplywoodbox.Aftershootingnumerousrounds,thepathofthebulletfragmentsisassessedbyexaminingthemarksleftontheplywood.Asthebulletshattersonimpact,themajorityofthefragmentsspreadoutat20-degreeanglesfromtheplatesurface.Thisarea,whichformsthintriangularshapestotheleftandrightofthetarget,isreferredtoasthe"splatterzone."Itisnotasafeplacetobeasafull95%ofallbulletfragmentscanenduphere.Theremainingarea,includingtheshooter,isreferredtoasthe"safetyzone,"andreceivesonlyasmallportionofbulletfragments.Althoughthesafetyzoneisnotabsolutelysafe,withproperprotection,normaltrainingcanbecarriedonwithoutunduerisk.12.2. TargetHardnessThehardness,ortensilestrength,ofatargetmeasurestheamountofforcethatcanbeappliedtothesteelbeforedeformationordamageoccurs.HardnessismostcommonlymeasuredbyaBrinellnumberrangingfrom150onthesoftside,upto700onthehardextreme.WhiletheaveragetargetismadeofthecheapersteelwithaBrinellnumberof265,sometargetshaveaBrinellnumberover500andcanwithstandrepeated.308roundswithoutdeformationordamage.Intuitively,itisapparentthatahardersteeltargetwilllastlonger.Moreimportantly,ahardersteeltargetisactuallysafer.Inrepeatedtesting,hardtargetsproducedveryconsistentsplatterpatternsandreturnedlittleornobulletmaterialbacktotheshooter.Softertargetsdeformedsoonerandoftenresultedinextremelyunpredictablesplatterpatterns.Specifically,manyfragmentswerelargerandtraveledinvirtuallyeverydirection,effectivelyrenderingthesafetyzonenon-existent.Itisrecommended,therefore,thatsteeltargetsbemadeofthehardersteel.Initiallytheywillbemoreexpensive,but,basedonlongevityandsafety,theywillbemorecosteffectiveintheend.12.3. BulletDesignAhighquality,higherpowerfactoredammunitionisessentialtoreducesplatter.Simplystated,tominimizethesizeandpatternofsplatter,drivetheprojectileharder.Consequently,aleadbulletwithalowvelocityistheworstoptionforsteeltargettraining.Forsafetraining,itisrecommendedthatonlyhigherpowerfactoredbulletsbeused.Adesirableroundtoproduceconsistentsplatterisajacketedhollow-pointwithavelocityof1225fps.Anotherissueisthe"correlationfactor."Thisgenerallyreferstohowwellabulletholdstogethertogivecontrolledexpansionandpenetration.Inthecaseofsteeltargettraining,thebestbulletisafrangiblestyleround.Thehighvelocity,frangibledesignofsuchbulletscreatesapredictableshatteringeffectonimpact.12.4. TargetPlacementEvenwiththebesttargetsandbullets,trainingcanbedangerousiftargetsareplacedincorrectly.Metaltargetsshouldnotbeplacedparalleltoeachotherwithoutabarrierbetweenthem.Splatterfromonetargetcouldricochetoffanothertarget(secondarysplatter),andreturntotheshooter.Metaltargetsthatareusedinagroupingpatternshouldbestaggeredsoasnottobeinthe20degreeangleofdeflectionsplatterzoneofanothertarget.Placingplywoodtothesidesofeachtargeteasilysolvesbothoftheseproblems.Becausethewoodissoft,itwillabsorbthesplatterandnotcausedangeroussecondarysplatter.Thewoodwill,however,needtobereplacedfrequentlytobeaneffectivebarrier.AnothercauseofsecondarysplattercanbelargeACTIONTARGET•POBOX636•PROVO,UT84603 •801-377-8033 •WWW.ACTIONTARGET.COM 25