Target cube reactionary target

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Matt Sutton

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I ran across this product in a gun magazine recently.

http://www.ballistictec.com/Catalog/ProductDetail/M-STC4.html

It looks like a ton of fun to shoot, but the $75 MSRP iseems a little steep for a hunk of plastic that destined to be blown to bits. My question is if there are commerically available materials that have simillar properties to these cubes and the self-sealing "popper" targets on the market? I'm thinking there has to be something out there that is relatively cheap, but can withstand at least several hundred rounds.
 
Under the RH pic it indicates that that particular target had been,@ least,shot at 30,000 times.... :cool:
 
I've seen this thing before, would be cool, but $75? Jeez, my steel target setup cost as much, and I don't have to chase it down range! If they were $10, you could setup a lot of them and plink all day. It seems like a super expensive tin or Al can!
 
A 4 inch by 4 inch piece of foam rubbery stuff for only $74.95.

Yes I must get into the 4 inch by 4 inch foam rubbery stuff business.
 
I figure all targets are disposable, including steel targets, but for the money, they last a lot longer and with lower power ammo such as pistol ammo, a target made for rifles (500 Brinnell) will last years and years and years. For rifles, such targets will last for 10s of thousands of impacts.

One alternate option I have found is a nifty moving and reactionary target made out of steel, two pieces intersecting to form an X when viewed from above and making a 3-D target. Evans Targets manufactures this design (http://www.evanstarget.com/pages/1/index.htm , but not currently pictured on their site). The target is called the Shaffer Shifter and should be posted on their web site in February.

I have two sizes of the targets. One has an 8" diameter (target faces) 1/2" thickness made from 500 Brinnell steel for rifle ammo and 6" diameter 1/4" thick 500 Brinnell target made for pistol calibers. These are suspended from a chain from about 15-20 feet high.

The target is set into motion by manually swinging it to get it started, or can be set into motion via bullet impacts. Once in motion, the target moves most in XY dimensions, but also in Z, changing elevation during the course of the swing arc. Impacts can speed up the motion, slow it, and/or cause changes in direction. Via the motion, the shooter is challenged in sighting on a moving target that continually is changing location in all 3 directions, trigger control, and leading a moving target (from distance, although short range shots require little or no lead). This is a fun and challenging target to shoot.

In the image, the 8" diameter rifle target can be seen in the low center, hanging from a yellow chain. The last 18" or so of chain is protected by steel tubing to help mitigate the impact of high shots that might otherwise cut through the chain.

What I really like about these targets is that it is very easy to increase the difficulty level. While moving targets of these smaller sizes are challenging simply because of their size and motion, increasing distance by just a few yards increases the level of difficulty quite a bit. As distance increases, sighting, tracking, trigger control, and leading all become more difficult to coordinate at the same time.
 

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Ah, but tires won't react to much to bullet impacts, too much mass and all. Besides, if you are like me, you would claim all your missed shots went through the hole in the middle!
 
I have one, but I haven't used it yet. I picked it up for cheap with a large ammo order.

My problem: I have a small car, and don't have my own range to set up reactive targets. It'd be too much of a pain to try to set up steel targets each time. With the cube I figure I can just pitch it out down the range and start shooting. And nobody's mentioned that it can also be used for machine gun fire, and is non-ricochet, so you don't have to worry about fragments coming back your way.

at 10 cents a target, this is worth about 750 paper targets. I know you can get paper targets cheaper, but even then, if this can stand the 30k it's advertised
 
Those would be a hoot at Knob Creek! :evil: I have a small swinging target set made of the same material, it is tough! I've shot .22, 9mm. .38 &.357, .45ACP, .223, and 7.62x54R throught them and they are still in one piece. :)
 
Review of ballistic cube:

Ask and ye shall receive!

I went to the range today and shot up the cube.
Conditions: ~30 degrees fairenheit. About a foot of snow, with a good crust on it.
Weapon: Yugoslavian SKS
Ammunition: Golden Tiger FMJBT, 124Gr lead core steel case. ~100 rounds.

Okay, what I did was drive down to the range and chucked the target down the range. I then proceeded to shoot the target. It would jump each time I hit it, however in the snow it would sometimes start to dig in. I went down three times to pick it up, inspect and chuck it up to tougher snow. :rolleyes:

One note, as you can see from the bullets still sticking out of the cube, 7.62x39 doesn't have quite enough oomph to consistantly penetrate the whole cube. So this won't be a good handgun target. In the future, I think I'll use my M1 on it. It should work better. .223, with it's higher velocity to it's cross section should work great.

The three rounds I just found sitting on top of the snow, which considering that I looked to be the first person to shoot on that range that day, tends to indicate the rounds were mine. Another indication that the rounds just didn't have enough oomph.

Pictures to follow...
 
Cube sides 1-5
 

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Cube side 6 and a couple others.

Also, on further examining of the cube, I think that there's another round in there.
 

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On a sidenote, I think you mean "reactive," not "reactionary." Reactionary means very, very far-right, politically. So far right, that you want the progress to go in reverse. Like the Amish are reactionary, I guess.
 
Thank you Firethorn! Very cool pictures. I wonder if the temperature had anything to do with the bullets not exiting?
What does the material feel like? Is it a dense foam, or a hard rubber?
 
Under the RH pic it indicates that that particular target had been,@ least,shot at 30,000 times....
Click to expand...

M-STC4-1.gif

SHOT OVER 30,000 TIMES!
WITH .223, .308, .300 Win Mag,
.338 Lapua & 50BMG

Not too shabby.....
 
The bouncing cube target guy (the inventor) said in a magazine he was coming up with a pistol caliber version where the pistol rounds wouldn't get "stuck" and stack up in the cube.

Apparently the Marines use some of these and their rifle team has one that has been shot thousands of times without any problems.

Worth the $75.
 
Matt, it's a dense solid cube like a very hard rubber, or a slightly flexible plastic. The idea being, of course, that any one bullet makes a very small hole, as the material stretches&compresses to allow the bullet to pass, leaving smaller holes. One side is shiny, indicating that they probably make it in a vat of larger size and chunck it down to size.

spacemanspiff- Those plastic buckets are a bit harder for me to obtain, and probably wouldn't last very long. Also a pain to clean up. Yes, I like my outdoor range clean. :rolleyes:

A handgun version would have to be a bit more like foam.

Probably be loads of fun to take down to the range with my M1. I wonder how long it will take to punch out that round in there?
 
Digging an old thread up I handled one of these recently. They appear to be polyurethane. Can anyone confirm they are polyurethane and tell me the shore hardness?
 
I'm still looking for a source for the material they use. I refuse to pay $75 for $0.75 worth of plastic.
 
i have 3 of the spinning pistol targets and one of the hanging ground hogs. they are fantastic and definatly not your average plastic. i have had to dig a few pistol round out of the groundhog and the material is extremely hard to cut even with a sharp exacto knife. I wont be spending %75 for the cube any time soon, but do plan to get some more of thier smaller spinning targets.
 
Balls,

tennis and golf make nice reactive targets.
Tennis balls are self healing for at least a few shots and if hit right with a .44 Mag will jump 15-20' in the air.
Good luck.
 
I have three of the BallistisTec reactive targets. One each for rifle, pistol, and .22.

The rifle target is the one shown in Firethorn's post. It is a heavy, hard, solid rubber/plastic. Mine is holding up quite well with about 1,000 rounds through it.

The handgun target has a different shape; it's not a cube. It's more like a kitchen mixer's blade with a flat piece attached to the bottom. Anyway, it is lighter and more pliable than the rifle block. It is not holding up as well. After only a few hundred rounds I can tell that it won't make it past 2,000 hits.

The .22 target is also smaller and lighter, but it is holding up well to the shooting. It has maybe 200 rounds through it.

Overall, I like the targets. I like reactive targets, especially those that move in random directions as these blocks do when hit.

Expensive? Yes. You can probably make your own for under $10 if you try. But for someone like me, who has no access to a plastic molding machine, then buying the targets are much easier.
 
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