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Reactive Targets

Reactive Targets

Reactive targets are shooting targets that react when hit by a bullet or shotgun pellets. What is the point in using reactive targets? While it’s pleasurable to shoot little groups into paper targets, for sheer enjoyment, nothing beats hearing a gong ring when shot at 1000 yards, or seeing a silhouette whizzing away after being hit from 600 yards.

Paper targets won’t work well when the wind is blowing, or that soaking rain moves in on your shooting day. Reactive targets also create “instant gratification”–immediately confirming the accuracy of your shooting. This is particularly important for new shooters, and provides the new shooter with a gratifying experience that will have him or her coming back for more.

Reactive targets are especially important for military and tactical training, where it is not practical (and is time consuming) to send someone downrange to score and replace targets.

Another aspect of using reactive targets is in teaching the skill of reactive shooting. Police officers must learn the skill of reactive shooting when confronted with a hazardous criminal situation. Having this skill is critical to saving police officer’s lives, and that skill only comes from frequent practice of the hand-eye coordination that results from shooting at reactive targets.

As more has been learned about the human dynamics involved in armed confrontations, it has become clear that the physical skills involved in reactive shooting require conscious thought and intellectual processing. In other words, learning to think fast and correctly. These skills tend to break down rapidly under high levels of stress. If reactive shooting skills and responses aren’t programmed into the shooter at a subconscious level, the sudden stress may cause him to fumble, freeze or panic. In this environment reactive shooting skills are essential, and practice with reactive targets helps enhance the officer’s chances for survival.

Just like learning how to hit a fast moving ball with a bat or developing the reflexes to block a punch or kick at full speed, the skills necessary for good reactive shooting can be acquired. These reactive shooting skills can be learned through the use of very short time limits on reactive targets, pushing the shooter to function at the limits of his or her reaction times.

Some of the characteristics of good, useful reactive targets are:

The target should be self healing to provide maximum training life.
Target life-span – at least 2,000 hits.
Pole life-span – at least 100 hits.
The target should falls when hit with any type of handgun ammunition.
The target’s sensitivity should be adjustable so that it will fall when hit once or by a series of rapid hits.
The target should produce no ricochets, even at point blank range!
It should be available in a variety of colors, to simulate the colors real life targets may be wearing

$38.95 – MAKO Reactive Self Healing Shooting Range Target Red

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