Porta Target - Safety

Safety

WARNING: There are many critical considerations in using steel targets safely besides the information on this page. We build the safest steel targets we know of, but their safe use depends on you. We cannot control how you use our targets, so you must assume responsibility for reading and following the guidelines provided in our Safety And Use Guide, available free-of-charge by calling 321-725-9911. Failure to follow these guidelines can result in serious injury or death.

Unless bullet fragments leave a target traveling in a predictable direction, safety is no more than a guess. And a range is no place for guesswork. Since the fragments don't "know" to stop before reaching the firing line (whether the shooter is 8 or 80 yards away) we’ve designed all our targets to produce a consistent splatter pattern, which creates a reliable safety zone to stand within. Now, no matter how many targets are used on a range, placing each one in the other’s safety zone (or in the area for additional targets) means the fragments’ paths are accounted for. From where we stand, that’s a pretty obvious safety feature starting from point-blank range.

The surface a target is placed upon can have a tremendous impact on safety. We recommend placing them on loose dirt or sand to absorb fragments and eliminate ricochet from entering the safety zone. Do not place them on cement, asphalt, hard-packed clay, rocks, gravel or other hard surfaces. On our permanent pneumatic or electrical targets, or for safety on hard or questionable surfaces, erect a barrier–such as a railroad tie wall or wooden wall filled with pea gravel–in front of the targets.

THE GOVERNMENT’S OFFICIAL REPORT ON STEEL TARGET SAFETY WAS WRITTEN ENTIRELY ABOUT PORTA TARGET. In 1991 the U.S. government asked Lt. William Barousse, in charge of security training at Kennedy Space Center, to conduct safety tests on steel targets. He then invited manufacturers around the country to submit their products for evaluation. We sent in ours and later received word: not only did Porta Target meet the government’s safety criteria, but all results from that test are based solely on our steel targets. And while the results are frequently quoted, keep in mind they don’t apply to all targets on the market today. Only ours.