At the very beginning of this year, I reviewed The Last Stand system that allows a guy like me to create a target stand anywhere out of nothing but sections of rebar readily available at any home improvement store in America. I like the little pieces of gear a lot. The system is simple, rugged, and idiot proof. The setup is still out there, still absorbing abuse and sunlight, and not looking much worse for the wear. I liked the idea so much that I went out and bought a few more pieces of rebar and attempted to wire something similar together with bailing wire. No luck there. It turns out that when you’ve got the right pieces of gear, things just work better.
Imagine then my pleasant surprise at unboxing a package from Greg at The Last Stand to find two more of those stand making gadgets, a steel plate, some robust hardware, and two bright neon green hangers. This entire box makes up The Last Stand Target System, a new offering from TLS that allows the end user to create an entire reactive target system in just a few minutes. Like the original TLS, all you need to supply is six pieces of rebar and you’re off to the range.
A quick note. You’ll notice five pieces of rebar instead of six. Just like last time, I didn’t bring enough to the range. It still works fine. It just works better with two pieces of rebar forming the horizontal section. Maybe when TLS debuts a third product for me to test, I’ll finally get my shit together.
Out on the range, the TLS is a fine little target stand. The legs lock in place very easily, and the weight of the target seems to keep everything stable. As you can see, there’s enough room on either side of the target to hang up another piece of steel should you have that luxury.
Shooting at the target is a mixed bag. The steel itself is no doubt AR 500 as advertised. I shot it up with a 6.5 Creedmoor I’m testing, and the surface is completely smooth. TLS is providing a quality chunk of steel that will last a very long time with proper care.
The only real problem with it is that the rubber attachment system limits the reactive “ping” of the steel quite a bit. As you can see, I also have a 10 x 10 piece next to the TLS steel suspended by bailing wire. Shots on that piece of steel make a very satisfying ringing noise that’s just not there when you hit the TLS piece. I don’t see any way that the TLS could modify their system to fix that, and it doesn’t kill off the ring completely, just mutes it a bit.
Overall * * * * *
Steel target prices seem to have come down slightly since I first started pricing them out a few years ago, and the TLS system seems to be right in the ballpark for expected costs when you factor in the plate, the hangers, and the bracket pieces that create the A frame. You’ll need to spend another $20 or so at the local home improvement store buying some rebar so expect to spend ~$150 for the parts from TLS, shipping, and the rebar to build it. While this is perfectly at home at my permanent shooting range, it is probably even more valuable to those that need to set up and take down quickly, but still want to hear that steel ring. The whole thing is built like a tank and should provide hours of shooting fun for years to come.
Anything this heavy, you need a place you can safely leave it, as opposed to carrying it with you. If you have that covered, this sounds great!
Hi LarryyinTX, the whole setup is approximately 25 pounds…easier to handle and transport than a sack of dog food 😉
I think you may get more ping if you use that second piece of rebar…
I’m at a little bit of a loss as to how you could fail with baling wire and fencing pliers, but if you need to break it down the brackets make sense.
Or a quick stick weld. I know not everybody has a welder laying around. But a nice wrap with bailing wire should work just fine. I’m sure it’s where they got the idea for the system in the first place.
Was shooting off (among others) 2 rebar/baling wire “X”s with a crossbar this weekend. God, these kids will buy anything.
One word Joel, marketing…
I use two pieces or rebar across the top of mine. Helps a lot.
I think if you use steel nuts and bolts to LOOSELY attach the steel plate to the rubber hangers, you will get your “ring” sound back with hits to the target. Gotta allow the plate to vibrate freely to make that sound
The Last Stand Plate Hangers were designed to eliminate the broken chain/wire/string etc.. that one bullet can inflict on your range day fun.. these hangers will take a lot of punishment and keep your target supported…
Yeah, because a round will just tear through a piece of proof chain compared to a rubber band… Christ-on-a-pogo-stick, are there really people that dumb? Between it’s inherent strength and the ability to move reflexively, rubber bands are a frakkin’ joke.
Intellectually, I know how you sell complete and utter bullshit and sleep at night. Morally though, it makes no sense.
Self-healing targets. (To an extent)
Not sure steel chain can pull off that magic trick.
Exactly, Chris… I used to carry a bag of quick links and repair links, pliers, wrenches etc.. Not any more!
Many ranges that I have been to have their targets hanging from a chain made almost entirely from those screw together, replacement links. Bullets actually break chain really easily, much more easily than self healing plastic.
So true Sir.. I have a bag of chain fragments that prove the point.
The pinging is eliminated because that rubber hanger damps out the vibrations. Try putting a few steel washers as spacers between the steel plate and the rubber hanger. That should decrease the damping, and increase the volume of the pinging.
Use chain to hang the steel from the rebar
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