In the world of shooting targets there’s no shortage of options. Paper targets are great for zeroing, with some offering a little reactivity as well. Steel targets are fantastic for shooter response, but mostly gives hit/miss response with little chance for after action diagnosis and can be a safety hazard at short range. Infinite Defense is producing a line of reactive rubber targets that advertise a shockingly long lifespan. Do the Infinity Targets hold up as promised? Read on.
Tech Specs
- Made in the USA
- Manufactured from recycled, revulcanized rubber.
- Self Healing, up to 100 rounds of .223 per square inch
- No Ricochets
- IDPA Target has engraved zones
- Impervious to UV, heat, cold, and precipitation.
The target I received for T&E is the Gen 2 IDPA Infinity Target with target stand and clamps.
Unfortunately, I only had one good board for an upright in the shop to insert into the stand, but was able to cut and screw together a couple 2×4 chunks for the other side. Easy ’nuff. Would have been even easier if I hadn’t used up all my 1×2 boards the week prior.
The included clamps are extremely heavy duty. One was strong enough to hold the target up, though you’ll obviously want to use both to keep the target from flapping in the breeze.
The target stand is made from powder-coated steel. Once the uprights and target are put together, the whole assembly is very stable. I did find that a 5 to 7 mph wind was enough to blow the target over, but the center bar of the stand is a convenient spot to lay a sandbag, log or rock.
The Infinity Targets come painted white. After you’ve blasted some holes through it, you’re supposed to hit the front with a quick dash of spray paint. In seconds, the target is reset. The “zones” of the target are cut into the material itself, so painting over it (again and again) doesn’t obscure the lines you’re scoring with.
Interestingly, rubber targets have a decent amount of heat transferred to them by a bullet passing through. More so than a comparable paper target. The “hot spot” of an impact is visible through a thermal optic for quite a while, which made zeroing (and shooting at range) with a thermal optic-equipped rifle quite easy.
In my time at 2nd Ranger BN, most of our targets (inside 100 yards) were cardboard IDPA E-types. A decent portion of each range day involved taking down old targets, evaluating them, and stapling up new targets. Infinity Target eliminates a lot of that admin time. Evaluate what you need to, then splash a little paint up and the target is ready for the next shooter or drill.
One of my favorite training drills (sometimes called multidrill or IQ drill) involves stencil spray painting various shapes, of various colors, with various numbers inside them. A command would be given for “green,” or “odd numbers,” or “squares.” Shooting is the easy part, as this drill really engages the mind. This is especially true as the commands get increasingly complex, calling for “prime numbers” or “right angles.” The Infinity Target presents an excellent base for drills like this, meaning with a can of spray paint (or large sharpie marker) and a little imagination, the Infinity Target can be nearly anything you want it to be.
I had my kids running through this drill with a couple of .22s. I love watching them push their boundaries skill-wise, and having a target with easy visual feedback and no minimum safe distance makes for an excellent training aid.
The one big caveat with using Infinity Targets: don’t use hollow points. It makes sense right? A target that is designed to use its rubber attributes to stretch around the bullet, then shrink back down to close the hole, can’t really do that when a small chunk of the target is embedded in the tip of the projectile, flying downrange somewhere.
So, I didn’t use hollow points or slugs. I did notice a few rounds caused larger permanent holes than others though. As Infinite Defense mentions, the more pointed the tip of the projectile, the better. A flat faced wadcutter is going to cause more damage than a ball round. Of course, larger diameter rounds would naturally cause a larger hole as well, so .308 Winchester is going to get less rounds per inch than .223 Remington over the course of the target’s life.
How long is that lifespan? Infinite Defense advertises around 7,000 rounds or around $3,500 worth of .223 as per Ammo To Go’s lowest listed prices today. ID specifies that the targets will handle 110 rounds of .223 per square inch. Law Enforcement testing actually exceeded this number, so ID dialed it back a touch to be on the conservative side.
There’s really only so much you can say about a target. I’m dumping rounds into this thing, but the damage isn’t adding up as fast as I expected it. A quick shot of whatever old spray paint I have laying around gets it ready for the next volley. Seven thousand rounds on one target is quite a bit, and it’s gonna be years before I totally trash this thing. If I buy a couple more, I’ve got a complete range setup for one hell of a long time.
A single IDPA style target from Infinite Defense runs $129, and comes with a pair of the heavy duty clamps. For $184, you get the target, clamps, and the powdercoated steel target stand. Infinite Defense also has a pretty wide variety of other targets, including animals (crow, deer, bear, coyote), tactical targets (human sillhouette, USPSA, torso with guts), and traditional circular gongs.
I’m not sure about you, but I’ll be using paper and steel targets a lot less now. Check out Infinity Targets.
Read more articles and reviews by Jens “Rex Nanorum” Hammer or follow him on Instagram @rexnanorum.
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“Steel targets are fantastic for shooter response, but mostly gives hit/miss response with little chance for after action diagnosis . . . ”
This is easily remedied by frequent painting the hits on steel when shooting out to about 20 yards. Most folks just shoot at steel without repainting. They have no idea where they’re making the hits. They’re missing half of the benefit of shooting steel. If painted frequently, not only do hits register by sound and/or movement, but your eyes pick up the hit creating an instant recognition of where the hit is on the target. The almost instant visual cues are important in helping your brain make the necessary adjustments for subsequent shots. If all you’re doing is dinging a torso-sized target without seeing where the hits are, you’re not helping to improve especially when making the transition from the larget body target to a smaller headplate. It’s a lot about making neural pathways in the overall brain/hand/eye/sights coordination thing.
“instant recognition of where the hit is on the target. The almost instant visual cues are important”
+100 on that, especially using iron sighted handguns at longer ranges (50-100 yds).
I add that at the longer ranges, if the light is right, you can with practice see most handgun bullets as they home in. Ditto .22 rifle.
I just realized – starting ’57, I never shot a store-bought target. Barring a few clay pigeons…
Where’s that phone, l have to get on Amazon ASAP and buy some targets. Oh right, it’s in my hand. Hmmm, maybe later.
Zzzzzz…