Amidon Briefing · Procurement
November 5, 2026
Specifying Steel Targets for a Training Range: What to Put in Writing
Steel targets are often bought as a line item at the end of a range project, with a part number and a quantity. Whether they stay safe and in service is decided somewhere else: in the range layout, the ammunition plan and the inspection routine. This briefing walks range managers, training managers and contracting officers through what a steel target requirement should state before anything is ordered.
A steel target is a simple object. It is a hardened plate, a way of holding it and a set of rules for shooting it. Each of those three parts can be written loosely or precisely, and loose wording is where problems start: a plate that is softer than expected, a mount that holds the face at the wrong angle, or a lane where the ammunition in use was never matched to the steel downrange. A good requirement describes the steel, the system, the use limits and the service plan, and asks the supplier to document each one.
Start From the Training, Not the Catalog
The requirement should begin with what the range is for. List the courses of fire and drills the targets support, the weapons and calibers in use, the distances shooters will engage from, and whether the range runs qualification, competition-style drills, scenario training or a mix. A qualification range with fixed firing lines needs a different set of targets from a training area where shooters move and engage at varying distances. That training description lets a supplier propose target types and quantities that fit, and it gives the government a basis for judging whether what is offered matches the need. It also surfaces conflicts early, such as a drill that would bring shooters closer to steel than the target's published limits allow.
Name the Steel and How Its Hardness Is Stated
“500 steel” is not one material. Plate sold for target use is commonly described by a designation and a Brinell hardness range, reported in HBW, and different designations are specified to different ranges. Hardness matters because it is the surface property that resists the permanent deformation, or cratering, that bullets leave on a face. The requirement should ask for the steel designation, the specified hardness range, the plate thickness, and the documentation the supplier will provide for them, such as a material certification for the plate. Asking for the specified range, rather than a single headline number, makes offers comparable and makes the documentation checkable on delivery.
Buy a System, Not a Plate
How a face is held decides much of how it behaves. The angle at which the face hangs, the bracket and fasteners, the stand or base, and the posts it mounts to all affect where fragments go and how long components last. The requirement should ask for complete systems with the mounting hardware specified, identify which components the government will supply (lumber posts are a common example), and require that strike faces, brackets and bases be interchangeable or available separately so a damaged part can be replaced without retiring the whole target. Where angled configurations are offered to direct fragments downward, the requirement can state which lanes or drills call for them.
Make the Published Use Limits a Deliverable
Target manufacturers publish use limits for their products: permitted ammunition, maximum projectile velocities, minimum engagement distances for handguns and rifles, mounting requirements and placement guidance. Armor-piercing, steel-core and other hardened projectiles are commonly prohibited because they damage hardened plate. Those limits are part of the product. The requirement should make the supplier deliver them in writing with the targets, and the range should carry them into its standard operating procedure and lane briefings. If the range already runs ammunition that falls outside a target's limits, the conflict should be resolved before award, either by choosing different targets or by restricting which lanes the steel is used on.
Fit the Targets Into the Range Safety Plan
Steel changes what happens to a bullet after impact. Fragments and splatter leave the face, and the range design has to account for where they go. On Army ranges, range safety procedures are set out in DA PAM 385-63, Range Safety, and range planning guidance in TC 25-8, Training Ranges; other services, agencies and installations apply their own range safety rules. The requirement should identify the governing document and ask the supplier to state any placement conditions for its targets, such as backstop distance and a clear downrange area, so the range safety officer can confirm them against the approved range layout. Target placement belongs on the range drawings, not only in the order.
Plan the Service Life at Purchase
Every strike face eventually wears out. The requirement should ask for the supplier’s published retirement criteria, such as the depth of cratering or other visible damage at which a face comes out of service, and the range should add a target check to its inspection routine. Order replacement faces and common hardware with the initial buy, or put them on an option, so a damaged face is replaced the day it is found rather than shot until a new one arrives. Ask for consumables that support the same drills, such as compatible paper targets and mounting hardware. The Amidon Briefing guide on keeping an inspection log after every training day describes a record that can carry target checks alongside the rest of the facility.
A steel target requirement that states the training, the steel, the system, the limits and the service plan gives the range a clear basis for running its targets safely from the first day and keeping them in service. Writing those five things down also makes it practical to replace worn parts rather than whole targets.
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