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.