Last year, a good friend delivered a 24″ x 24″ piece of thick AR 500 steel from a local vendor. Nick and I had taken a tour of the vendor’s factory and casually mentioned that if a piece of steel ever fell off a truck, we’d be happy to take it off their hands. We both promptly forgot about it until said friend sent me a Skype message to let me know that he had a large piece of steel riding around in his truck killing his gas mileage. That gift quickly became a problem as it did not have a single attachment point to hang it from anything . . .
I managed to solve that problem with a ratcheting tie down strap and two C clamps. Unfortunately, I needed to build a frame to support the whole thing, and my options were mostly wooden. The problem with a wooden frame is that it gets chewed up pretty quickly by errant shots. Enter The Last Stand Target System which helps connect pieces of rebar into a very functional target stand system that can easily be moved, repositioned, or otherwise modified to the user’s liking.
Full disclosure: I’m really bad about reading directions. The LSTS requires six pieces of 1/2″ rebar, and I only bought five. The sixth piece helps stabilize the beam your targets hang from, and mine was certainly a bit wobbly thanks to my mistake. You live, you learn, you read the directions. Maybe.
Assembly of the LS is a snap. Simply push your “leg” pieces of rebar through the slots, and pull outwards to lock them in place, then thread two (count ’em…two) pieces of 1/2″ rebar through the top. Once set in place, feel free to hang whatever you want from the main beam. Height of the target can be adjusted by moving the legs up and down inside the plastic pieces. And since they can move independently, you can also use this to create a stand system on uneven terrain.
Once my target was hung, I was happily ringing steel for hours without any issues. I didn’t manage to shoot the plastic pieces but they look to be made of the same material as those fancy self healing targets you see out and about. I wouldn’t shoot them a lot, but an errant bullet isn’t going to end your day of shooting. As for the rebar, it’s rebar. Shoot at it. Unless you score a direct hit with a magnum round starting with a 3 or above, I doubt you’re going to kill it. And even if you do, a replacement can be had almost anywhere for about $3.00.
From a stability perspective, I was quite pleased with the LS system. It creates a very stable A-frame that held up to lots and lots of .223. But I know you expect a full review. So I kicked the plate while screaming,”This is Sparta!” and it just laughed at me. So I feel comfortable recommending it for your heavy hitting magnum calibers.
Rating (out of five stars):
Overall Rating * * * * *
This is a solid little system. It’ll run you $39.99 + shipping ($6 to Texas) for the two blocks of plastic and another $18 or so for the rebar. It’s definitely not the prettiest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on, but based on my experience, I’d say it truly is the last target stand system you’d ever need to buy.