A Good Target Company

I've never made a recommendation before on this forum as I recall but the service and products that I received from the American Target Company out of Denver, CO deserves mention.  Ordering is the old fashioned way by phone but service is impeccable with delivery taking place a couple of days after ordering.  And, I don't know how they do it, shipping costs are the cheapest of any of the target making companies I looked into.  They have all of the NRA sanctioned targets used for Bullseye in paper and tagboard.  I don't have a stake in the company, just a very satisfied customer.

+1 for American Target.  I use them too.  I normally make a large order so I can also get their volume discount and have them send the targets to a business address, which eliminates the shipping cost.  The latter is important because where I live is considered out-of-the-way by UPS (or some such verbiage) and actually adds on an extra delivery fee per carton.

I as well have had excellent service from them.

the best quality targets I have used are from Kruger.  The US distributor is near me so I can just swing by and pick up a order.

I regularly order targets from American Target for both my teams.

an approved Cranky two thumbs up supplier!

Regards,
Cranky

Toz35m wrote:the best quality targets I have used are from Kruger.  The US distributor is near me so I can just swing by and pick up a order.

Kruger or Edelmann air pistol targets leave nice clean holes. The American Targets are good for just about anything else.

+1 on Kruger for air pistol.  They use a short fiber heavier paper stock that leaves an almost perfect hole that looks like it was made by a paper punch.

- Dave

dronning wrote:+1 on Kruger for air pistol.  They use a short fiber heavier paper stock that leaves an almost perfect hole that looks like it was made by a paper punch.

- Dave

I was about to order the Kruger targets until discovering the shipping costs were about 3 times what American Target charges.  But I wonder if there are any differences in their tagboard or heavier paper stock as mentioned above.  I might order a small quantity for comparison to satisfy my anal curiosity.

Denny talked about the American target makers not being able to make targets anymore in the current color because the paper supplier will not produce the paper anymore.  I wonder if the tag board version of the targets they make is comparable to Kruger or Edelmann quality and color.

We have been using Kruger for indoor and outdoor.  Shooting wad cutters on those targets is like shooting air pistol.

Toz35m wrote:Denny talked about the American target makers not being able to make targets anymore in the current color because the paper supplier will not produce the paper anymore.  I wonder if the tag board version of the targets they make is comparable to Kruger or Edelmann quality and color.

We have been using Kruger for indoor and outdoor.  Shooting wad cutters on those targets is like shooting air pistol.

I'll soon find out.  I ordered a small quantity of Kruger targets this morning online.

Hey beeser:

let me know how these targets work out for you.  I am particularly interested since a more accurate recording of the shot might transform what used to be Nines into definite tens without the fuzzy outline. 

Regards,
Crankster

CrankyThunder wrote:Hey beeser:

let me know how these targets work out for you.  I am particularly interested since a more accurate recording of the shot might transform what used to be Nines into definite tens without the fuzzy outline. 

Regards,
Crankster

OK.  I should have the targets in a few days and will probably do the comparison later in the week.  I'll let you know the results.

My club used to use American Target, but once we tried Kruger we switched. There's no comparison, the Krugers are much better. They leave perfect holes, scoring is much more precise.

I bought some Kruger repair centers and think they are great.  It is like you used a hole punch with the SWC's.

Doug

CrankyThunder wrote:Hey beeser:

let me know how these targets work out for you.  I am particularly interested since a more accurate recording of the shot might transform what used to be Nines into definite tens without the fuzzy outline. 

Regards,
Crankster

I received the Kruger targets today and compared to the American targets they seem thicker and made of heavier stock.  The fibers on the Kruger paper are also clearly more consistent when placing a light behind them.  The American Target paper has patches of dark spots up against the same light where apparently the fibers bunch together.  I'll fire at both targets next week but for now I have to say the Kruger targets will probably yield more defined holes.

Kruger is #1! Hard to go back to ragged holes after shooting anything on Kruger.

Anything beats elmarko on a paper plate which I see a lot of at the range. 

I fired at both targets today at the same distance using .22lr, 9mm LFP, .38 Special HBWC and .45 ACP LSWC bullets.  The holes looked the same with the .38 Special HBWC, nice clean holes.  The .22lr and 9mm LFP were slightly cleaner on the Kruger targets.  The big surprise was with the .45 ACP LSWC bullets on the Kruger targets, which made holes almost as clean and well defined as the .38 Special HBWC, a lot better than the American targets.  I also found the holes easier to see at a distance on the Kruger targets.  I don't know if it makes a difference but the background color of the Kruger targets is lighter, almost a light yellow as opposed to a light beige on the American targets.  All in all I would have to agree that the Kruger targets are better in quality and definitely perform better if you are looking for clean and crisp holes.

I've had stellar support and products from American Target. What's best about them (to me) is that I shot service rifle often and those targets get big and heavy in bulk. The folks at American have stellar shipping rates, good paper that takes the pasters nicely, and are pleasant over the phone. I'm hooked. You can find the same targets at Midway or Brownells, but I like cutting out the middle man in this case, plus they sometime gouge on shipping for the larger targets (though about the same with smaller pistol targets). Count me as pro-American!

carthage wrote:I've had stellar support and products from American Target. What's best about them (to me) is that I shot service rifle often and those targets get big and heavy in bulk. The folks at American have stellar shipping rates, good paper that takes the pasters nicely, and are pleasant over the phone. I'm hooked. You can find the same targets at Midway or Brownells, but I like cutting out the middle man in this case, plus they sometime gouge on shipping for the larger targets (though about the same with smaller pistol targets). Count me as pro-American!

No argument here.  The folks at American Target are a hard act to follow and their shipping rates are without a doubt excellent but as others have stated and I have to concur based on my recent experience with both targets, shots show up cleaner and more defined on Kruger targets, especially with .45 ACP SWCs.  The best of both worlds in my opinion would be if American Target used the same paper as Kruger.

beeser wrote:
.  The best of both worlds in my opinion would be if American Target used the same paper as Kruger.

Agreed.

If you want to get very entrepreneurial about it, and have lots of shooters in your neighborhood, go to a local printer with a Kruger target and ask if they could run off a few thousand on similar paper.
Of course, they'll use the public NRA image of B2, B3, B6, B8 targets, etc. so no copyrights are violated.
They won't be "NRA Approved", but will be fine for practice.
Let the printer know you'll advertise that they have "the good stuff" in stock, locally (zero shipping).