After two years of shooting, I finally saw two of the cast animals break in our last match of the season - a chicken and a turkey. They aren't invulnerable, but you're more likely to lose one than break it! The plate animals also break and get all those get this funny bowl shape after awhile. Given the amount of energy transfer with even standard velocity ammunition, it really is amazing that they stand up so well.

I know we say 'standard velocity' rounds, but I would dare say that there are a number of shooters using CCI Blazers, Yellow Jackets (1100+ FPS), etc. that are a little more then what is/was considered standard velocity (1050 FPS). You can tell just by the report that some folks are unaware of the catagory of the ammo they are using, or choose to just shoot what they know functions in their rifle. Even with that the targets hold up rather well considering all the hits.

My favorite ammunition is rated at 1080 FPS and the loader still calls it "Standard Velocity". It seem like the 1200 FPS ammunition is much more common, and according to the ballistics charts it has as much energy at 50 yards as the standard velocity stuff does at the muzzle!

I chrono'd some Aguila SE standard velocity shot out of a suhl and a 1712 and both had shots that went 1200 fps. Will that break targets?

chickenchoker wrote:I chrono'd some Aguila SE standard velocity shot out of a suhl and a 1712 and both had shots that went 1200 fps. Will that break targets?

They will all break eventually, but that's part of the game. Just shoot and enjoy. Very few of us knowingly abuse the target with Stingers or Velocitors or similar ammunition that is clearly over the line, and if anyone ever felt uncomfortable replacing a broken target I'd just pay for it and go on.

Take care of the gear and when something breaks, fix it. No sense worrying about it!

At first I thought OH NO don't shoot the lil metal animals with anything over 1080 fps or you might break one. Then I realized with the cost of ammo today that even if I break an animal or 2 here and there through the years it is always going to be cheaper to replace the occasional target versus practice with $3-5 a box ammo. With what I saved buying a case of Blazer on sale for $95 I could buy an entire new set of 40 targets.

As for the accuracy issues with the faster round I know it can affect down range longer shots. I will save the better ammo for match shooting when accuracy is essential but for now these knock them over just fine around the house With all the poo pooing of anything over 1080 fps as being inaccurate you would think the issue of breaking targets wouldn't exist with this ammo since your not supposed to be able to hit anything with them lol.


Dee