Sometimes you just have to grab that one last thing when you’re on the way to the range, and sometimes, at least in my experience, that can even be the targets you forgot at home. While I have yet to see them in my neck of the woods, Re-Nine Safety announced fairly recently that their unique Steel Target Kit has started showing up at their growing network of gun stores across the western United States. I’ve been able to get a sample of this $125 all-inclusive kit, and today we’ll take a closer look at how it withstood a rather abusive weekend at the range.
More Reviews @ TFB:
- TFB Review: Zenith Firearms ZF-5 Essentials Package
- Fudd Friday: Review – The Swedish m/38 Mauser
- TFB Review: The Benelli M4 EXT
About Re-Nine
CNC plasma cutters, laser cutters, and welders are way more accessible than they used to be, as are DMLS 3D printers. I don’t think that means that Re-Nine Safety, a company that started out making self-supporting target cones, is some overnight operation chasing trends to try to cash in on a quick buck.
The company’s story starts back in 2013 with a high school senior named Lee Addis in Chandler, Arizona. Lee saw the waste and cost in traditional rubber safety cones used on job sites and figured there had to be a better way. Working with his dad, Drue, he developed a cardboard cone that was cheap, effective, and, as it turned out, shootable.
What began as an entrepreneurial high school project evolved into a family business focused on practical shooting accessories. Over a decade later, Re-Nine remains family-owned, with all of its products made in the USA in Arizona, and deeply rooted in the shooting community, as they primarily like to deal with local gun shops rather than big box stores. They’ve expanded from doing just cardboard targets into steel targets while staying true to that original ethos of delivering real value without unnecessary complexity.
If you want the full family backstory straight from the source, do yourself a favor and listen to TFB Behind the Gun Podcast episode #203 with Drue Addis. It’s a great listen that covers how shooting influenced the family, the evolution of the business, and the practical mindset behind their products. The conversation should give you a better appreciation for the way that Re-Nine approaches their products and their business.
Re-Nine Safety Steel Target Kit
Product Link: https://www.re-nine.com/product/steel-target-kit
The Steel Target Kit includes everything you need for a great time at the range. Enjoy immediate feedback with the satisfying sound of a direct hit on the steel target. This affordable kit comes with a ⅜” x 8” square AR500 steel gong and an ‘A’ frame stand, all in one box.
Range Time Ready Kit
3/8″ Thick 8″ Square AR500 Gong
30″ Legs
30″ Cross Bar
1″ EMT Conduit Legs & 2×4 Cross Bar (Can Easily Be Replaced if Damaged)
The kit is refreshingly straightforward and designed for immediate range use right out of the box. It includes one 3/8-inch thick 8-inch square AR500 gong, two leg brackets, two gong hangers, four 30-inch lengths of 1-inch EMT conduit for the legs, and one 30-inch length of 2×4 for the crossbar. Everything is proudly made in the U.S.A., and the whole package weighs about 21 pounds while packing down into a compact box.
Range Use
Assembly is incredibly straightforward and, dare I say it, intuitive. Slide the EMT conduit into the brackets, slide in the 2×4 crossbar, hang the gong with the included hardware, and you’re ready to go. Total time from box to first shot is under a minute once you’ve done it once, and especially if you can fit all of the parts back inside the box neatly after you’re done. Out on the dirt, the A-frame sits stable on reasonably flat ground. The 8-inch square gong gives a clear visual and that classic sound that makes range days more enjoyable.
I ran this kit hard over three solid days during a weekend competition shoot, throwing everything at it from birdshot and buckets of .22LR to high volumes of 9mm and even a couple of bursts from an MG42. The 8” AR500 gong itself has held up beautifully, showing only minor pitting from those harder-hitting machine gun rounds. The included wooden 2×4 crossbar, however, took a beating and was almost destroyed by the end of the session. This is not entirely surprising given the volume and variety of fire, but it does highlight that the wood component is easily the going to be an often-replaced consumable for heavy use.
The EMT conduit legs are obviously not bulletproof and only barely bullet-resistant, even from the weakest calibers on glancing hits. Best not to shoot them either, though that advice applies to pretty much any portable steel system. Thankfully, they are as easily replaced as the 2×4, albeit slightly more expensive. The hangers proved to be the weakest link, which is a common story across virtually every AR500 target system I have tested, regardless of brand. They absorbed the worst of the MG42 bursts and are now bent up. That said, a few minutes with an angle grinder, hammer, and vice should get them back into workable shape. The lesson here is as old as steel shooting itself: do your best to hit the target or graciously miss it.
The easily replaceable nature of the stand remains one of the smartest features. A bent or swiss-cheesed conduit or a splintered 2×4 is easily and affordably replaced at virtually any hardware store on the way home. Transport is easy for one person, and it breaks down quickly for the truck bed or trunk, and best of all its not heavy!
Steel target kits like this and others are starting to pop up all over the industry as more and more companies start to include AR500 steel targets in their catalog, and I think this lowers the barrier significantly for new shooters or families getting into the sport. For those of you with an already expensive collection of steel, it’s a convenient grab-and-go option when you don’t want to break out some of your more heavy-duty portable systems. Of course, as with anything affordable, it’s not without trade-offs. There are a limited number of target shapes, the target holders, and EMT conduit lend themselves better to more accurate shooters, and of course, you’ll have to keep buying 2X4s the longer you keep using the target kit. Overall, I think the 8-inch size is great for general practice, outside of the need for specialty steel targets or specific-sized targets.
Final Thoughts
Re-Nine Safety’s Steel Target Kit isn’t trying to be the ultimate range solution for everyone, Drue has said that himself on the podcast. What the family-owned business is trying to do is make these kits accessible and a practical entry point that gives you quality, real steel-shooting enjoyment without breaking the bank or turning it into a workout on the way to and from the range during setup. In an era where gear can get over-engineered, too heavy, and overpriced, there’s real value to me in this specific setup when I want to throw something in my truck for a weekend shoot.
After three hard days of mixed fire, the gong is still ringing true while the consumable parts did exactly what consumables are supposed to do — they took the punishment so the target didn’t have to.
In the end, the best gear is the gear you actually use, and since this is my job, I happen to shoot a lot of steel when I’m trying to put my review guns through their paces. Re-Nine’s Steel Target Kit feels like something you’ll actually throw in the truck on a Saturday morning – because that’s what I do with it. If you’re looking to pick up some steel, I think this is a low-risk way to step in and start enjoying the feedback that keeps people – especially new shooters – coming back to the range. I’ll be keeping an eye on what Re-Nine does next. Your thoughts, as always, are welcome in the comments below.
