Every once in awhile a product comes along and you wonder why didn’t someone think of this sooner? Well that product for me is from DA Targets.
Shot Show 2025
While walking miles at SHOT show 2025 I came across his booth and had to turn around and go visit and I’m sure glad I did.
Lugging the Weight
Paper targets have always been the standard for load development and will never be replaced for measuring accuracy. Going to the range to work on USPSA competition shooting and having to haul all the cardboard/steel and everything associated with them gets to be a chore.
Shooting steel makes for great instant feedback but due to the weight they are cumbersome and there’s always the issue of bullet splash back that you have to take into account.
Cardboard targets have always worked but you have to deal with the mess of pasting bullet holes and the and all the trash that goes along with that.
DA-Targets
What are they?
Self healing targets have been around for awhile but DA Targets is not like all the rest. Their self healing heat activated technology is a game changer.
When the bullet passes through the target the heat and energy turns the impact spot from the normal red to an eye popping yellow, yes just like those stick on paper targets.
No Reset or Pasting Required
The impact spot will remain yellow for a few minutes and then returns to red, no manual resetting. This makes tracking your shots very easy and gives you instant feedback that you can use to correct training issues or zero a sight.
The other self healing targets can get a bit confusing on exactly where you hit because there are no visible cues, DA takes care of that.
Available for all Climates
They make these in 3 different temperature zones (45-80F, 60-80F 60-100F) to accommodate whatever climate you live in. Since I live in the Black Hills and the weather is always unpredictable I got the 45-80F Silhouette and a 4” round.
You can see that on one range day that it was a beautiful 80 degrees and on another it was barely 45 degrees.
On the 80 degree day the target glowed a nice red color and on the other it remained a maroon color.
For the cooler days the target will still function as designed it just may not glow yellow as bright or as long.
On the Range
I set the 4” round at 100yds and shot it with a 223, a 6BR and a 6.5 Grendel and it worked perfectly. All hits were easily confirmed with the naked eye or through the rifle scope; no spotting scope needed.
After shooting rifle rounds I grabbed my CZ Shadow 2 9mm and my Les Baer 1911 45acp pistols for some practice.
I set the USPSA silhouette at 10yds and the 4” round at 25. My practice consisted of shooting doubles on the USPSA target and then 1 shot at the 4” round. This drill teaches a bit of throttle control since you start off fast on a relatively easy shot and then have to slow down for precision.
That 4” target at 25yds takes some focus and all misses were shooter induced. The instant verification of shots on the targets was excellent and again, no pasting holes!
Durability
It is well known that I don’t read/follow instructions very well. If you go to the DA website and read the FAQs it clearly states to avoid hollow points, wadcutters and flat nose projectiles as they can do permanent damage to the target.
I obviously didn’t follow that advice and left a couple nice holes in the target, you can’t expect to remove a chunk of material and it still heal itself. That is no fault of the target and is absolutely the shooters fault.
Wrapping it Up
These targets are fairly lightweight and are easy to set up which is the exact opposite of steel.
All that is needed is your target stand some screws with washers and you’re all set.
Range days are meant to get things done and not mess around and these targets do a great job of maximizing your range time. To sum it all up I am very pleased with these targets and they will be a permanent addition to my range gear.
Everyone should give them a look.
DA Targets: Redefining Range Day Feedback and Safety by: Mladen Simovic