Month: December 2011

Action Target Gears Up for Shot Show 2011

ATTENTION LAW ENFORCEMENT:

Shot Show 2012 is in a month and Action Target still has meeting times available! The show is going to be held at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, NV and runs from January 17-20, 2012. If you, a member of your department, or other law enforcement professional you know will be attending, it is imperative that we meet! Action Target has two separate booths and meeting rooms for the show. Have us show you some of the latest technology that will help raise the level, quality, and throughput with your firearms training programs.

Action Target at Shot Show 2011We will have our entire sales staff available to discuss our vast product line with you. Our team of sales representatives wants to work with you to understand your training needs. They can quickly discuss our products that will meet your requirements and possibly provide you with a demonstration if the product is in our booth.

Whether you are looking to build a state of the art indoor shooting range, live-fire shoothouse, or simply need some portable steel targets, come see us at the show. Our booths (#10562 & #10564) are located on the 2nd Level of the Sands Expo Center.

To secure a date and time to meet with a member of our team, please make an appointment today. If you do not know your regional representative, please see below to contact a representative today.

Military Contact

Action Target's Military Contact Clay Smith

CLAY SMITH
Managing Director: Military Division
888-377-8033 ext. 142
801-705-9142 Direct
clays@actiontarget.com

Law Enforcement Contacts

ROBB ANDERSON
801-377-8033 ext. 124
801-319-0977 cell
robba@actiontarget.comContact Info for AT Robb Anderson
LAYNE ASHBY
801-377-8033 ext. 143
801-376-3773 cell
laynea@actiontarget.comContact Info for AT Layne Ashby
CHRIS HART
801-377-8033 ext. 149
801-319-1314 cell
chrish@actiontarget.comContact Info for AT Chris Hart
AARON LUDWIG
801-377-8033 ext. 132
801-592-6613 cell
aaronl@actiontarget.comContact Info for AT Aaron Ludwig
MATT BRINKERHOFF
801-377-8033 ext. 130
801-380-8973 cell
mbrink@actiontarget.com
MIKE STILWELL
801-377-8033 ext. 144
801-602-9776 cell
mikes@actiontarget.comContact Info for AT Mike Stilwell
SCOTT DESANTI
509-396-7177
801-854-8863 cell
scottd@actarg.comContact Info for AT Scott Desanti
JASON SNELL
801-377-8033 ext. 158
801-809-6966 cell
jasons@actiontarget.comContact Info for AT Jason Snell
CHAD BURDETTE
(Portable Target and Specialty Sales)

801-377-8033 ext. 113
801-380-9634 cell
chadb@actiontarget.com

Contact Info for AT Chad Burdette

Action Target Announces New Training Schedule

Action Target has met the training needs of law enforcement agencies around the country for more than 26 years. By working closely with agencies in every state, we have been able to enhance our product line to better achieve requirements of firearms programs. With 2012 just around the corner, many departments are experiencing budget cuts…again. Action Target has a solution that provides a balance between providing quality and value-added training while staying fiscally conservative.

Man shooting with PT SwingerAs part of the solution, we will follow a more flexible schedule in the types of courses Action Target Academy will offer to law enforcement. We have also designed new courses that demonstrate effective, yet budget friendly firearms trainings. For example, we will dramatically increase the number of our Portable Steel Target Seminars, which are held at outdoor ranges and taught by some of the best firearm instructors in the country. Some of these expert instructors include Mike Lehner with Safariland Shooting School, John Krupa with Spartan Tactical, Dennis Tueller, Brian Hoffner and Leo Hathway.

Action Target has many training options for you and your department. By hosting one of our Portable Steel Target Seminars at your outdoor range, your department will learn how to effectively train on a budget. While the Action Target Academy is at your range, you can either replenish your existing supply of steel targets or start anew by using the targets provided during the course for next to nothing in cost. For more information about our Portable Steel Target Seminar and the Action Target Academy, please contact Rick Matthews, Director of Training, at richardm@actiontarget.com.

To view upcoming Action Target Academy seminars and trainings, visit our Calendar.

About the Action Target Academy: Established in January of 2004, the Action Target Academy conducts firearms training courses at host locations around the country. The mission of the Action Target Academy is to provide world-class firearms and defense training to law enforcement agencies and individuals who might not have such an opportunity otherwise.

Action Target Academy instructors bring experience, passion and intensity to every class they teach. With detailed lesson plans, instructors help participants document and retain training in order to allow for continual use and skill development. Adding Action Target’s superior line of firearms training equipment and services intensifies range drills and elevates realism to create the ultimate training experience.

Action Target Acquires Law Enforcement Targets

Company’s Customers Now Have One‐Stop Access to On‐Going Range Needs

PROVO, UTAH, Jan 5.—Action Target, Inc., the leading shooting range equipment designer and manufacturer for law enforcement, military, and commercial ranges around the world, announced today the acquisition of Law Enforcement Targets (LET), a designer and full‐service provider of training targets and supplies for military, government agencies, law enforcement, gun clubs and shooting enthusiasts.

“This acquisition provides Action Target customers with direct access to the consumable needs of their ranges—targets,” said Addison Sovine, Executive Vice President and Co‐Founder of Action Target. “Combined with Action Target’s products and 25 years of expertise in building live‐fire training and shooting facilities, we now can give our range customers a unified team to provide full and consistent service for their needs.”

“We are absolutely thrilled to work with true professionals like the folks at Action Target. Their experience, guidance, and commitment to excellence will no doubt help propel LET to even greater heights,” said Brad Ross, General Manager of Law Enforcement Targets, Inc.

Law Enforcement Targets and Action Target will retain their separate brand identities and continue to focus and grow in their separate but related markets. This acquisition enhances Law Enforcement Target’s existing range solutions team which now includes Action Target, Inc., Mancom Systems, and partner company Carey’s Small Arms Range Ventilation.

About Law Enforcement Targets, Inc.

Law Enforcement Targets, Inc. is a designer and full service provider of training targets and supplies for military, government agencies, law enforcement, gun clubs and shooting enthusiasts. Serving loyal customers since 1992, Law Enforcement Targets is based out of Minneapolis, MN. Law Enforcement Targets is continuously working to offer the best targets, training tools and safety accessories.

About Action Target, Inc.

For over 25 years, Action Target has been the dominant force in shooting range equipment design and manufacturing for law enforcement, military, and commercial ranges around the world. Action Target is a privately owned business headquartered about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City in Provo, Utah. Unlike many in the industry, Action Target engineers, manufactures, and installs all of its own products. This unique start‐to‐finish approach gives Action Target significantly better control over the quality of their products.

Action Target Completes Build for Jay Henges Range in MO

In 1937, the Missouri Constitutional Amendment created the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) to “restore, conserve, and regulate Missouri’s over-stressed fisheries, forests, and wildlife populations.” The MDC administers more than 975,000 acres and maintains five staffed shooting ranges, along with more than 70 unstaffed ranges. These ranges experience tremendous use from Missouri locals, many who are active sportsmen and hunters.

One of the most visited of these staffed ranges is the Jay Henges range in High Ridge, MO, located outside St. Louis. Range Supervisor Jake Hindman estimates that the range, which opened in 1994, receives 20,000 shooters each year. This continual high volume of fire led to maintenance and containment concerns regarding the inevitable lead remediation on the dirt berms. These concerns caused the Department of Conservation to decide it was time to invest in a “Total Containment Range” to eliminate costly lead clean up and maintenance while ensuring that no fired bullets left the shooing range.

The solution was Action Target’s Total Containment Trap (TCT) – Version 4. Some features of the TCT include:

  • Complete access into deceleration chamber
  • Modular chamber plates which require no cutting or welding – all parts bolt together.
  • All rounds fired are captured and guided into the deceleration chamber to expend their remaining energy as they harmlessly drop into a sealed collection system for recycling.

The Jay Henges Total Containment Trap measures 160 ft. wide with 20 shooting positions designed for heavy rifle use from the 100 yard firing line. The trap also features a unique self-supported engineered boom system that integrates into the frame of the bullet trap chambers, creating a support to the upper bullet trap plates without the need for a stand-alone truss system.

In late 2010, the Jay Henges range reopened, showcasing their new look with full concrete walkways, target holders, a bullet trap, and overhead baffles. Action Target would like to congratulate MDC on completing 75 years of public service and for their example in leading the way towards safe outdoor education by providing top notch facilities for citizens throughout the State of Missouri. Many thanks also to Action Target Midwest Range Consultant Chris Hart and Project Manager Brian Sanders for a seamless transition to the new bullet trap.

To read more about the Jay Henges Shooting Range visit https://mdc.mo.gov/regions/st-louis/jay-henges-shooting-range.

Tactical Training Tips: Key Points for Instructors & Shooters

By Jeffrey Denning

Editor’s Note: The views in this article are the author’s own and don’t necessarily represent those of Action Target, Inc.

Action Target hosted their 20th Law Enforcement Training Camp earlier this year. While pondering some of the unfortunate recent tragedies that have struck the law enforcement community nationwide — including a higher percentage of lethal attacks against police officers as well as the accidental shooting death of a 24-year-old corrections officer — I thought I’d offer some tactical tips to law enforcement training instructors.

Now, although this piece mentions officers and may be geared towards law enforcement in general, all the points can most definitely apply to the tactical shooting community as a whole. Here’s my advice:

Repetition is the law of learning. The more students accurately perform a variety of techniques, the more comfortable they will become. Tactical training drills allow officers to develop individual skill and assist in building muscle memory.

Muscle memory is a kinesthetic phenomenon whereby specific muscular patterns and movements become ingrained. When movements are repeated over and over, eventually these movements can be performed without conscious effort.

Under such extreme stress, cognitive ability is diminished and thought process is narrowed acutely. When facing the stress of lethal confrontation, officers should not have to think about basic weapons manipulation or marksmanship fundamentals; if they have to think about these basic fundamentals under stress, their chances for losing increase.

On the other hand, regular practice and difficult, realistic, and challenging drills will increase survivability. Repetitive training, therefore, is vitally important when considering survival and life-saving tactical techniques.

As with any type of improvement, officers can never increase their ability unless they fail on occasion. No person can develop unless they try something new and push themselves to the limits. Failure or imperfection on a specific technique or drill is likely to occur. The idea is to have officers meet successes. Small improvements provide satisfaction which, in turn, buoys individual esteem and maintains interest and encourages persistence.

As a training instructor, here are some of the key points to remember during every range training opportunity or any tactical firearms training period.

1) Individuals that are considered “experts” in their chosen field are extremely good at the fundamentals. Focusing on the basics is a positive thing. On occasion, give students something fun too. No one wants to be bored at the range.

2) When training, it is important to remember the end goal: preparing for lethal confrontations. In order to maximize training, (a) the individual shooter should envision that each and every shot during the tactical evolution is, in reality, a lethal force situation; and (b) trainers should mimic real world events. For instance, in my last custom tailored Patrol Rifle Course, I had police officers wear the same Active Shooter go-bag that they carry in their squad cars. I had them reload from that pouch. The feedback was positive, mostly because the training mimicked real circumstances. In short, train as you fight. Don’t say, “In reality we’d do this but we’re not going to train like that.” That’s cheating yourself and your team of valuable training! Cheating or foregoing reality will get someone hurt or killed in the long run.

3) Give students several tools to fill up their tactical toolbox, but focus on what will work best. Remember, it’s not a good tactic if it doesn’t work well (a) on the move, (b) in low-light, or (c) under stress.

4) Start out slowly. Speed will come in time. Or, perhaps once you’ve done some drills at full speed, slow down to quarter or half speed until techniques are perfected, then speed back up.

5) Weapons handling skills can increase dramatically without ever shooting a single round. Dry and/or dummy round training periods are extremely helpful and are all too often overlooked. The nice thing about that is the price is right. With the budget crunch, remember, weapons handling skills doesn’t mean you have to shoot a lot of rounds. In fact, dummy rounds work wonders.

6) Firearms are inherently dangerous. Safety briefings and safety are occasionally thought of as the same thing; we’ve said it and we’ve heard it said a thousand times. Unfortunately, it’s under that premise when accidents happen. Don’t think it will never happen here. Creating an atmosphere where everyone’s comfortable enough to say, “Watch your muzzle” or “Get your finger off the trigger,” is essential. No egos among the instructors or the students. Remember, always keep safety first.

Use these tips for a safer, and more effective, training environment and continue to hone your skills and keep adding to your tactical toolbox.

About Jeffrey Denning

Jeffrey Denning is a former SWAT team leader, security contractor, undercover Federal Air Marshal, and Iraqi War Vet. He is the founder of Warrior SOS and writes tactical articles for Guns.com.

AT Hostage for only $225!

PT HostageDuring the entire month of December, we are offering our AT Hostage for only $225 as part of our Target of the Month program! This offer is available at the Action Target Store or by contacting the Territory Manager for your region.

Enter the code PTH2011AR550 when placing your order in the online store for the discount. Only one code per order. There is NO LIMIT on the number of products ordered. Offer cannot be combined with other discounts or specials. Offer expires December 31, 2011.