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Flashers for ELR steel targets

Fursniper

Captain, USMM (retired)
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 13, 2017
2,172
54
Arizona
Anyone know of a flasher unit package for steel targets that is daylight visable at 2500+ yards? The Caldwell and others claim visability out to 1500 max it seems. If that's the best they can do......heck, I can see splash on steel through my scope that far.
 
Two words. Camera system.

at ELR, you can't beat the ability to see exactly where your impacts, and your misses, are. And your shooting buddies will agree.
 
Two words. Camera system.

at ELR, you can't beat the ability to see exactly where your impacts, and your misses, are. And your shooting buddies will agree.

You're right lash, that IS the best answer! Eventually that will come to pass I think. Trying to keep costs down for now though. We've been using a flasher system that works pretty well out to 2500 problem is, they were loaners and neither we nor the owner can remember/figure out who makes it or where it came from lol. Yeah boy, we're some pretty smart cookies out here......
 
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What camera system do you use, Lash?

I do not own it. One of the guys I shoot with does. He put it together himself and it works very well out to the 2200 we have available. I will ask him next time I am out to see exactly what components he is using. I do know that he didn't spend anywhere near the cost of the good commercial units.

There was a great DIY LR camera thread by DiverXXXX (can't remember the digits) on the Scout site, but I don't think that it was transferred over.. Some of his info has been copied into this thread here:

https://www.snipershide.com/shootin...ices/6334567-long-range-target-camera-systems
 
Anyone know of a flasher unit package for steel targets that is daylight visable at 2500+ yards? The Caldwell and others claim visability out to 1500 max it seems. If that's the best they can do......heck, I can see splash on steel through my scope that far.

http://www.rtacprecision.com/i.r.i.s..html

I have used these. Quite nice for spotting hits at 2000m+, but for misses you are SOL.
 
Unfortunately, their website says they are no longer making their system available to the public :(
Wonder what's up with that........

The patent and manufacturing rights were sold to another company. URSA uses IRIS exclusively (at this point) and I have e-mailed that company to find out what their plans are for the IRIS system - at least in the near-to-mid term. I have yet to hear back (only been a couple of days).
 
The patent and manufacturing rights were sold to another company. URSA uses IRIS exclusively (at this point) and I have e-mailed that company to find out what their plans are for the IRIS system - at least in the near-to-mid term. I have yet to hear back (only been a couple of days).

Please post what you find and and thank you!
 
I have a T.H.I.S. (Target hit indicator system). I have a gen 1. When I purchased it the gen 2 didn't exsist. I have shot out to 2k with it and spotting the flash was not an issue at all! It's rated for 1.5 miles, but I think you could push it alot further if you'd like. I will shoot to at least 2500 by the end of the summer and I have no worries about it. Best thing is it runs 150 for the setup. On the down side the gen 1 transmitter has to be 10ft away from your target. I hang all mine on t posts and usually have to set it a lil closer than that. I've never hit it, but they do sell replacement parts for a reasonable price so I'm not to worried about it. Overall I've been extremely happy w/ it, there's no way I could have shot 1931 yards without it, especially by my self....
 
Thanks Dan, this is very encouraging. Going to look into their system. Sounds like just what I'm looking for!
 
FYI, I sent them (the new company) my initial info request on 5/3. Sent follow up requests on 5/12 and 5/19. So far no response.

Thank you for the follow-up. Hopefully they will respond eventually. If & when they do look forward to hearing the outcome of your inquiry.
Considering the growing interest in ELR/ULR events, competitions and just individuals that are pushing the limits of extended range, I'm really surprised there aren't more choices in the market for target hit indicators or camera systems that are reasonably priced. I guess the market will eventually catch up with the sport eventually.
 
Magnetospeed had something along the lines of this at SHOT Show. It was a self adhesive target with a led bar that transmitted light up towards top of target through some kind of polymer gel thingy. When the target was hit it would flash red. At the shop they demonstrated it with a hammer. I asked what if the polymer thingy gets hit repeatedly, they said it was replaceable easily.

I'm guessing it went on a shock sensor like in your car alarm and sent a signal to the light. It seemed very light, ran off of batteries, don't recall release date or pricing.


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This thing
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Thanks TH, I'm not sure of the application of the MS product but I'll take a look at it. I'm really looking for something more applicable to steel targets.
 
It looks like this is meant to stick to a steel target. I could be wrong.

Hey Lash, yeah, I think you're right, it could be stuck on a steel plate. I'll look into it further, kinda wondering about the size of the flash unit, it looks pretty small.
 
Yeah, not sure how good it would be for ELR use.

I've got a line on a pretty cool flasher unit made locally, it's wireless and works up to 25 feet + away from the sensor on the target. Saw a demo unit yesterday, looks very promising. Uses LED'S too. Looks like it would work out to 2 miles at least.
 
$265 for two units....less expensive than the gen 1 unit from T.H.I.S. (Target hit indication system). It transmits further too and the flash unit stays on with a delay for 3 seconds or so, much better than just a quick like "camera flash" which is what everything else does. No chance to miss the flash that way Going to try the unit in the field 2-2.5k yards when all this wind quits....
 
Check out Pi-FT on Facebook.


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Anyone know of a flasher unit package for steel targets that is daylight visable at 2500+ yards? The Caldwell and others claim visability out to 1500 max it seems. If that's the best they can do......heck, I can see splash on steel through my scope that far.

PM me :)


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Thank you for the follow-up. Hopefully they will respond eventually. If & when they do look forward to hearing the outcome of your inquiry.
Considering the growing interest in ELR/ULR events, competitions and just individuals that are pushing the limits of extended range, I'm really surprised there aren't more choices in the market for target hit indicators or camera systems that are reasonably priced. I guess the market will eventually catch up with the sport eventually.

On Tuesday (5/23) I received a reply to my inquiries about the availability of IRIS systems from the buyer of the patent and manufacturing rights. In part the reply reads, "At this time we have no plans to continue that product." He goes on to point to a product he will be offering - where he is putting his time and resources. Zero words to suggest that the IRIS system is anything but dead. RTAC will, however, continue to provide after-sale service for folks, like URSA, that have made an investment in IRIS hardware.
 
On Tuesday (5/23) I received a reply to my inquiries about the availability of IRIS systems from the buyer of the patent and manufacturing rights. In part the reply reads, "At this time we have no plans to continue that product." He goes on to point to a product he will be offering - where he is putting his time and resources. Zero words to suggest that the IRIS system is anything but dead. RTAC will, however, continue to provide after-sale service for folks, like URSA, that have made an investment in IRIS hardware.

Well thank you very much for the follow-up. I'll continue to seek out other products. I have a line on a couple different manufacturers that look promising.
 
Well thank you very much for the follow-up. I'll continue to seek out other products. I have a line on a couple different manufacturers that look promising.

Hi Fursniper. Try and reach me on [email protected] I have a system you will find very interesting. !


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I have the IRIS system, but don't use it anymore. We've gone to highly reactive, but consumable, steel targets.

We set up a range late last year with 4 targets from 1200 to 2200 yards. We wanted to leave the targets set up and avoid trips to them every time we shot. A local steel shop cut a 4'x8' 1/4" mild steel plate in to 16"x24" and 12"x16" sections for $260. We drilled holes a third of the way down and in from the edges. They're suspended with chains using bolts so the plates are largely counterweighted against themselves. It makes them highly reactive and harder to punch through. The location of impacts to a couple inches is easily discerned by the motion. The plates are set up in arrays to give targets 1-2 moa across and the smaller plates are used for the longer distances to keep the motion up. At 2200 yards, we get bullet pasting, but no dents.

A 338 Snipetac punches through the 1200 yard plate, but not the 1400 yard one. 300wm dents them pretty good out to 1600 yards, which also solves the low signature from solids problem. We estimate that it'll take several hundred dollars worth of ammo to wear out that first $26 plate and we'll have to replace it about once a year.

The whole setup, plates, chains, bolts, stands, was less than I paid for the IRIS.
 



Diver, thank you for the links. Very interesting set up but for me, I am pretty handicapped when it comes to electronic stuff. I think a camera system is ultimately the way to go but there are way to many pieces parts in your system for me to be able to fabricate! I would need a "plug & play turn key deal due to my limited knowledge of electronic components. Right now I am "chasing" a couple of LED flasher systems that look promising that should work well for us out to 3000 yds. Someday though, the upgrade to a camera system is inevitable I'm sure. The wireless flasher systems are simple (only two parts to lose, lol), reasonably priced and appear to be pretty durable and reliable.
 
Diver, thank you for the links. Very interesting set up but for me, I am pretty handicapped when it comes to electronic stuff. I think a camera system is ultimately the way to go but there are way to many pieces parts in your system for me to be able to fabricate! I would need a "plug & play turn key deal due to my limited knowledge of electronic components. Right now I am "chasing" a couple of LED flasher systems that look promising that should work well for us out to 3000 yds. Someday though, the upgrade to a camera system is inevitable I'm sure. The wireless flasher systems are simple (only two parts to lose, lol), reasonably priced and appear to be pretty durable and reliable.

Might I ask which one you're looking at ?


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I have a used twice system T.H.I.S. (Target hit indication system) --- not something that is reliable.. I have hopes the Pi-fit triggers more reliably ... let us know.

Gotcha on the cam thing -- but might be worth partnering with someone to build something.. Remember a buck + ++ a shot and when we get bad info it is worse thing, as we think were missing but not.. as pointed out above, solids make things really tough to spot and expensive


We have tried the Pi-ft wireless sensors inside a warehouse so far, they triggered the flash units reliably at 25 feet. Will be giving them a field test soon.
 
Well this past Sunday I had a chance to see the Magnetospeed flasher in action at 1000yds

It worked, plain and simple. I would send a shot, I'd see the red beam flash just above the target for a few seconds and do the exact thing again. I don't honestly recall it flashing other colors the 2 times I missed cause I chased the dirt splash. But the 8 times I hit I could easily tell in 10am sun that it was flashing red.

I honestly can't wait for this to come out for another option in spotting hits cause hearing a 6mm bullet at 1000 with a tail wind gets to become a lengthy wait or very hard to hear. On extreme long range...I don't know, but my scope on 15x the red beam was very visible.


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Well this past Sunday I had a chance to see the Magnetospeed flasher in action at 1000yds

It worked, plain and simple. I would send a shot, I'd see the red beam flash just above the target for a few seconds and do the exact thing again. I don't honestly recall it flashing other colors the 2 times I missed cause I chased the dirt splash. But the 8 times I hit I could easily tell in 10am sun that it was flashing red.

I honestly can't wait for this to come out for another option in spotting hits cause hearing a 6mm bullet at 1000 with a tail wind gets to become a lengthy wait or very hard to hear. On extreme long range...I don't know, but my scope on 15x the red beam was very visible.


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Hello Diver - our (URSA's) experience with IRIS has been very good. The need for delay seems to be associated with testing with a hammer (up close and personal to confirm the gear is good to go for an event). Lynn shot the NorCal event last weekend and shot it fast - no problem getting the lights to flash. For now we are sticking with IRIS - and hoping that RTAC will stand behind their assurance that they will repair if needed. They (RTAC) are also working on a project that was already in work when the sale was made - a longer range remote. That is where we experienced "problems" - shooters think they "must" have had a hit but no light. Lynn and I have both shown that NOT to be true within minutes after the complaint was raised - hits and lights. So, possibly we'll "soon" have a remote that works with our current gear and we can promptly demo that the lights are working just fine.

Moving forward to what can be purchased...maybe.

Since I have made multiple attempts to reach the people that bought the IRIS tech, I will now give you their website - noting that it is a one page, "coming soon" (for months), and they are basically uncommunicative - even though I've advised them we will buy a unit to test (to consider for possible future purchases).

https://lightreact.com

and their FB page (last post in Sep '16) - https://www.facebook.com/LightReact/

Whoever has a good link to the "Pi-ft wireless sensors", please post or re-post. Thanks.
 
Hello Diver - our (URSA's) experience with IRIS has been very good. The need for delay seems to be associated with testing with a hammer (up close and personal to confirm the gear is good to go for an event). Lynn shot the NorCal event last weekend and shot it fast - no problem getting the lights to flash. For now we are sticking with IRIS - and hoping that RTAC will stand behind their assurance that they will repair if needed. They (RTAC) are also working on a project that was already in work when the sale was made - a longer range remote. That is where we experienced "problems" - shooters think they "must" have had a hit but no light. Lynn and I have both shown that NOT to be true within minutes after the complaint was raised - hits and lights. So, possibly we'll "soon" have a remote that works with our current gear and we can promptly demo that the lights are working just fine.

Moving forward to what can be purchased...maybe.

Since I have made multiple attempts to reach the people that bought the IRIS tech, I will now give you their website - noting that it is a one page, "coming soon" (for months), and they are basically uncommunicative - even though I've advised them we will buy a unit to test (to consider for possible future purchases).

https://lightreact.com

and their FB page (last post in Sep '16) - https://www.facebook.com/LightReact/

Whoever has a good link to the "Pi-ft wireless sensors", please post or re-post. Thanks.


I have an email address for the creator of the "Pi-ft" system. He said to use it for ordering through paypal. The units are $125 each + $15 shipping

[email protected]

Haven't been able to try these units in the field yet, between high winds and current fire restrictions (firearm restrictions) at our ELR site, no joy on shooting with them yet.
 
2%20MILE%20SHOT%202_zpsirm7bhwk.jpg2%20MILE%20SHOT_zpsavnckpoz.jpg I have the PiFt units. $125 ish each. Impacted 2 miles a few weeks back, flash was clearly visible both to myself and to my spotters.
 

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I have the PiFt units. $125 ish each. Impacted 2 miles a few weeks back, flash was clearly visible both to myself and to my spotters.

Excellent! Thanks for the field report. As I suspected & looking forward to using ours. BTW, the link you posted does not work, says "forbidden access to the server".