Steel target colors.

[cc56]

I recently was at Home depot and looking in the paint aisle. Anyone else enjoy buying the little "oops" paint samples for $0.50 and painting their steel targets? I just found a "zombie" like green and painted some silhouettes. I also find reds, blues, grays, and others. Sometimes I feel it is boring just shooting at white all the time. I can post pictures later.

How about you guys?

[Bansh88]

Ive got a couple cans of safety green marking paint. Spray paint makes it easy to freshen up a target. quick drying

[DougJ]

I hit the steel I have with whatever color of spray paint or primer I happen to have on hand just so I don't get used to shooting one color.

[CK_32]

I hardly ever bring out steel unless me and the crew are shooting decent distances (400 to 1300 yards)

We've shot it a handful of times below 500 yards but never below 300, to extend the life of the plate.

So we usually run white or construction orange just to make sure it's visible at the distances we shoot. We did black once which worked out great for a mid summer desert day. But once low light hit it went invisible.

Would be fun to finger paint in different colors for fun, but again we usually shoot "longer ranges" so visibility might suffer.

What you could do is do what we did and get a tub left overs from a home project and a cheap paint roller and slop it on like we do. Doesn't have to be pretty. Paint can lasts a good bit too.


Edit: By paint can I mean liquid tub. Spray paints usually don't last long. Accept for small touch ups.

[Jimi Jah]

Florescent orange is the best color to use.

[REDdawn6]

My friend who shoots competitions , says Targets are supposed to be brown...

[xxINKxx]

I buy the rustoleum neon color spray paint cans at Home Depot. Neon orange works good. Like 4$ and a can lasts a long time.

[Oneblood]

I paint mine camo in case some hard on rolls up and asks dumb questions about my steel.
Yes it's at a safe distance.
Yes it's swinging and not posted to a solid structure.
It's AR500. Chances are, whatever you will end up shooting outside the range won't be fluorescent, so might as well make your eyes work a little bit.

[CK_32]

I paint mine camo in case some hard on rolls up and asks dumb questions about my steel.
Yes it's at a safe distance.
Yes it's swinging and not posted to a solid structure.
It's AR500. Chances are, whatever you will end up shooting outside the range won't be fluorescent, so might as well make your eyes work a little bit.

What?! Lol

[Beetle Bailey]

I keep three colors on hand: black, white, and neon orange. Then just use the best choice for each time and place.

[barrage]

What?! Lol

I had the same "what?" reaction during my first read too.

On a third read, I figured it out:

"Chances are, whatever [enemies] you will end up shooting outside the range on the battlefield won't be fluorescent, so might as well make your eyes work a little bit."
- Mall Ninja

[Bansh88]

What?! Lol

hahahaaa. Ditto

[mycrstuff]

Put a layer of white on before you paint it orange. It will make the color stand out brighter. Yellow over white stands out even more than the orange.

I use the low budget Ace Hardware paint. Rustoleum is to expensive.

[cc56]

I have some that are still white and tried the cheap $1 can from Home depot. It does not cover very well the splatter marks, they kind of stay in the background like a ghost. The rustolem spray cans do work much better, how many times can you paint with them, before they run out? I had one on its last leg and it covered a whole 9x12 plate well, but died.

You can see in the picture where the old shot marks were on the white target. That is using the cheap spray paint. The green is done with a brush and I just slap it on to cover the marks. A $0.50 bottle goes a long ways.

[L84CABO]

I recently was at Home depot and looking in the paint aisle. Anyone else enjoy buying the little "oops" paint samples for $0.50 and painting their steel targets? I just found a "zombie" like green and painted some silhouettes. I also find reds, blues, grays, and others. Sometimes I feel it is boring just shooting at white all the time. I can post pictures later.

How about you guys?

So far I've only used spray paint. Might have to check out the "oops" cans. Didn't know about those so thanks for that.

Spray paint is kinda expensive. But I've noticed a difference in cheaper stuff and I'm not sure it's worth it in the end because you have to use more of it. But if anyone has a cheaper brand that covers as well as Rustoleum or similar, please share.

As for color, I've been mixing it up lately to try and figure out what I like best. I do like black and it works great with my green fiber optic sights but not so much with a back from sight post. It just washes out. Safety red is nice too.