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Why Home Ranges Are the Future (ft. TCRT)
Description
State of the Second sits down with Kurt from TCRT Targets, the company behind self-healing rubber targets built for the home range. Kurt walks through how the product came to be. TCRT spent about three years on a proprietary rubber formulation made specifically for ballistics, rather than repurposing rubber from another use. The targets are rated for roughly 400 rounds of 5.56 per square inch, and Kurt has seen targets take 15,000 to 20,000 rounds and keep going. He has shot them with everything from 9mm and .45 up to .308, and recently put 50 BMG through them with a friend named Lucas who is now at Barrett. The rubber is waterproof and UV resistant, and it held up after two years in the Arizona sun without dry rotting, so you can leave a full setup outdoors.
The bigger pitch is about how you train. Because the targets are light and the Range Flex stand system is modular, Kurt says you can build a whole course of fire for about the cost of one full-size steel torso target. He paints targets different colors and assigns hit counts, offsets them at different heights and distances, and even makes shooters do math mid-string so they cannot just game a plate rack. Setups tear down fast and roll up to throw in a car, which makes a real home range or a competition-style stage easy for a family or a group of friends.
The soapbox turns to Second Amendment advocacy. Kurt agrees that politicians who advocate against the Second Amendment are violating their oath, but his sharper point is about how the gun community communicates. He argues that facts and figures alone do not move people who are scared, and that yelling "shall not be infringed" lands as nothing to someone who disagrees. The win is changing hearts and minds over the long game while GOA works the front lines in Washington. Kaylee ties it to GOA and GOF education work on college campuses and the Two A Adventure Chronicles, plus the on-ramp of taking a gun-curious person to the range for a safe, fun first experience. Kurt closes with the overlap he sees between the overland and firearms communities and a two-and-a-half-hour conversation with a California liberal that stayed respectful because it happened face to face. He offers code GOA15 for 15% off at tcrt.com and points listeners to GOALS in Knoxville.
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Questions this episode answers
What makes TCRT's rubber targets different from other self-healing targets on the market?
TCRT spent about three years developing a proprietary rubber formulation made specifically for ballistics, rather than repurposing rubber from another use. The targets are also waterproof and UV resistant.
How many rounds can a TCRT target take, and what calibers has Kurt shot through them?
The targets are rated for roughly 400 rounds of 5.56 per square inch, and Kurt has seen them take 15,000 to 20,000 rounds and keep going. He has run everything from 9mm and .45 up to .308, and even put 50 BMG through them.
Do rubber targets hold up if you leave them outdoors all year?
Yes. TCRT's rubber is waterproof and UV resistant, and a setup held up after two years in the Arizona sun without dry rotting, so a full course can be left outdoors.
Why is a rubber target setup a better fit for a home range than steel?
The targets are light and the Range Flex stand system is modular, so for about the cost of one full-size steel torso target you can build a whole course of fire. Setups tear down fast and roll up to throw in a car.
How does Kurt use colors, hit counts, and target placement to make range time better training?
Kurt paints targets different colors and assigns hit counts, offsets them at different heights and distances, and makes shooters do math mid-string so they cannot just game a plate rack.