The A-DAP System: The best steel target there is?

• June 19, 2017
• By tatargets

It’s no secret that the steel target industry is overwhelmed with manufacturers right now. Because of that It is extremely difficult for customers to find out who is actually making a quality product, and who is simply putting out smoke and mirrors. Tatargets is here to set the standard for steel targets that should have been set years ago. 

Part of what began our company was a realization that there was a plethora of cheap and poorly designed target systems on the market that did not only function poorly, but often times could be very unsafe. From day one we began with the foundation of creating the best product and pushing our company forward to become THE name to know in steel targets.

One of the first systems we released was our A-DAP system. The acronym A-DAP stands for Adaptive Dynamic AR500 Platform. This system does not disappoint. Our objectives for this system were to create an affordable system that rings better than our competition, has movement when struck, has a forward lean, utilizes a bolted connection rather than welds, and can be setup or taken apart without the use of tools. These objectives seem easy, but they are no easy task. Putting quality first, we released our A-DAP system late in the 2015 year. Here is one of our first YouTube videos that we released on our A-DAP system:

The original versions of the A-DAP system were offered in 1/4″ AR500 (for pistol use only) and 3/8″ AR500 steel (for pistols at 10 yards, rifles at 100 yards). The A-DAP system grew in its popularity because of how well the system rings and how durable it truly is. Part of the durability aspect is a step in our process, which we take for each system, which ensures we are using only the highest grade AR500 and AR550 steel. What most people don’t know is that when a company calls a steel mill to order material like AR500, the brinell hardness may actually be MUCH lower than 500. The lower the number, the softer the steel. If the person ordering doesn’t specify a minimum hardness, the steel may come in far too soft. When you read about cheap targets pitting at 100 yards from .223, be extremely wary! They are probably poor quality steel and not up to true AR500 specifications.

Because of this, we specify minimum hardness levels on our AR500 and AR550 steel and require certifications before the steel is allowed to ship to the shop.

After the initial release we began noticing another trend in the steel target world: people shooting much closer than 100 yards on steel. If we are completely honest we were guilty of shooting regular AR500 targets closer than 100 yards at times as well. It is no secret that when AR500 targets are used closer than 100 yards, they begin to receive damage. Calibers that are sending small fast bullets, like the .223/5.56 NATO are notoriously devastating to AR500 steel at close range, even when standard lead core FMJ ammunition is used.

Calibers like .223 create pocks or small dimples or craters that get worse over time and can end up with a target failure or an unsafe target. We knew people needed a better solution to this, so we went to work.

Enter: The AR550 Magnum A-DAP system. This system is entirely the same as our regular A-DAP system with one major difference: AR550 instead of AR500 steel!

We offer the Magnum A-DAP in two plate thicknesses: 3/8″ AR550 (pistols 10 yards, .223-.308 50 yards, larger than .308 100 yards) and 1/2″ AR550 (pistols 10 yards, .223 30 yards, 308 50 yards). The AR550 steel coupled with our superior design and attachment methods created the most robust system on the market.

The thought process behind the use of 1/2″ AR550 steel originally came from our .50 BMG rated target, Goliath. We knew there wasn’t a good solution for calibers such as .300 win mag, 7mm mag, and big calibers like .330 Lapua and that was the original role the 1/2″ AR550 Magnum A-DAP filled. During testing the true potential as a close range carbine rated target was discovered.

Check out our torture test video we made with some FULL AUTO weapons on our range. The victim: a 1/2″ AR550 Magnum A-DAP target!

There is nothing else on the market like our AR550 Magnum A-DAP targets. By far these are the most durable targets you can get currently. We have customers who are trainers and they have over 75,000 rounds on their A-DAP targets.

We even went a step further recently and released our NEW 2/3 Magnum A-DAP target, which is taking the industry by storm already. This target is 2/3 the size of our regular A-DAP plate and made from 3/8″ AR550 steel. The retail price is under $200.00 which puts this target in place to challenge every other cheap imitation target out there not only with regards to price, but especially with regards to durability. I will write about that new target soon in detail but for now, check out this video:

All in all we are extremely excited to be in our second year of business. We have been blessed so much over the last year, and we are prepared to continue taking this market by storm. You can expect continued innovation and creative designs going forward. TAT will become the “go-to” name for steel targets and we will continue offering the strongest targets on the market.

Thank you to all of our friends and customers, we have a lot more to come.