One of the hidden gems at Shot Show’s range day were the new targets from Romtes in Israel. This system was originally developed to serve the training needs of Ya’ma’m special forces units, and is now being made available to civilians.

The idea is that foil circuit runs through the cardboard target, and that when a bullet passes through, that data is passed wirelessly to a central controller, which can signal and display the zone that was hit.

When looking at the regular training regimen of various Israeli SF units, too much time was being spent down-range checking and resetting targets. The IDF needed something with the immediacy and lifespan of a steel plate, combined with the safety and impact data provided by a paper target. The Short Circuit Target (SCT) was developed to meet this.

As Romtes puts it: “The SCT consists of several layers of material, two of which are conductive. When a projectile penetrates the target it creates a short circuit between the two layers that is detected by an electronic system and recorded providing the shooter with immediate feedback of the hit location.”

Each target can have up to eight different impact zones, and zones can be programmed to provide an audible beep when hit, or remain silent. There are a wide variety of targets available, covering hostage layouts and precision distance targets. Romtes also can create limited run targets for special orders. The modular stand also shields the transmitting box from errant shots, which in turn relays hit information to the central monitor.

The display device is what emits the beep, so you’ll still get audible feedback when shooting at targets as far as 700 yards away. But there’s also a visual indicator to identify which target zone was hit, and how many rounds have impacted each zone. This is large scale army gear being pared down, so that monitor unit can track dozens of targets at a time  too.

The primary use has always been engagement scenarios and long range sniper training, but Romtes is now aiming this system as US Ranges, law enforcement, and individual shooters. Ballpark pricing on the kit is $800 to get started, but I’ve asked for more specific pricing information and will update this post once I receive it.