Shooter-Friendly Steel: MGM Targets Plate Rack Bucket

The plate rack is an iconic target. I know that term is overused, but in this case it applies. It’s a fixture in any competition or serious training facility. It teaches shooters speed, accuracy, focus, target transition and often humility.

The traditional plate rack has six targets or “plates” in a row. Spacing for Bianchi Cup rules is 20-inches center to center. Most are a bit closer and MGM Targets uses 14-inches so that they all fit on an eight-foot rack. The plates are on a hinge, so they fall when struck by a bullet. There is a long rope on a pivoting mechanism that the shooter can pull to reset the targets without going down range.

A full-size plate rack is big and heavy, and it’s difficult to transport. They are meant to be placed on the range and left there. These targets are not user-friendly for people who bring their targets to the range for the day and pack them in their truck to bring home at the end of the shooting session

One of the most-popular options in this line is the MLS Plate Rack Bucket, or as it’s come to be known, “Plate Rack in a Bucket.” This affordable target has six of the company's trademark hexagon shaped 3/8 inch AR550 plates. For those who don’t know, AR550 is the toughest grade of target steel.

There are six hangers that use MGM's unique modular locking system geometry to fit the plate to the hanger so it will not fall off. These hangers are made to fit on a 2X4 and slide into place. Finally, there are two brackets. This all fits into an easy-to-carry metal bucket and weighs 44 pounds.

The plates do not fall down like a conventional plate rack, but they ring and wobble when you hit them. So there is both audio and visual confirmation of a hit. Better yet, you never have to reset them. Bucket in one hand and the 2X4s in another. Best of all, it's affordable. The whole kit retails for $254.99.

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