Writer: Willy Snyder
Date: July 19th, 2005

Background      The Sniper Training Cube is a 4" x 4" x 4" solid block of Ballistic Polymer manufactured by Ballistic Technologies.  It's said that they can take any caliber from a .17HMR to a .50BMG at point blank range. A rough estimate would say that it's about 3 pounds. It's also suppose to react violently and unpredictable after being hit giving you the effect of having to shoot it at different angles, different and changing yardages, and under different circumstances. We found this out after shooting it at 180 meters and it dipped down into a small pit where we overshot it. (As you will see in one of our videos) So without further ado, lets get started. Click to Enlarge Test Shot 1      Our first shot we did was at 25 yards shooting a 300 Weatherby with a 180 Grain Sierra Round Nose bullet using 83 grains of R25. This shot right through it with a very small entrance wound of about 1/4 inch and even smaller exit wound with about 1/8 inch but was cracked. (As the pictures will show) The block jumped back about 5 yards after being struck, but took the bullet very well. Entrance Click to Enlarge Exit Click to Enlarge Video   Low Quality High Quality Test Shot 2      Our second shot was using a Winchester .270 with a Nosler 130 Grain Ballistic Tip. This went right through the block just as the Weatherby did. The only difference was the size of the entrance and exit holes. The entrance hole was about 1/8 of an inch whereas the exit hole was about 1/4 of an inch. The cube got knocked back about 5 yards as well. Entrance Click to Enlarge Exit Click to Enlarge Video   Low Quality High Quality Test Shot 3      Ok, time for a real test. For our test shot 3 we pulled out the 12 gauge and loaded up a 1oz Winchester Rifled HP slug. We setup the block about 20-25 feet away just in case we had any backlash, and to see if anything would come back for our later point blank test. After shooting, it finally came to a rest about 10 yards from where it was shot.  Surprisingly, nothing came back on us after plowing it dead center and even more surprising was the fact that all there was; was a 3/4 inch hole going in and nothing coming back out. It took this test very well. Entrance Click to Enlarge Exit No Exit   Video   Low Quality High Quality Point Blank Test      Ok, so we know it can take a 1oz slug at 20-25 feet away. Lets try another slug at about 4 feet away. (video shows this). Well we fired it off and it landed about 15 yards away again with no exit hole. Obviously these bullets had to mushroom out pretty good in there. We decided, since we were already setup to go, lets try another point blank shot with some 3 inch BB (Double B) shot. We fired this one off and it flew about 15 yards as well, but the entrance hole was found rather quickly. It blew close to a 1 1/4 inch hole going inside and speckled the outside with pellets. (See the Entrance picture below) We figured 1 shot of point blank BB shot was enough. It caused some good damage, and we have some reasoning to think it hit the two mushroomed slugs inside and cause some extensive internal damage (as later pictures show) Entrance Click to Enlarge Exit No Exit   Video   Low Quality High Quality Reaction Close Range      Ok, we saw what some various calibers can do to this guy, now lets test some reaction to this cube at about 30 yards shooting it multiple times. As you can see in the video there was some reaction, but nothing too spectacular. Although, (and remember the video camera is not looking through the scope) it did bring on some interesting results as it was shot backwards. With the tall grass, it actually hid behind the grass so much as you could only see a small part of orange and had to shoot accordingly. This was shot using the .300 Weatherby. Entrance No Image Exit No Image Video   Low Quality High Quality Reaction From a Distance      We tested the reaction again from about 180 meters which brought on some fun results. I shot three times, the first time it shot backwards a bit, the second time it shot up in the air, rolled back, and actually fell into a small pit with some grass covering it up. The third shot (and I hate to admit it, but I will) I missed and shot over it. This was really an exciting experience shooting the cube from this far and watching where it landed. I only shot three times at this point, but I could imagine by shooting more rounds this thing could end up just about anywhere. Entrance No Image Exit No Image Video   Low Quality High Quality After All The Shots      After we got done, and counting up the shots, here is what we shot. Weapon Times Bullet Type Bullet Type 12 Gauge Shotgun 7 1oz Rifled HP Slug BB (Double B) Shot .270 Winchester 17 130 Gr Nosler Ballistic Tip 130 Spitzer Boat Tail .300 Weatherby 11 180 Gr Sierra RN 180 Gr Core-Lokt (Factory) Entrance Click to Enlarge No Image Video   Low Quality High Quality In Conclusion    The Good      It was very fun to shoot this cube at a distance and watch it's reaction to various calibers and see what happens. By clipping the side or shooting low it would advance the cube in all different directions and sometimes even hide behind some grass or a spot of sagebrush, which you would have to watch or look close to be able to get a shot. A great tool for snipers who need this sort of practice. Also a great target for those varmint hunters who want to learn to adjust for various yardages as well. With it's orange color it also makes it easier to see at greater distances. The Bad        We fired 35 high caliber rounds at this cube and it did come out pretty badly damaged with a large hole (above image) on one side that goes in almost 3 inches. Along with other large holes on the other exterior sides. Also, as mentioned earlier I think a large part of that hole was due to re-hitting the mushroomed slug inside and causing some explosive action inside. This was one days shooting and I think given more ammunition this block will split apart and become inoperable. Which we intend to do and give an update. Also, because of it's size (4" x 4") it would make it very hard to shoot in places of tall grass or sagebrush without propping it up first. Misc. Photo Click to Enlarge Misc. Photo Click to Enlarge Range Click to Enlarge Bullets Click to Enlarge   Special Thanks      I would like to thank everyone who read this review and found it insightful. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed shooting it. I would also like to especially thank the people at "Just Shoot Me Products" for allowing me to shoot their fine targets and give a review.

Staff

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Published on: 2005-07-17, last modification in: 2005-07-22 (4029 reads)