Bullet path is the primary reason. Some ranges won't let you use any "human looking" targets for legal reasons as well. It varies from place to place.gringop wrote:Money can be one reason but ensuring proper backstop hits can be another. If a range has target hangers set so the bullseye hangs at 5 foot and results in hits to the middle of the backstop, you can be assured the someone will hang a target with bulls at 6 foot , shoot from low down on the bench and start wanging shots off of the lights and cables. Or the bull will be at 3 foot and they will jerk low and skip them off the ground and over the berm at an outdoor range.
Yup, taping is usually ok. Also, most indoor ranges will let you use your own targets taped to their targets, so long as it stays within their target zone (i.e. - Poker Targets).gringop wrote:Or they may just be greedy and want to sell you lots of overpriced targets. When I shoot at indoor ranges I always have my masking tape and tape the targets after every string. Gotta keep the rust off of those cables and pulleys.
Gringop
For what it's worth -- operating an indoor range is probably the slowest road you can take to becoming a millionaire, just below "Minimum wage job at Wal-Mart", they gotta make a dime where they can.