Caldwell Flash Bangs are not some type of grenade, despite the name — they are an inexpensive and highly effective target hit indicator for those of us who love shooting steel at a distance.
The whole concept of shooting steel plates at long range with rifles has become more popular than ever, but one of the issues is that unless you have a spotter looking through binos or a spotting scope, you cannot be sure if you hit the target.
Using smaller calibres like .22 LR at 200 metres or .223 at 300m, you will not likely hear the tink of the bullet hitting unless the wind is right, and you may not see movement in the steel target either.
Even a .308 past 300-500 metres can’t be heard easily if the wind is not in your favour.
That’s where the Caldwell Flash Bang comes in and saves the day.
It uses flashing 10 green LED lights that are highly visible out to at least 1000 metres (I have not tried it further than that) during daylight and can be used on any target over 125mm (5”) in size.
The indicators have Velcro attached. The matching piece of Velcro is provided to attach to your target. Press the indicator onto the target, with the lights just peeking around the top, bottom or side.
I think it is self evident that you only want just enough protruding to see the lights as you really don’t want to shoot the lights out. It’s a risk, but Caldwell advises that even if some of the LEDs are destroyed the remainder will work. Thankfully, I have not tested that feature yet!
I have tried them on targets from 100 to 1000 metres and love them.
They are still using the supplied AAA batteries after more than nine months.
I’ve had no issues with reliability or function despite leaving one of them out in the weather attached to the target — not something that’s encouraged. The Velcro allows you to easily remove them when not shooting.
I use them a lot when plinking at 200-300m steel with a rimfire. The heavy centrefire-rated targets do not really move with a .22 LR at that distance, but the Caldwell Flash Bang flashes clearly for 2-3 seconds after bullet impact, allowing you to see any hits.
This longish indication time is handy with heavy-recoiling calibres at distance when you lose sight of the target briefly after the shot.
From my own experience with more than 1000 rounds on them, they work exactly as advertised, with the only real downside being that at some point you will likely shoot one. If the bullet only clips the LEDs then it will continue to function, but if it takes a hit to the body it will be time to buy a new Flash Bang.
One solution I saw online was to fix an extended rod or bar to your target (the one I saw was maybe 300mm away from target) to reduce to risk from an errant round.
Basically, Flash Bangs are yet another innovative and affordable item from the Caldwell team and with NIOA importing them they are available from most gun shops in Australia.
SPECIFICATIONS
Power source: 3 x AA batteries
Mounting: Velcro
Price: Typically $70-$100 (shop around)
Distributor: NIOA
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