Now why didn't I think of that? Spray Adhesive

[DMF13]

If you've seen this, and I'm late to the party sorry, but this was new to me.

So our lead firearms instructor shows up at quarterly training with two cans of this:

3M 77 Spray Adhesive

Seems he went to shoot with some guys from another agency, and that's how they hang new paper targets instead of using staple guns. He said it was much better than the old staple guns. Just spray a box for the edges and an X from corner to corner, and slap on the new targets.

Turns out he was right, and it was great.

No more jammed staple guns. No more cut hands on staples protruding through the cardboard backers. Less problem of targets ripping due to a gust of wind catching an edge between staples. Also, its much faster to hang new targets than stapling.

More than a decade of stapling up paper targets, with the associated punctures and rips from the protruding staples, and this very simple idea never occurred to me before.

Anyway, in case you've never seen it, I thought I'd share.

[BCL]

Is it strong enough to handle the weight of cardboard targets?

[ST911]

Used that off and on for years. Upside is that it keeps targets on in the wind a little better, and you're not messing with staplers. Downsides are that it is expensive in volume, overspray gets on skin and eye pro, LCDs waste it with too much application, harder to strip if you need to retain the target or reuse the backer.

Supplement to the stapler, but not a replacement.

[LOKNLOD]

Is it strong enough to handle the weight of cardboard targets?

That stuff is pretty stout, I bet it is. It's used for trim and carpet on cars.

[BCL]

That stuff is pretty stout, I bet it is. It's used for trim and carpet on cars.

Sweet, thanks!

[SecondsCount]

It works great as long as the backer is dry

[johncorey]

It's GTG. LocTite also makes a version. Naturally, weather extremes will not be your friend when trying to use this stuff.

[HCM]

I converted us to Spray vs Staplers back in 2012. I stole the idea from Austin PD . Three years later we've found the positives outweigh the negatives.

[DMF13]

. . . overspray gets on skin and eye pro . . .

Other than the finger pressing the button, I didn't get any on my skin, and none on my eyepro. I suppose it might have been a little trickier with high wind, but no such problem this go around. I may have a different opinion after I try it in heavy wind.

. . . waste it with too much application . . .

That was a problem initially, but once the lead FI convinced everyone helping to hang targets to simply do the border and X, it was quick and we weren't using much.

. . . harder to strip if you need to retain the target . . .

I've never had a need to retain a target for any purpose, and if someone wanted to preserve it for silly bragging rights I suppose they can just take a picture with their phone.

. . . reuse the backer. . .

We just kept pasting new targets on top of old, just like we did with the staples in the past. No problem.

I don't think it's perfect, but overall I liked it a lot better than stapling.

[DMF13]

Is it strong enough to handle the weight of cardboard targets?

We didn't try that this time. We were on a range with the heavy jaws hanging from the top edge of the bullet trap, that you clip the backers into. I don't know if it would work trying to glue cardboard backers to wood frame target holders, but I'd sure be willing to try. Even if it didn't work, I'd rather use four staples per backer once at the beginning of the day, and not have to do multiple staples per target throughout the day.