Shooting targets Bremer 400 meter civilian shooting range of Spa - Malchamps

Near the fire lane known as the "coupe-feu du tir" (fire lane) are the shooting targets for the 400-meter targets.

Spa was home to a large shooting range where, as early as 1907, 52 shooters could indulge their passion in a complex of huge Bremer-type steel targets.

The installations were suitable for firing weapons at distances from 12 to 1,000 meters .

In most cases the targets are conventional moving targets, but for distances from 400 to 1,000 meters electric targets of the Bremer type are used. They were invented by René Bremer, captain of the Carabinieri regiment.

As the distance increases, it naturally becomes more difficult for the shooter to see the result of his shot. By using electrical impulses and relays, Bremer targets make it possible to see the shots on another - much smaller - target that is very close to the shooter . It was a remarkable system for its time.

Bremer is the inventor of an electric target in 1903. This target consists of separate rings. Each ring is subdivided into a large number of segments, each of which can be depressed separately by the impact of a bullet, creating an electrical contact . This contact causes a numbered tumbler to drop down (or a lamp to light up, for example) on the witness target next to the shooter. The target plate (which is never pierced) is pushed back by a spring.

The electro-automatic shooting target therefore consists of four parts:

- The actual target

- The witness disk, next to the shooter

- The cable that connects both previous ones

- The battery

The system was very robust and reliable : it was purchased by the Netherlands, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Cuba, Germany, France and Russia.

Willem Vandenameele