Introduction
The Ugly Stand may have an unconventional name, but it delivers a smart, well-designed solution for shooters who want to streamline their firearms training. Anyone who spends real time improving their shooting skills eventually builds what I call a training gear stack—all the non-essential tools that make practice sessions smoother, faster, and more focused.
If you’re spending 30–40 minutes of a two-hour range trip setting up targets, hunting down gear, or wrestling with loose equipment, you’re wasting the one resource you can’t get back: time. Over the years, I’ve worked hard to reduce the footprint of my training gear—compact targets, ground markers, adjustable-height sticks, and even mounting paster rolls directly to label guns to speed up stage resets. Anything that saves time gets a permanent place in my range bag.
The Ugly Stand is the newest addition to that setup, and it immediately stood out because it actually fits inside a standard range bag while still providing the stability and convenience every shooter needs. For anyone serious about efficient, high-quality training, this stand is a worthwhile upgrade.
Merry Christmas From Warren
2 STAND GIVEAWAY
Warren, the designer of “The Ugly Stand”, has been kind enough to donate our review products to the drill of the month giveaway. Every participant from the month’s of November and December will be entered to win. Winner of the December DOTM will receive 10% of the total raffle tickets available!
THE KEY DETAILS
Form & Function
The Ugly Stand excels at what it’s designed to do: securely hold target sticks while remaining extremely easy to store and transport. Its pivoting, switchblade-style legs are a smart space-saving solution that immediately sets it apart from bulky traditional stands. While some competing models use a single center pivot, the dual-leg design on the Ugly Stand feels noticeably more stable and higher in quality.
The fold-in target stick holders are another standout feature I haven’t seen on competing stands. This design choice makes the stand incredibly stackable and efficient to pack in any range bag or vehicle. When it’s time to set up, deployment is quick, and the built-in staking holes allow you to anchor the stand securely in the ground, ideal for windy conditions or long-term placement in outdoor ranges.
What Could Be Improved?
The biggest improvement I’d like to see on future versions is the addition of target stick set-screw holes. Threaded locking screws on each holder would allow shooters to hard-lock their sticks in place. This would make it much easier to move a fully assembled stand around the range on calm days and would prevent shifting during poor weather.
Because the stand is built from aluminum, while lightweight and rust-resistant, it’s not as forgiving as steel when it comes to ricochets or spalling impacts. Even lower-grade steel tends to withstand that kind of abuse better, so this is something to keep in mind depending on your shooting environment.
Pricing Details
When purchased individually, The Ugly Stand sits slightly above the typical price range most average shooters need to train effectively—unless storage space is your primary bottleneck. At the price of one Ugly Stand, you could buy two more standard, less space-efficient stands.
However, if you contact Warren directly and order several at once, the pricing becomes much more attractive. For only a few dollars more per stand, you gain a notably higher-quality product that stores better, transports easier, and offers long-term convenience your cheaper options can’t match. For those buying multiples, The Ugly Stand becomes a clear winner.
CONCLUSION
The Ugly Stand fills a very real gap in the training gear world: a compact, durable, and thoughtfully engineered target stand that saves shooters time both on and off the range. While there are a few areas where future versions could improve, such as adding set-screw holes for better stick retention, the overall design is efficient, portable, and clearly built with serious shooters in mind.
If your current stands eat up too much space, take too long to set up, or simply don’t hold up to regular practice, The Ugly Stand offers a meaningful upgrade. It’s not the cheapest option on the market, but the convenience, portability, and long-term usability more than justify the investment, especially when purchasing multiple units. For shooters committed to maximizing their training time, this stand earns a well-deserved spot in the gear bag.
For those looking to win these in the giveaway, don’t worry, I did not test the durability of the aluminum with my bullets.