What paper targets are you using?

At our indoor range they give us free targets that are about 3'x4' with a big green human silhouette on them. I reverse them using the blank backside and use 2"x2" post-it notes. I do three across and 5 down. This gives me 15 small targets to shoot at before I need to change anything. The red ones are the easiest for me to see, but blue also works out to the 25 yard line. I usually shoot two magazines or two cylinder loads at each target. Keeping all shots on the targets is always the goal, but seldom achievable. Easy to see where you are hitting. Changing targets every 12 to 14 shots helps to actually see new hits. Others tend to get a cluster, but can't tell new hits from old hits. Aim small to shoot small.

Varies depending on the thing I want to do.

Sometimes is bullseye type shooting so ill use round targets:




Sometimes its qualification practice, so B-27 type silhouette targets are the norm.



It may be practice for plates or transitions so I will use this type of target with 8-6-4-2 inch circles in each colored ring.



Or if I am bearing down on B-27’s
or if I am comparing loads I may use a multiple 10–X ring target like this.



No reason to stick with just one.

Stay safe.

Dan Forrester said:

I took a defensive pistol class over the weekend and the class instructor was using targets by M3 Strategies that I really liked. Unfortunately it looks like M3 Strategies web sight is no longer active.

Does anyone use anything similar? Looking for a good target for short range fast pistol shooting / marksmanship / self defense training. But nothing over the top super duper tactical.

I appreciate any suggestions.

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Pizza box with colored marker

There's numerous targets that you can just print out. For the last 20+ years that's all I have used. Just google free targets.

I just use white freezer wrap.

OK this has nothing to do with target shooting or combat games, this is for real world situations. For self defense/home defense think about it. If someone attacks you or breaks into your house, what are you going to be shooting at? A SHIRT. So, in my opinion the best target for that training is a shirt. Not many bad people walk around with a bullseye painted on them. Take an old shirt, or a new one if you are rich, thumb tack it over any kind of backing and learn to shoot at a real world target. I personally cut t shirts in two, front to back so I have 2 targets. It is amazing how good you can get at point shooting when there is nothing to line up on with the front sight and the back sight.

As @warnerwh points out, there are plenty of online targets.
Like Appleseed:

Dan Forrester said:

I took a defensive pistol class over the weekend and the class instructor was using targets....I appreciate any suggestions.

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For defensive pistol, I suggest the cheapest uncoated paper (not foam) plates, or 5x8" index cards. They're stiff enough that they don't need a target backer. At about $3 for 100, they're cheap enough that you can change them often. They're about the right size so that anything inside the unfluted center part of the plate, or anywhere on the index card counts as a hit. They won't ring like steel, but for defensive pistol use, the user will most often be close enough to see the hits . Besides, they'll often be too close to use steel safely without frangible bullets. They're also a lot lighter to set up, take down, and pack around.

For practicing defensive pistol skills, you don't need or want bullseyes or scoring targets. You also only need one size target so long as you can put the target at various distances. Some people that are confined to an indoor booth and have limited options for distances and angles might want smaller targets to simulate greater distances and practice the greater precision needed, but this is a compromise best avoided if possible.

Besides paper, I like to use clay pigeons (White Flyer), but they are a bit on the small side and they don't permanently show where the misses went. The paper plates are my favorite because they have enough of a perimeter that if I make an error, I can see what I did and think about why.

corregated political/contractor signs on the wire frame that pushes into the ground.

stick on reactive targets -or- printed off line and stapled

This is the target I use most often. It's the size of the 9 ring on an NRA B-8 target - 5.5".

I use the splatter targets for everything as my eyes aren't great and they make it easier to see where I hit. I use them for my pistols at 10 yds and with a spotter scope with my rifles out to 300 yds.

If a fella is practicing self defense , after the first shot the target isn’t standing in the same spot.

Just saying

Bought a crap load of targets from CDNN investments a while ago for a great price. Been using them for a couple of years now.

Ohen Cepel said:

Paper plates from walmart with a dot on them from the office supply section. I'm cheap...........

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Any paper including paper plates with a black bull on them made with a sewing thread spool and a damp rubber stamp pad for riflery at longish ranges

I used plain paper plates when I was doing archery many years ago.

I was told that Hawaii does not allow targets resembling the human form. Can anyone confirm that? Is that true of any other states?

I’ve been printing my own on printer paper for decades … if I need something bigger I go to the dollar store and get rolls of gift wrap and use the white back, and staple one of my printed targets in the center.

South Prairie Jim said:

If a fella is practicing self defense , after the first shot the target isn’t standing in the same spot.

Just saying

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LOL. Nor should you be, and that's before that first shot.

At least you can work on your half of that equation and get a burst into him before he knows what hit him.

The fact hes still there in practice is also a help in getting your brain conditioned to quickly keep shooting, if hes still there when the sights come back on target. Reality is, not everyone falls down after the first shot, or is even impressed, even with the "pinkie killer", the 45acp believe it or dont.

230RN said:

Any paper including paper plates with a black bull on them made with a sewing thread spool and a damp rubber stamp pad for riflery at longish ranges

I used plain paper plates when I was doing archery many years ago.

I was told that Hawaii does not allow targets resembling the human form. Can anyone confirm that? Is that true of any other states?

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If HI does, they arent the only place. A lot of places dont, and a lot of people still give you crap for using them, even if they arent specifically banned.

Ive found a lot of the ranges are afraid of giving the wrong impression and are bowing to the PC world we live in today. One range told me it was due to insurance requirements.

trackskippy said:

.........

I've found a lot of the ranges are afraid of giving the wrong impression and are bowing to the PC world we live in today. One range told me it was due to insurance requirements.

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Oh, boy, another "canned" excuse, like "Computer error" and "Covid 19."

Took me 4.31 seconds to catch on to that " 'pinkie killer', the 45acp " remark. LOL !

Terry, 230RN

I use, and have used paper plates (dinner sized as it is close in size to "center mass"), printed targets, scope sighter targets, magic marker on paper etc. I also have been burning through a huge stack of perforated copier paper given to me years ago (think gear driven printer). I just rip and staple. Fold once long ways and it approximates center mass/spine/heart area. Fold once again and it can approximate cranial vault/head hits and makes you shoot smaller and tighter.

My main is a template I made from a cardboard IPSC target I fished out of the trash at the range. I used 1/8 plywood and screwed a handle to it and use it to spray on paper drop cloth rolls from Home Depot. Makes great targets - FAST!

230RN said:

Oh, boy, another "canned" excuse, like "Computer error" and "Covid 19."

Took me 4.31 seconds to catch on to that " 'pinkie killer', the 45acp " remark. LOL !

Terry, 230RN

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Yea, lots of canned excuses, pretty much everywhere anymore. Mostly just, "shut up, dont ask questions, follow the (their) rules, and do as youre told".

Shooting photo silhouettes at a lot of places puts you in the same category as being a Pure Blood in todays vaxed and boosted society. Renegade and troublemaker.

I normally carry a pack of generic type bullseye targets with me when I go somewhere I dont normally shoot and run into that, just for "those guys". Targets in most of those places arent the only thing you usually have to deal with either. You usually have to throttle it down and go back to "one one thousand, two one thousand" shooting. No twitches allowed.

In a pinch I just print something I down loaded off the internet on the home printer or at work. If I am planning ahead I go to Staples or similar and I have two targets I like that I have them print on 11x17 paper. I always try to use paper targets with a 1-inch grid (or similar) on them to make them easy to use with my Range Buddy app on my phone that will measure group size off a picture of the target. The grid makes calibration easy.



This is my favorite target (the printer at work was running out of toner on the middle one). I also have a version that is just one larger diamond for use with longer ranges or less accurate guns. The grid is 1-inch squares. I find the red on white is easy to see in the scope and yet still allows enough contrast to see hits with the spotting scope.

I like these for my 50 yard rimfire.



And these for 100 to 300 yards I use to use these for both.

Mk-211 said:

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My grandson likes these too.

My son saw them in the gun store, so I had to pick some up.

When he was younger, watching him playing video games with zombies and other evil entities was hilarious.

He would be sweating and yelling, when I asked, he said the game was scaring the heck out of him!

Kids are always great for a laugh.