Does the target you're shooting at affect your accuracy?

Status
Not open for further replies.
barnfrog

barnfrog

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2021
Messages
941
Location
Capital District, NY
I'm putting this thread in this forum because I was shooting reloaded ammo, but the mods should feel free to move it if deemed appropriate. It's not about competition shooting, hunting or shooting ranges.

Anywho, I was shooting some new loads and started out on paper to make sure the POI was relatively close to others I've been shooting. At 15 yards my first two groups were 6"+, but the center of the group was in the black, so I shot the next three cylinders at my 4" steel target which was right next to my paper stand. I went 4 for 6, 5 for 6 and 6 for 6 on the steel, so I decided to try one more group on paper to see if I could tighten up. Nope. 6"+ again. I'm puzzled how I could have hit a 4" target 15 of 18 times with a load that groups bigger than six inches on paper.

Anybody else ever noticed a similar phenomenon?
 
It has been suggested to me, that for load testing and for factory ammo comparisons, the type of target does make a difference.

What I then found out for myself, is that I want a reasonably large target, with a contrasting aim point on it. I want that aim point to be as small as I can clearly see with the particular sighting system at the distance at which I intend to shoot.

A small and highly contrasting aim point allows for precise sight alignment to be easily repeatable. The large target means that even when rounds fail to hit the small aim point, group size can still be measured. Which is far better than having misses and just wondering where those rounds went.
 
Not like your case but when shooting iron sights on rifles I have to choose targets carefully for best results. I have certain targets I can see better. When testing loads in my scoped rifles it’s less pronounced but ideally I use a dot or target that’s big enough to see around the cross hairs but not so big that I loose the repeatable center of the target. Gridded sight in targets seem to work better for scopes and bullseye style seems to work best for rifles with iron sights. Bullseye targets seem to work best for handguns too. A solid 4” circle at 10-15 yards also works well for my handgun load tests.
 
So I freely admit I am bass awkward in most things I do in life.....

Consider taking round bright colored price stickers and using them as aiming points.

Skew your cross hair dial settings so point of aim is not the impact.

Have to have the same aim point in order to group
 
The difference between a white target and a black target is noticeable for me. During quick fire pistol drills, I shoot white paper better than black paper (with the same orange dot in the middle)
 
Yup, especially the color. Black on yellow or white befuddles me. Black on khaki or black on tan is better. Blue on black and I group real good - for me. Really hate orange targets.
 
Something that messes up my accuracy a lot is when there are multiple identical targets on a single page... my eyes criss-cross the targets when trying to focus in on the front sight, and I end up not even knowing which target I'm aiming at.
Target example.jpg
 
Most of my grouping for rifle is done at 100 yardsas I do not have access to longer ranges. For scoped rifles, I use an internet avaliable target for the most part that has a black center about 3/4” diameter with concentric rings out to about 4” dia.

When I was shooting Service Rifle, I’d use 100 yard repair centers for checking groups.

For hangun,I use a variety of 22RF targets for checking groups. The 22RF targets provide a good, black center and you can select a variety of black diameters for the range you are shooting. I do not compete in any hand gun competition at present so I do not have to match my targets to the game st hand.

Bottom line, I choose targets to check groups more on the game that I am playing not just for a different sight picture.
 
Last edited:
The larger your Point of Aim (POA) the larger your acceptable margin for error is...which results in larger groups.

When shooting off-hand to check zero with a pistol, my most commonly used target is a 1" gray square with a 3/4" white circle in the middle.(sorry, I don't have a picture) The square is turned 45 degrees to appear as a diamond. The diamond (1) isn't black so it doesn't blend with the black sights, (2) is rotated so that my rear blade is level with the side points, and (3) the center is white to make it harder to see my hits. The top point of the diamond helps you center your front blade. This is superior to shooting at a dot/circle where you try to place your POA in the center

The ears of the rear sight should be level with the points of the diamond and the top of the front blade should bisect the white center. I usually shoot this target at from 5-7 yards (15-21 feet) and might go back as far as 10 yards (30 feet)...you can use it as far back as you can make out the points of the diamond. If you don't want to draw your own targets, you can use 2"x2" Post-it notes...but then I'd start at 10-15 yards and move back towards 25 yards
 
I shoot my rifles to 600 yards. The “bullseye” is the smallest I can see at that distance, with the optics on the gun.

Guarenteed if I use a 4” bullseye at 400’ my group will be bigger than if I use a 2” bullseye.

I want to see what the load will do, that’s it!
 
Yes. With a circular aiming point I try to place my crosshairs on the top edge of the circle. I actually prefer something with a square or diamond aiming point. I then use one of the 4 corners as my aiming point.

It also helps to shoot small groups if your aiming point and point of impact are not the same. When shooting for small groups I will adjust the scope to impact a couple of inches above or below where I aim. If I'm poking bullet holes into my aiming point, then I no longer have the same aiming point for the following shots. If shooting at a 6" black circle at 100 yards; if I can adjust my scope to impact 3" low at 100. I will be dead center by aiming at the top edge of the circle.

For hunting I want my aiming point and point of impact to be the same. I can always adjust my sights for that after I'm through using my hunting rifle as a target rifle.
 
I use a 1" orange dot at 100M or a 2" dot at 200M.
I don't shoot the dots but about 6" below them.
This keeps my focus on the dot and doesn't influence me to add some type of English to the next shot.
 
I find that the smaller the target the more likely your going to concentrate more to get the bullet where you want it to go. I use dot sights on my handguns. When shooting for accuracy I turn down the brightness till the dot just fills the BE. So if I don't see a haylow around the dot I'm not centered. I use 1/2" dots for my 300 yrd range when using my 42x scopes. Now if your scope has the heavy duplex cross airs you have to go large enough to see what your shooting at.

Like said, Think small shoot small.
 
Both me and my son shoot better when the target is relatively small. Normally I get the targets with 8" circles because it gives me 8 different targets per page. When they are shot up I use 3" sticky orange targets in between for another 3 groups and those are almost always smaller groups. It would also be reasonable to conclude that I get better results because we are warmed up and focused.
 
completely. first memory I have of this phenomenon was a kid shooting a .22 rifle with my Dad and Brother. We were shooting at a can and could just not hit it. miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, it was bad. We put a container over it, a clear container about the size of a cottage cheese container. We made the target bigger, but all of a sudden each shot was also hitting the can, so - it is sometimes easier to hit the center of a target that is easier to sight onto, than it is to hit the center of a target that just does not sight well for whatever reason. I now shoot better groups off hand, at a 6" orange steel target, than I do shooting at the black paper targets. That could also partly be from the confidence of hearing it ding, and the immediate feedback.
 
I'm partial to this target. You can put a colorful dot sticker or scribble one with a red sharpie in the middle if you need a smaller aiming point.

I resaved it as a gray rather than black version to try to save ink. Not really sure that helped much.
 

Attachments

  • PrepperArchive-DOTcom-XL_BR_Diamond.pdf
    77.9 KB · Views: 79
I find I shoot better at a bright green square on cardboard than I do anything else so far. If I’m close, I use paper plates with a circle or square in the center. Used plates, as I’m stingy.

I’ve been experimenting with various things. I’m going to have to try shooting my at a square in it’s point and lifting the sights up with the horizontal points.

I’ve see. Where folks will use a large upside down T. Anyone know what the deal with those are?
 
I do better with a reactive target over paper ones. After i get a new scope or new gun zeroed on paper. I go for cans and clays. And steel too. Im sure it's a psychological thing. Someone had left 7 eggs on the 50 yard line at the gun club. I shot 3 of them with my Argentine Mauser after i was done zeroing on paper. I left the others for someone else.
 
If you google downloadable targets there are a bunch of places that have them in lots of flavors,
here is one for example
https://www.targetz.com/targets01.htm
can't remember where I got the diamond from and I don't think I can upload a .doc file

Download some and print them (if you can) and see what works best for you.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Random 8
  • Locked
Hunting ammo accuracy change over time?
Replies
3
Views
215
Random 8
Random 8
T
  • Locked
168 gr Berger Load for CZ-550 Varmint, 308
Replies
6
Views
2K
TEC
T
S
  • Locked
Evauluating Pistol Accuracy
Replies
23
Views
1K
LiveLife
LiveLife
usmc0811
  • Locked
95gr powder coated LRN .380 data question.
Replies
10
Views
2K
wlkjr
W
K
  • Locked
Choosing a load based on targets.
Replies
14
Views
708
Highland Lofts
Highland Lofts
Back
Top