Your favorite paper target mods

[DustyRusty]

I thought a new thread on the subject was in order.....
I am wondering if others like to modify existing targets to help them better visualize the sights, or get an improved sight picture etc.
I've also been shooting 3" stick on dots on paper plates. Also stick on dots in the center of a standard target to have something to aim at for POA POI sight picture.
For checking zero's I have shot at a white vertical rectangle on a black background from a rest. The size of the white is optimized for the range to target & sight picture needed.

Make any sense?

 

[BushMaster-15]

If I don't print my own ,I'll buy bulk targets from the gun letter vendor when they have sales .

Mostly I use paper plates ,as a restaurant supply outlet sells them pretty cheap by the K . I then use a few templates I've made and will spray paint accordingly . That's worked out very well over #50 + years .

 

[troy fairweather]

I like sticking 1" black or orange dots over the bull if there not that small. Mostly I make my own targets, have paper that is 2 wide printer paper , I fold and that makes the spacing even to add my 1" dots . Use the garage sale stick on dots. Chinese food menus make good targets to, and the old trusted paper plate which I like for shooting with peep sights.

 

[SimonRL]

I stick 4 in splatterburst targets to regular targets. I often joke that if someone breaks into my house I will have to stick one on him to hit him!

 

[nettlle]

I tried a bunch of different types over the years and these are the ones I prefer.

The 1 1/2" stick on are for pistol the cross is for rifle. The cross is something I made up on a computer and make photo copies of it.

 

[BushMaster-15]

I scaled a target drawing in CAD ,with + 2.75" bullseye elevation for a 100 yd. official Rifle target .
I use that in conjunction with My Laser Bore sighting system . Basically what it does is allow Me to bore sight and adjust scope inside My Gun room from the gun saddle ( some refer to it as a Gun Vice ) so all is measured hence the scaling . When I actually hit the range 99% of the time , I'm within 1.0-1.5" of targets center , left right and perhaps down ,as MY range's closest rifle target shed is 165 yd. . Just saves TIME and ammo sighting in .

 

[LiveLife]

wondering if others like to modify existing targets to help them better visualize the sights, or get an improved sight picture ... POA POI sight picture ... checking zero

For 50/100 yard accuracy testing with 22LR and .223 load development, I made one inch square target pdf printed on copy paper - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?resources/inch-square-grid.22/

Inch squares help line up crosshairs on scope, POI deviation/bullet drop from POA (I usually circle POA), help approximate group size and pretty cheap to print out.

Below is 50 yard target from 10/22 22LR comparison test. Top left two 10 shot groups with boxed Aguila were used to verify scope zero with second group POI at POA after final turret adjustment. CCI SV slower velocity showed lower POI on target by 1/2". Norma Tac-22 that comes lubed showed seasoning of barrel with final group tightening up after "barrel seasoning". Bottom left loose bulk Aguila produced larger groups with higher POI to indicate higher muzzle velocities. Last group on bottom right was confirming group with boxed Aguila verifying scope zero maintaining and POI on POA (If reference ammunition shoots same at the end as starting, POI deviation/vertical stringing/larger groups are due to ammunition and not the rifle)

 

[david58]

For pistol, I use a 3x5 notecard. Ain't braggin', just what I use. I don't brag because I don't hit it all the time.
For rifle, I spend for the splat targets, once the gun is sighted in (if I am sighting, I use a grid).
No real mods, except at longer distances I was using an orange spot on the grids to help my eyesight. Now that I have had cataract surgery and can SEE, may not need to resort to that. But I dunno, since my shoulder injury in May was before my cataract surgery, and the shoulder repair was just two weeks ago. Guess I will find out in April or May, LOL!

David
NM

 

[snowman357]

I have used blue painters tape, makes nice squares.

 

[LV Gun]

I don’t do anything special for targets I just buy the splatter targets when they run them on sale or have seconds available plus I buy the NRA B8 targets and 1 inch orange dots to put in the middle I just keep it simple.

 

[Theinkman]

On targets which have crosshairs, I take a black sharpie and a straightedge to make the crosshairs darker and bolder. Much easier to see the crosshairs.

 

[Simple Shooter]

I usually just shoot postage stamps at 100 yards.

Ok. You caught me. That’s a bald faced lie.

For defensive practice I cut 8 1/2 x 11 card stock or copier paper in half. I figure if I can hit that I can hit center mass.

For more precise shooting, I buy rolls of stick on Shoot’N’See and put them on full sheets of paper.

 

[JDeere]

I just use targets provided by the 2 ranges I am a member of. The pisol range I use those orange stick ons to get more use out of one target...

 

[BobABQ]

For what it is worth, I typical
y shoot at steel spinners and just paint them occasionally. For paper targets I just print them up at home.

 

[Chuck R.]

I actually have a bunch of different printable tgts that I use depending on the reticle and application, some samples:

My standard hunting rifle 4-9X scope zero TGT:

Hunting rifle zero/load development higher magnification:

LPVO zero/ load development also for RDS zero:

My Swarovski 1.25-4X TGT (Huge reticle center dot that bots out most TGTs):

OCW TGT:

Rimfire ammo testing:

AR15 Iron sights 25meter zero:

 

[jmorris]

I don’t always use the same targets, depends on what I am doing. Aperture sights almost always do better with the right size diameter bull for a given distance, for example.

I have quickly become a fan of the Shot Marker system though and there are lots of them in the menu to choose from, for an aim point. Once you have input a given offset for a frame, it doesn’t matter what aimpoint you use as long as they all are centered.

Its not absolutely perfect (I probably would rather a match score be gathered from the actual target but lots shoot matches scored by the system. This is an example of a target shot.



And what is sent back to the tablet at the bench. Note the first 4 central hits were stored and cleared and only the 5 upper shots are shown.



If you look closely the shots are not exactly in the same spot but they are pretty close, the further out you get the less the discrepancy matters to me tough, as long as you can keep from hitting the sensors. At short distances or with rifles that have accuracy to spare, small frames work.



Further out, I use large ones for plenty of room for misses. It’s pretty neat to be completely off paper by feet and know windage and elevation adjustments required to get you to the center of the target exactly, with your first shot.



As a bonus, it also sends back the velocity the bullet was traveling when it made it there and while some think it’s not that accurate, it tested very close to me. One FPS out of 1200 is pretty close, would be su



I think as the price falls of this kind of technology it’s going to help a lot of people. Certainly makes it easy to keep the data for further review.

 

[Spats McGee]

I use Shoot-N-C targets. The splatter is a little easier for my old eyes to make out. Or I use paper targets, but use the little stick-on circles to set out different points of aim to use.

I have used blue painters tape, makes nice squares.

It's beyond me how I got this far without thinking of something similar.

 

[FL-NC]

I cut up shoot & see or dirty bird targets into 2" squares and just use them for zeroing at 100 yards. The contrasting splatter target shows up real good with a spotting scope- esp. when zeroing 223, which makes small holes anyway.

 

[Jim Watson]

My main application these days is IDPA and USPSA. Therefore I buy those targets, stocking up when on sale or "free shipping" of a large roll of paper.

When I was doing more rifle shooting, I would often use the regulation benchrest target, a heavy hollow square, or a diamond shape for ammo testing. For real practice, a 5 MOA bullseye.

I just cringe when I see somebody at the rental range picking one of those multi-color cartoon targets.

 

[Show Me]

Copy paper with 3 inch stripe across the middle on a black background. At 50 yds it fits the front sight on a garand so well it makes you that guy. 100 yds you need larger paper. Don't knock it till you try it. When I go to one of those public shooting ranges. I hang a white poster board with rows of magic marker 1 inch circles and never join others in the walk down. Then a poster board with one black circle for shooting the mini thirty. It needs a lot of room

 

[Choctaw]

My agency attaches paper plates to cardboard backing for many of our drills. It is cheap and you can create an almost endless amount of target options.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

My indoor range has a selection of targets custom printed with their logo. I usually choose their 5-target offering that looks sort of like this, only spaced further apart and stretched vertically:



My eyesight has reached the stage where the red dot in the center is invisible at 15 yards, so I aim 6-o'clock at the whole black part of the target. When I used to try aiming for the center, I'd often loose the front sight and introduce a couple flyers into each group.

I've also tried using 1" orange plasters, but these days I need at least a 2" black disk for a workable sight picture (eye surgery is probably in my very near future).

 

[lightman]

Lots of good and interesting ideas here!
Before I retired I had free access to the office copy machine and printed an assortment of targets. I think the AccurateShooter site had the ones that I printed. When they run out of those I plan using stick-on dots on standard 8-1/2X11 inch copy paper.

 

[DustyRusty]

Decades ago, I cobbled this from a Winchester target, a copy machine, white out & a lot of Magic Marker.
The cross hairs centered up nicely.

 

[Lefty38-55]

FWIW I have never understood the use of blaze orange on targets, other than they appear way cool in the store, LOL! A material fact - that many are ignorant of - is that due to the way the rods and cones in our eyes work, they cannot focus on both red/orange and black objects at the same time. Maybe the issue is less with a scope, versus iron or aperture sights.

Don't flame me ... as I learned this in the High Power Master class I attended, sponsored by the CMP.org. I myself have the best results using DIY sighting in targets like this.