What Kind of Targets Do You Practice On?

[BSA1]

As a long time experienced shooter I find shooting paper bullseye targets to be really boring. My range doesn’t have steel targets or movers so I am limited to using paper.

Since The Lady acquired her S&W M&P we are going shooting every couple of weeks (outdoor range weather permitting). I shoot a Beretta 92FS which is also my primary edc. So not only do I need targets for her but targets that keep us both interested. Over the past few months I have come up with this combination of targets that is both challenging and fun.

Top right hand is your usual Bullseye. We shoot on this one first to warm up. As you can tell I dropped a couple of shots getting warmed up. I have a tendency to shoot low with my Beretta 92.

The Smiley Face is a rapid point and shoot target. Starting holding the gun at low ready, bring it up and fire two or three rounds quickly. I always start with the first round double action. As you can see I dropped three rounds. However two of them are in the neck which would destroy the windpipe and spine. The Lady actually outshoots me on this drill. keeping all of her shots in the face.

The Circle Targets are both for fun and are actually challenging. I learned this drill from Ernest Langdon’s website. The Circles are 2” in diameter. The goal is to fire two rounds into each of the circles. There is no time limit and no pressure. Ernest recommends starting at three yards and progress to seven yards. The Lady is doing this at three yards and is probably ready to back up a couple of steps to five yards.

I shoot it from seven yards and put pressure on myself by shooting them quickly. The first round is always fired double action and the second shot is single action.

I usually shoot a total of 90 rounds a session. I only live a few miles from my club range and occasionally will stop and put in practice session on my way to work.

 

[usp9]

I like 6" Shoot-N-See targets so I can see my hits easily. Important as I get older and my eyes not as clear. Sometimes I'll just buy a roll of 1" dots and stick them on the cardboard in various spots.

 

[243winxb]

I find shooting paper bullseye targets to be really boring

Vintage Animal targets - 50 feet for handgun and 50/100yds rifle . http://s338.photobucket.com/user/joe1944usa/library/Targets My grandson would not shoot them, because there "animals".

Large magazines may have photos of people that make smaller silhouette targets.

 

[DeepSouth]

I print off a wide variety of targets, I do use torso targets sometimes, I shoot steel sometimes, I shoot lost of different things.

The only useful tip I may have, is get those political yard signs off the side of the road, they're very portable. Just stick them in ground at whatever distance you want then tape any kind of target over it and shoot away.

 

[BSA1]

I probably should mention that all of my targets are free as I copy them at work.

 

[TomJ]

At the indoor range I sometimes go to, it's whatever I can find that's the least expensive. Right now I'm finishing up a stack of B29 targets. At the gun club we belong to, which is entirely outdoors, it's primarily a 2/3 size IPSC metal target and milk cartons, and paper targets if those are the only open range.

 

[Jonesy814]

I used some large poster board and made this handgun Battleship game. Each square of the grid is 2" X 2". I actually used shoe box cardboard and cut out the shapes for each ship and then just trace them onto the poster board for easy repeatability. I have an aluminum straightedge that's 2 inches wide which makes it easy to lay out the grid. A shot anywhere inside the squares a ship occupies counts as a hit on the ship. This was my first one. Now I also make the ships red or blue to correspond with each half of the game board

 

[Jonesy814]

I also made this one I call the 5 shot drill. The black center circle is 6 inches, the next smaller is 5 and the smallest is 4. One person says go followed by "Red" or "Blue" The shooter draws on the go command (can start from low ready position) and puts 2 shots in the black center , 2 shots in the 5 inch and 1 shot in the 4 inch circles of the color that was called. We do this at 12 -15 feet and its great with a J-frame

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

The majority of my practice is at my local indoor range that I'm a member of and go once a week. And the practice is generally all SD related.

I normally start out with a couple of plates slow fire...







And then transition to all B27 style silhouettes shooting at a faster pace and doing different drills...








Paper targets have never "bored" me, although shooting reactive targets is certainly fun. I shoot weekly to maintain proficiency and paper targets at my local indoor range is the simplest way to do that for me.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Like Good Ol' Boy posted above, I use paper plated with a dot stuck on them or an X Mark. I use three different size plated depending on how far out I am. They are very cheap just like me.

 

[entropy]

B27's with pasters on target areas, and Champion Xray animal targets for hunting brush-up shooting. The heart outline on there offers an excellent representation. I credit all of my deer kills to lots of practice with them over the years.
I have a bunch of M16A1 sight-in targets I bought from Sportsman's Guide years ago that I like to snap shoot at.

 

[Danoobie]

Tin cans, for plinking. Lots of fun with shotguns, too.
I paint my own targets on the inside of old cereal boxes.
Yes, Elmer Fudd, the cheapskate.

 

[armoredman]

Either paper or steel, not much else.

Steel is 3/4 scale IDPA from Shooters' Element. Only steel target I own right now.




Standard target holder with paper on cardboard, and my current favorite target is the AQT 100 yard from Appleseed. It is almost exactly the size of my 5MOA red dot at 100 yards.

 

[FL-NC]

I like to save $ on things I'm going to shoot full of holes and throw away. This means lots of cheap paper plates and index cards. I also cut up cardboard boxes and use the cardboard for various types of targets and backers. Another method- cut stencils on cardboard- anything from dots to silhouettes. Spray large sheets of paper with spray paint using these stencils. Or just spray dots on printing paper.

 

[bannockburn]

Pretty much start out with standard bullseye targets then like to switch over to the Birchwood Casey Shoot-N-C targets for easier to see results.

 

[Chuck R.]

Depends on what I'm working on. I have my own "backyard range" that goes from 25 to 800yards. Primarily I shoot steel (AR500), but do use a mix of steel, cardboard and paper depending on what I'm working on, or what drill I'm shooting. Most of my 2/3rds IDPA AR500 tgts are on portable sands so I can mix up drills or set up CoFs. I also have reactive targets, a swinger, and knockdowns. For just plain fun I have a dz Bowling pins in AR500 that we shoot with handguns and rifles (from distance).

One of my favorites, this is a reactive target (8" steel plate, behind silhouette, which is covered by a "T-Shirt". Plate must be hit for taget to go down and it can be calibrate to take multiple COM hits to drop. I've also added an "Ocular Cavity" plate 4" behind the head for working FTS drills:




8" plates set up for a "V" drill:


300 Meter AR500 "Pig" swinger:


385m Turkey Swinger:






On days when the 5 minute UTV commute is just too long:




Chuck

 

[Jonesy814]

You can buy big rolls of 30 inch wide Kraft paper at walmart for under $5. I cut it into 21 inch pieces (30 X21) I made a 7 inch square and 7 inch circle stencil out of cardboard and put 2 circles and 2 squares on a sheet of the paper using 4 different colors of dollar store spray paint. We start at the low ready position. Yell "threat" followed by a color. The shooter puts 2 shots into the correct color as fast as possible. Its a lot harder than having a single target. The shooter has to make a last second decision on which target to engage

 

[Jonesy814]

Also using the 30 inch wide kraft paper I cut out a cardboard stencil and make my own silhouttes. Just lay the pattern on the paper and use spray paint

 

[P5 Guy]

At my local range the B27 and such are verboten no matter the color anything depicting a human form.
But for awhile the range sold human and animal 'zombie' targets, go figure. I did get quite a discussion going when I asked the SROs if I could shoot some Barney the Purple Dinosaur targets, they finally relented.

 

[scaatylobo]

I learned a neat idea from a fellow shooter at my local range.
He uses old 'T' shirts and a 8" paper plate
The 'T' shirt is the body and the plate is the head,and we both do the FTS drill [ fail to stop ] used to be called the Mozambique drill [ not PC now ].
When you shoot at the shirt,you cannot see the point of impact until you are really REALLY close,so the reality of the drill is a bit closer to what you might encounter [ except on the street ,the "shirt" might very well be shooting back ].

 

[BSA1]

I also made this one I call the 5 shot drill. The black center circle is 6 inches, the next smaller is 5 and the smallest is 4. One person says go followed by "Red" or "Blue" The shooter draws on the go command (can start from low ready position) and puts 2 shots in the black centerView attachment 235920 , 2 shots in the 5 inch and 1 shot in the 4 inch circles of the color that was called. We do this at 12 -15 feet and its great with a J-frameView attachment 235920

I like that idea.

 

[Boarhunter]

Cheap 6" paper plates for me. I am not much for "precision" target shooting, so I figure if I can put rounds quickly and consistently into a 6" circle at various distances, I ought not have too much problem keeping my rounds in the vitals for purposes of self-defense.

BOARHUNTER

 

[ontarget]

Eggs. We have a couple dozen chickens that lay way more than we can eat. Set them up on a log and shoot away. Everything from pistols at close range to my .22s at 100 yards. VERY reactive targets. Big fun.

 

[Trey Veston]

NRA bullseye targets are not boring when you make little groups at 25yds...

 

[cfullgraf]

I used to generate my own paper targets but have gotten lazy about it. When shooting on paper, I prefer to shoot at targets on card stock, 90-100 lb paper or so, as opposed to 18-20 lb copy paper.

For handgun, I mostly use NRA TQ-8 silhouette designed for 25 ft rapid fire. I get 100 packs for 9-10 cents each. I use them at what ever ranges I feel like setting up for.

Left over from my Service Rifle practice days, I have several 100 count packs of repair centers for reduced range (100 yard) targets.

I have various other paper targets on hand.

Since I have my own back yard range, I can set out what ever targets of opportunity that I want. I have some steel targets for fun without constant walking down range.