Just thought I'd share an idea I haven't seen yet, though I wouldn't be surprised if someone else does the same. Over about 50 years of shooting, I was used to the standard bulls eye targets, so of course I was doing the same as everyone else at the range. I'd shoot a relay at my bull and between relays we'd go up to change and/or patch our targets. Normal, eh?
When I'm sighted in, I can usually produce fairly respectable groups but like many of us, I'm always trying new loads. It struck me one day, "Why am I shooting a 3/4" group (sometimes bigger) into a big target?". At work, we had the big desk calendars so I started taking the pages that were in good condition and using them for targets. I came up with the idea of dividing the paper into quadrants and logging which load produced what group. A friend who works at the school board got me a whole pile of poster paper which was so big I cut it in half to get 2 targets. I still use centre bull when I'm sighting in a scope or trying a new rifle but most of my shooting is done on my divided targets. I can shoot 4-5 relays, record what load was shot at which quadrant, and use that to determine what I'm going to hunt or plink with. When I have a load I like, I sight in for that and then I shoot for bulls eyes. It saves me walking back and forth from the firing line to the targets and it cuts down on litter. The white one is the desk calendar, and the yellow one is the half sheet of poster paper. Target markers are readily available at most shooting stores but you can draw your own if you have the time and the inclination. I have some blaze orange peel-and-stick paper and make my own indicators but "heads-up" on the blaze orange; if you're sighting in with a red dot, the reticle disappears on the orange. You need a black bulls eye.
So, what do you guys think?
When I'm sighted in, I can usually produce fairly respectable groups but like many of us, I'm always trying new loads. It struck me one day, "Why am I shooting a 3/4" group (sometimes bigger) into a big target?". At work, we had the big desk calendars so I started taking the pages that were in good condition and using them for targets. I came up with the idea of dividing the paper into quadrants and logging which load produced what group. A friend who works at the school board got me a whole pile of poster paper which was so big I cut it in half to get 2 targets. I still use centre bull when I'm sighting in a scope or trying a new rifle but most of my shooting is done on my divided targets. I can shoot 4-5 relays, record what load was shot at which quadrant, and use that to determine what I'm going to hunt or plink with. When I have a load I like, I sight in for that and then I shoot for bulls eyes. It saves me walking back and forth from the firing line to the targets and it cuts down on litter. The white one is the desk calendar, and the yellow one is the half sheet of poster paper. Target markers are readily available at most shooting stores but you can draw your own if you have the time and the inclination. I have some blaze orange peel-and-stick paper and make my own indicators but "heads-up" on the blaze orange; if you're sighting in with a red dot, the reticle disappears on the orange. You need a black bulls eye.
So, what do you guys think?
