The target makes a difference!

[fast14riot]

During practice today I decided to put up a larger target.  It was a NRA 50yrd small bore target.  It has small round NRA logos in each corner that I use for sighters.  They are maybe 1/4" and I'm shooting a 1322 with iron sights at 6yrd one hand offhand.  I can hit the sighters reliably, but when I move to the target I'm all over the place!  This target has a large black middle with no white x ring.  I set my sights for a 6 o'clock hold on a 1" bull.  Without being able to discern the x-ring I opened my arc of movement up to about the 9 ring which is 2" diameter roughly.

So having a clearly visable bull/x-ring really makes a difference!  My father always told me to "aim small, miss small."  This really drives that home!






Aim small, miss small.

-Xander

[jdub]

During practice today I decided to put up a larger target.  It was a NRA 50yrd small bore target.  It has small round NRA logos in each corner that I use for sighters.  They are maybe 1/4" and I'm shooting a 1322 with iron sights at 6yrd one hand offhand.  I can hit the sighters reliably, but when I move to the target I'm all over the place!  This target has a large black middle with no white x ring.  I set my sights for a 6 o'clock hold on a 1" bull.  Without being able to discern the x-ring I opened my arc of movement up to about the 9 ring which is 2" diameter roughly.

So having a clearly visable bull/x-ring really makes a difference!  My father always told me to "aim small, miss small."  This really drives that home!

Aim small, miss small.

-Xander

For my IZH-46, which I use for paper target only, I have it sighted in for a 6 o'clock hold on a 10 meter pistol target.  That's the common way to do it if you're shooting paper at a fixed distance.  Rest the bull on top of the sights and your point of impact is actually about 1/2" higher in the center of the bull.  It works great but only if you only shoot one target size from one distance.

I did the same for my 2300S for a while but enjoy shooting too many different types of targets so I changed it to point of aim = point of impact.  As you've shown it really is hard to be accurate with a large bullseye.   I print out targets that have a black center bullseye the diameter of the pellet then a white ring around that.  It's easier to be accurate.

[fast14riot]

Yep, this gun I keep zero'd for 10m with a 6 o'clock on a 1" targ-dot since I do shoot rats and bottle caps, and starlings.  I don't normally use these targets for practice, but just thought I would see what I could do on them.  Any 10m shooter can tell I'm right handed by the two groupings of high right and low left.  The only reason I moved in to 6yds was because the sun was blinding my left eye and I don't like to use occluders.  Plus its always nice to switch it up every now and again.

I really need to get a printer so I can print my own targets for practice.


-Xander

[1377x]

aim small miss small are words to live by
all my firearm targets are 6" bulls.it helps.i can unload 30 rounds of .45acp into the 6" bull rapid fire 25-30ft my magazine is 30 rounds so i dont have to swap mags frequently
i have been having fun with my custom 2300 w/rd one hand two hand .its funny watching my nephew shoot it,he shoots it like he is using a scope one day i'll tell him he can hold it at arms length and shoot both eyes open

[breakfastchef]

I can hit the sighters reliably, but when I move to the target I'm all over the place!

I find this to be very true for me. I tend to be able to hit a smaller, better-defined target more reliably than a larger one. I also find that I can shoot a 10M Olympic target better if the 10 is white and the remaing rings are black. I think the smaller target forces you to concentrate more on that small point (the 10) instead of a black mass of 6-10.

Try cutting out a 10 ring on a target and mount it on a white backdrop. Shoot a few target and see if your scores improve.

[jdub]

Sometimes when I'm trying to shoot the tightest groups possible with a scoped airgun I will purposely adjust the scope about 1/2" high and then put a small black dot on the paper as my aim point.   The shots will all group 1/2" low and my aim point never gets a big hole in it.   

I do this when testing new pellets because even a .177 diameter hole is too big of a target to aim at consistently with a scope. 

[cmj21973]

"Aim small, miss small."

So true.
When I'm shooting chipmunks, squirrels, or any small animal I aim for an eye or ear hole. I either hit what I'm aim for or the surrounding area. Either way it's a head shot.