Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer's "Predicting Trajectory" article

A well written article, as usual. The question I have is, what did you use for targets @ 300yds that you could hold so well with the scopes you were using? I use the Redfield targets, which work well to 200yds with 4-6x, but at 300, I need a lot more magnification to get a good sight picture.

I drew circles about 8" across with a big, blue Magic Marker on a piece of butcher paper. Having an aiming point appropriate to the sights is one of the "secrets" of shooting good groups with anything.

I believe one of the reasons so many people report poor results with iron sights is they try to shoot them with targets designed for scopes. You can't shoot what you can't see! This is valid whether we use irons, a 4x scope or a 20x scope.

So along with a wide array of "published" targets, I keep butcher paper and that big, blue Magic Marker in my shooting kit. (Blue is good because it provides contrast, but you can still seer the bullet holes--at least out to a certain distance.)

An older gunsmith of my acquaintance test iron-sighted hunting rifles (which usually have pale front sights) at 100 yards with a 6" paper plate taped to black paper. I tried it and it works great! It would also do great at longer distances with lower power scopes.

MD

Hey MD where is the article at? I've yet to see it, darn how this work gets in the way eh!?

Thanks

Mark

on a side note it looks like a wonderful day to take my G33 for a walk for billy the bruin! And one last Q-is it true that rem is not gonna make the yearly Classic run anymore? Gracias

Spray painted circles are also good if you don't want to color for 20 minutes<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Mike

Back in the days when I could see the front sight, I used a paper plate and a black background with a 6 oclock hold. If I grouped in the center of the plate I knew I was 3 inches high at 100 yds.
-Doc-

I have been collecting rifle targets for some years, sort of a small hobby I guess. Back in the days when Gunsite was the American Pistol Institute and run by retired US Marine LT. Col. Jeff Cooper, they developed the Gunsite 200 Zeroing Target (�1986).

I bought a ream of them after trying one in 19 (mumble).

MD is straight on when he says the target is one secret to shooting accurately and with precision. Small groups are really helped by how the shooter repeatably "couples" the scope reticle to the target (or the iron sight picture). Some targets help this process, others don't.

The Gunsite 200 is printed in black ink of a white 30" tall by 22" wide white paper target. The top 24" of the target is over-printed with a 1"X1" grid. The bottom 6" has a logo and data blocks.

The aim point is formed by a black and white aiming square: the black square is 12"X12", and the center 6"X6" is white (i.e. 3" black bars form the outer square).

For scope use the shooter holds on the center of the aiming square. For iron sight use, put the post at 6 o'clock.

I have also used a scaled down versioni that Eric Ching developed for 100 yards (I generated the target with my Mac and printed it on paper using Eric's file).

The straight edges I think allow most scopes a more repeatable hold than most round forms (unless you are using a dot like the old benchrest shooters used to do).

I have also used this target to shoot groups at 200, 300 and 400 yards. If you shoot small enough groups (or you mark individual shots) you can get a nice picture of any left-right bias in your zero (not always visible in a group at 100 yards).

jim

I asked a friend if he knew of an image of this target, and you can find it on Andy Langlois' site.

http://www.shottist.com/cooper.htm

If you want to buy something, tell Andy that my friend "ole Juan del Frog" sent you. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

jim

Wow, I use a 25 yard small bore target at a 100 with my .375 XTR and hold 2.5" groups with a 6:00 hold. I need to step up and try some of this stuff.
Of course the $2000.00 Lasik surgery seemed to help a lot as well..(hmmm $2.00 on butcher paper $2000.00 on....) oh well whats done is done.
Great ideas though guys.
MCS

Thanks, everybody. Guess I'll run out for a roll of butcher paper and a can of spray paint. Mark, the article is John's Hunting Handloads column in the October issue of Handloader.

I must also note that if you buy the great big Magic Markers, with the tip that makes a 3/4-inch mark, it doesn't take anywhere 20 minutes to draw an 8-inch circle.

I also don't fill in the whole target, just give it enough perimeter to be easily seen. The white inside makes a good aiming point for finer crosshairs. It takes me maybe 30 seconds to make such a target.

MD

Now all I have to do is learn how to draw. My artistic skills remain at a kindergarten level, which explains how, after two years of architectural technology, my handle is "shootinurse".

Luckily, my brother is a professional artist, and he taught me how to draw circles! It took a while to get the hang of the white spot in the middel though.

MD

When I was teaching math I found out that when doing a quick sketch of a circle quartered by coordinate axes it is easier to draw the circle first and then center the axes, rather than the other way around.

mathman

I have also used Christmas wraping paper, the stuff with a white back. A black marker shows up nicely on it. I don't buy targets any more. Quite often I will use (steal) some paper the printer at work and go to town with homemade targets.

Mike, Now you are taking all the fun away. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Now I have to come up with another excuse to color.

I had always used simple 1/4"graph paper with a felt tip marks.You bought targets? But when I started shooting again,at range even.I was faced with intervals between ceasefire , the cost of targets and dificulty in aiming and reading.So using a 1/4 wide edge on a felt tip I crossed four lines on a blank newpaper sheet 31"x31",and drew a circle 4" at the cross.A coffee can lid.At a 100meters they are easy to see with 8x,even 4x.The circle centers and cross hairs take out the lines.The two inch top of the circle is right for a 30-06 to print for a 200 aim.And unless the bullet holes are on the lines,there're easy to see.White butcher paper is better,it prints much clearer and stands drizzle better.

I download targets and print them off the Remington website, they have a good selsction that are free.

Exactly-- i keep a template of various size circles i use for different ranges. Very efficient.

Some time ago, I sat down and drew up a 1" square with a 1/2" black border around it. Used a magic marker to blacken in that outer border. Then I copied off plenty of targets on a xerox. Then I reduced the target size by using the reduction setting on the xerox, and made some with about a 3/4" inner white square. Then reduced further to make some with about a 3/8" square for the big target scopes, and even they may be a bit large for that much power. Then I took one of the original 1" size and enlarged them to larger sizes for longer ranges. A 1 1/4" square is about right for my eyes with a 4x, 3/4" is good for 7x, and a 1/2" is good for 9x. It really makes a difference now that my eyes "have a few miles on them."

Using the same targets for successive tests of loads with a single bullet helps me ensure that the results are really relevant, and compare apples to apples.

Those larger targets give me the same sight picture at long range, or very close to it, that I have for load testing. This helps me get good long range results. I know I'd MUCH rather have a target that's a bit too large than ANY too small. Those targets DO make a difference, and the older and more "experienced" my eyes have gotten, the more this is so.