Keeping targets

hunter24605

Handloader
Apr 30, 2016
2,548
4,256
A fella turned me on to a neat little trick for keeping up with targets..place the target spots on heavy card stock printer paper and go shoot, afterwards just punch holes and put them in a binder..I picked up a ream of card stock paper at walmart pretty cheap and tried it out..it works great! And i dont think the targets will rip out of the binder!
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hunter24605 - did that for 12 years as a SWAT sniper. Not long ago I trashed all those old targets/notebooks. No longer needed.

On the page I'd document a lot of other information, which came in useful:

Date, time of day
Location
Elevation
Temperature

Range to target, anywhere from 25 yards to 600 yards. I seldom practiced beyond 600 yards. That seemed rather unrealistic for a SWAT sniper. Most LE sniper shots were at less than 80 yards.

Direction of the sun
Direction of wind or mirage
Wind speed.

Round count

Exact ammunition being used. One of my handloads for practice or the factory ammo issued?

Position I was shooting from: prone, sitting, kneeling, standing, bench? Support? What kind of support?

Time restraints?

Cold bore shot?

Etc....

All that info went on each page. Each page had an aimpoint and a group.

Similar info can be done for hunting rifles. Though I rarely go into such detail for my hunting rifles.

Regards, Guy
 
I do have a stack of targets that I record info on and I also have a reloading log that I compile info in and there is the cell phone that has pictures stored that gets transferred to the computer.
One day all of this info will be set up in an excel spread sheet but for now I'm just too lazy to do it.
I also have targets from when I was shooting NRA pistol competition and have load info written on them for reference but should go ahead and trash them since I'm not into that much anymore and I have it the info in a log book.
Might be a project for this winter when it's too cold and nasty to be out and about.
I really need to clean up my man cave and get rid of some clutter.
 
I use a 3 ring binder as well. I also use prepunched BR style targets that I get from Sinclair's. I really like them.
 
I still use a 3 ring binder. My wife has scrap booking for a hobby, and I have a huge 3 ring binder with load notes and saved targets.

For a while Target stores used to have one side of their paper grocery bags full of small 1" Target symbols. Those worked very well at the range, and while not card stock, the paper bag paper is pretty durable. They changed those graphics recently and now only one side has a large target on it, which I don't find as useful. But I still use paper bags with targets drawn or stuck to the paper. Then 3 hole punch them and into the binder they go.
 
I kept a record of every round loaded and every group fired & measured for 25yrs. All the information was recorded in books which I still have. The only targets I kept were the ones you like to show your buddies while having a couple beers.
For the last 10 years I have found it much easier to record everything in a simple digital file which can be printed and/or modified at any time. Saving ALL of my target would take several boxes and they'd just collect dust.
For targets I use large sheets of poster paper which I get free. They are discarded posters which are printed on one side but I use the white backside. I use orange dots of different sizes depending on the distance to the target.
If anyone would like to buy bulk boxes of florescent dots in various sizes and colors you can can find them here: planetlabel.com
 
I mostly shoot targets I either altered or created using power point, then printed out on heavy paper. When I get home I scan the target into my computer then transfer to a folder. I can also open a text block to add any information I feel is needed. Then I punch 3 holes in the original and add it to a notebook.
 

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As I am a pretty simple man and hate load development and the like, I keep few targets. The ones I do keep however are those with which I proved me my most accurate load. This year I shot two groups with my 300 WM at 300 yards to confirm POI. The first was to the left several inches, and produced a 1.89 if I remember right. The second was dead on at 1.008, this is the same load I have been using since 1970 and it still works today.
 
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