Regular readers know I’ve got a thing about bullseye targets. I love, love, love them for mastering firearms fundamentals and, yes, sighting-in shotguns, handguns and rifles. For these applications, Birchwood Casey’s Shoot-N-C’s are the bee’s knees. But I reckon shooters training for armed self-defense should avoid them like a zombie plague. Yes, Virginia, there’s such a thing as too tight groups. As a general rule of thumb . . .
if your group is tighter than your hand-print, you’re shooting too slow. If it’s wider than your hand print, you’re shooting too fast.
Not to put too fine a point on it, why would you want to put two bullets in the same hole of the same perp? A Defensive Gun Use is not the time to minimize carnage. Bullseye targets programs shooters to over-focus on the target. IMHO.
If you don’t agree, 25 bucks buys you five Shoot-N-C 17.75″ Sight-In Targets with 85 pasters. If you do, I’m a fan of the Dirty Bird® 3-D Shadow Targets. That cop in New York couldn’t used a little trigger time with those. Just sayin’.
Now tell me the image above doesn’t make you want to get your gat and bust some caps (in the nicest, most legal and safe sort of way). C-N-Shoot?
Sportsmans guide has a 50 pack of 8″ for 20 bucks. That’s the cheapest I’ve seen.
What about these:
http://www.amazon.com/100-pack-Reactive-Splatter-Instantly/dp/B00AAORNFQ/ref=pd_sim_sg_90
They are “Glow Shot” brand 7″ 100 packs for $25
This is a great deal from what I’ve seen, thanks!
+1 I use these and they work great.
“Not to put too fine a point on it, why would you want to put two bullets in the same hole of the same perp?”
Because if you do it quickly, the first creates a shockwave inside the body cavity and the second round turns it into soup. That’s why.
And the third yields a creamy bisque. Warm and pleasant.
The fourth shot develops a fine froth, not unlike a summer’s cappuccino.
And a fifth, should you dare, belies an aerosolized mist, drifting like smoke, effortlessly up the nostrils.
This made me laugh hard enough to worry that my boss may have heard me. Now I’m hungry, too.
Geez guys, you’re overthinking it. 12 ga. 00 buck. The blender effect.
Too funny man! I just shot coffee all over my keyboard!
I usually just get mine at the gun show. There’s a guy there that sells targets and knives, and his target prices can usually beat everybody, including Amazon.
Indeed, this is probably the only thing that can be found at a gun show for a bargin, even after the entry fee. I get many a target there.
I don’t have numbers on this, but my assumption is that group size will at least double when you’re full of adrenaline in a real defense situation. That’s before you start thinking about moving targets, although that may be more of an issue for police- for non uniformed scenarios the bad guy is probably going to be moving straight towards or away, if he’s not at arm’s length standing right in front of you.
Still, I try to keep groups as tight as possible, so if they open up under stress, I will still get good center hits.
Aim small, miss small. Aim big, miss big. Same as it ever was.
^^^This^^^
Mel Gibson would be proud.
That’s funny. Horrible. But funny.
Actually it wasn’t Mel; it was his shooting instructor, Mark Baker. Mel liked the phrase so much that he had the director add it into the script. Frank House made the rifle.
Don’t forget the tomahawk in case you do miss.
These are great targets for 200-300 yard rifle. I set it up, dial in for the distance, then dial an additional 5″ high and 5.5″ left. Shoot a group while aiming at the center. Dial in 11″ right and shoot another group while aiming at the center. Dial 10″ down and shoot another group then 11″ left and another group. 5″ up and 5.5″ right and shoot the final group all while aiming at the center.
5 groups one aiming point. Works great.
-bsd
I use the 12″ Shoot-N-C sighting targets routinely. Or, if I don’t want adhesive back, I’ll use the 12″ Dirty Bird targets. They seem expensive but two targets on a target board gives me a total of 10 aim points. Also, I find the diamonds easier to see at distance with open sights.
I agree that in a DGU situation a hand size spread is just fine. The purpose for me in getting tight groupings at target practice is so I know that the sights give me useful information. A hand sized spread on the wall beside the perp isn’t going to accomplish my goal, stopping the threat.
Hmmm… I’ve an E sized plotter and some pics of my ex…
Didn’t General Patton lose a pistol competition because the target had only 5 holes in a 1″ group and the judges (stupidiously) insisted that he’d missed the entire target with the sixth, rather that admitting the obvious: that one hole’d done double duty?
MidwayUSA.com has the Shoot-N-C factory seconds for sale every couple months, though most often they’re the small (5.5″) bullseyes.