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New target idea for matches: Target identification

Cascade Precision

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 23, 2008
875
25
47
Klamath Falls, OR
OK, maybe not so new, but it worked for me.

NOTE: Arts and crafts DOES pay off in precision shooting.

My wife has a cricut cutter system for arts, crafts, cards, whatever. She also has a stock pile of BRIGHTLY colored paper. I explained my idea to her, and she had some excellent ideas for the target. She used her cricut cutter system to cut me out a bunch of 3 inch circles out of 3 different color papers, plus a metric boat load of smaller circles to use as pasters.

I wanted to put 30 3" circles on a plastic corrugated backer (I have a small supply of political signs at my disposal, but the corrugated plastic board is relatively cheap to buy from a sign guy). I wanted a total of 3 colors, so 5 circles of the 3 colors on EACH side of the target. Each side was separated by a strip of black electrical tape.

My next question was, how do I keep everything on the target board without them all falling off, but still keep a crisp edge for scoring hits/misses.

Gentleman, FINGER PAINTING IS BACK! My wife, in all her arts and crafts supplies, has a product called Mod Podge. It is quite similar to Elmers Glue (the stuff kids kids use in school), but dries clear with a light matte finish. I simply used a cheap foam paint brush to put a light coat of Mod Podge on the backer board, place a circle of cut out paper down, then painted another coat on top of the circle, one at a time.

The final product:
2012-10-11_17-34-05_624.jpg

2012-10-13_18-45-52_377.jpg


Now, the stage went like this:
<span style="font-weight: bold">Starting position:</span> Laying prone behind your loaded rifle, both hands on the barrel. You will have six (6) target identification cards in front of you laying face down.
<span style="font-weight: bold">On signal:</span> Shoot 1 shot at a full size USPSA "head" inside a full size USPSA no-shoot (Hope that makes sense, can describe in more detail if you need).
After your one cold bore shot, turn over 2 cards (one at a time, or both at once, shooter choice). These cards are now your SHOOT targets. All other targets are now considered NO SHOOT targets with associated penalties.

I set up the cold bore at 100 yards. My original intent was to set the circles at 150 yards for a 2 MOA target. But, most people had very small optics, so to cater to my crowd, I move the target in to 100 yards also. Was still tough for most shooters.

In the future, next time I do this kind of stage, I will be utilizing TWO or more of these targets to keep the downrange time to a minimum. Going down 100 yards and back with each shooter kinda drug everything out.

Love my wife, love her arts and crafts!
 
Re: New target idea for matches: Target identification

Works good until you have a color blind shooter!
 
Re: New target idea for matches: Target identification

I like the idea but like Boss said if you get someone that's color blind that would be an issue. What you might wanna do is not only use color but different shapes as well. That way if you get someone that's color blind they can still compete.
 
Re: New target idea for matches: Target identification

As a color blind shooter, I will say that color ID targets are a problem. But if it's known up front, having someone assist by calling out the position on the board, or having a card with the color names printed.

What's worse is colors that are hard to pick out.
 
Re: New target idea for matches: Target identification

You mean like mauve, taupe, and ecru?

It's a good stage and can be varied in a lot of different directions. I like it.

--Fargo007
 
Re: New target idea for matches: Target identification

Another twist could be that the color you draw is the no-shoot color. Seems simple but its pretty easy to get it twisted around in your head.
 
Re: New target idea for matches: Target identification

After some discussion, what we will do next time is use a colored circle and add a black colored number to ID each color. Was a great stage, and we do not have color blind shooters, so it is not something I have had to accommodate for in the past.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions!