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Can't see hits or misses on cardboard


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Ok I have had my eyes checked I do so annually but on cardboard I can't see hits or misses worth a crap.  If the cardboard is white NO SHOOTS I can see the hits better but not on the standard brown cardboard.

 

I LOVE to shoot steel simply bc well hits and misses is a no brainer you know if you hit the dang steel and on stages with ONLY steel I consistently do infinitely better than on stages with cardboard paper targets.

 

 

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You do realize that those of us with 20/10 vision who can score most USPSA paper at 29 yards... aren’t looking for a single bullet hole until the stage is over.

 

The way your sights lifted in recoil tells you where your holes were punched. Pausing to shift focus to the targets and back will only slow you down.

 

It’s called shot calling or reading your sights. Work on it as the most important skill you can learn right now :) 

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You shouldn’t be looking for confirmation of hits or misses on the target. I would be working on shot calling and not looking for holes in paper. For that matter, steel should be the same. If you are waiting to hear your hit on steel or see it fall, you are taking way too much time. 

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8 hours ago, Steelslinger86 said:

You shouldn’t be looking for confirmation of hits or misses on the target. I would be working on shot calling and not looking for holes in paper. For that matter, steel should be the same. If you are waiting to hear your hit on steel or see it fall, you are taking way too much time. 

Exactly what he said.

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13 hours ago, awayne said:

 

I LOVE to shoot steel simply bc  you know if you hit the steel

 

I have the opposite problem - I can't HEAR the bullet hit steel    :surprise:

 

So, what I do is what everyone here has already mentioned -

I don't listen for the sound or wait for the bullet hole in the paper,

I just watch my sights and shoot as quickly as my sights look

like they're pointed the right direction.    :)

 

What level shooter are you, BTW ?

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I had the same problem for a while. I then started to look for the small amount of light coming through the cardboard. Its the only way i can tell where ive hit. I wish we shot the white side of the cardborad. Its so easy to see those hits. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Maybe switch to major with .45 wad cutters.  

 

 

Like MemphisM said though, call your shots.   Took me a while to really do that myself.  

 

 

In practice i’m about good to 20yds before I need to walk out to see them.  

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/21/2018 at 5:10 PM, Steelslinger86 said:

You shouldn’t be looking for confirmation of hits or misses on the target. I would be working on shot calling and not looking for holes in paper. For that matter, steel should be the same. If you are waiting to hear your hit on steel or see it fall, you are taking way too much time. 

^^^ this! I was really slowing myself down trying to not only find my hits but make shots up that weren't alphas! You need to learn yourself and your gun and trust your hits. Without seeing any of my hits I can usually know if I missed, and usually know if I throw a delta.

 

You develop this awareness through your practice sessions.

Edited by Smithcity
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  • 1 month later...

Hardest thing to do in shooting is stay focused on the front sight. It’s interesting to hear the different arguments. A former Marine Corp sniper told me that you never don’t look at your front sight. You may not realize you did, but you should always train that you are. If you train enough he said, your brain won’t let you pull the trigger if it’s not there. Interesting concept ...

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Where your sights were when you squeezed the trigger is what you need to learn to see. Knowing where the bullet went after it left the barrel isn't going to help you. Know where it is going before you squeeze and don't squeeze til you KNOW it's going where you want.

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Whether or not you need to be staring with laser focus at your front site, as some have suggested, is a topic for another day.  In competitive shooting we use all types of different focus depths depending on the target and the situation.  I can tell you two things.  If you are staring at a crisp front sight for every shot you will be slow.  If you are looking for bullet holes you will be slow.  

 

Dry fire alot.  Train your brain what a good site picture looks like for a shot at different difficulty levels.  Call bad shots in dry fire.  Its easier to do when there is no explosion going off in front of you.  Learn to pull the trigger without disrupting your sight picture.  Learn how to pull the trigger hard and fast without disrupting your sight picture.  Then take that information to the range.  If you have never seen your sight lift at the moment the shot breaks before I recommend pointing your gun at the berm, not a target, and just rip shots off and watch what happens.  You will see stuff and a lightbulb will go off.  Make sure your not blinking when the shot breaks.  Try double plugging if needed.  

 

Running bill drills at 20 yards is also a great shot calling exercise for me.  Learn what a good trigger pull and sight alignment rewards you at different distances.  Learn what a deviated sight awards you at different distances.  Its not easy.  It sucks.  Its kinda boring.  But as others have said if you only practice one thing until you get it right this is it.  It will save frustration and wasted ammo.  

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10 hours ago, CrashDodson said:

Whether or not you need to be staring with laser focus at your front site, as some have suggested, is a topic for another day.  In competitive shooting we use all types of different focus depths depending on the target and the situation.  I can tell you two things.  If you are staring at a crisp front sight for every shot you will be slow.  If you are looking for bullet holes you will be slow.  

 

Dry fire alot.  Train your brain what a good site picture looks like for a shot at different difficulty levels.  Call bad shots in dry fire.  Its easier to do when there is no explosion going off in front of you.  Learn to pull the trigger without disrupting your sight picture.  Learn how to pull the trigger hard and fast without disrupting your sight picture.  Then take that information to the range.  If you have never seen your sight lift at the moment the shot breaks before I recommend pointing your gun at the berm, not a target, and just rip shots off and watch what happens.  You will see stuff and a lightbulb will go off.  Make sure your not blinking when the shot breaks.  Try double plugging if needed.  

 

Running bill drills at 20 yards is also a great shot calling exercise for me.  Learn what a good trigger pull and sight alignment rewards you at different distances.  Learn what a deviated sight awards you at different distances.  Its not easy.  It sucks.  Its kinda boring.  But as others have said if you only practice one thing until you get it right this is it.  It will save frustration and wasted ammo.  

 

Solid advice!

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When shooting iron sights I have to work very hard to keep my focus on the front sight rather than allowing my brain to look at the target to confirm a hit (which I can't see anyway!).  Staying focused on the front sight significantly improves both my accuracy and my target to target transitions.  Not easy, not intuitive, but essential!  I find the same problem when shooting a dot.  My brain seems to want to watch the dot.  I have to force myself to stay focused on the target and just let the dot "be there".

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Shooting competitive iron sights, I would say I shoot 90% target focused or less than front sight focused, unless its a really difficult shot 40-50 yard cardboard or small popper/plate at distance.  

 

I am not sure how maintaining a front site focus would assist your target transitions.  Even if you were doing a front sight focus the typical method would be to shift your eyes to the target then transfer the gun to that spot.   Trying to maintain a front sight focus while transitioning targets would be painfully slow. 

 

For 7ish yards and in I dont really even use the sights.  10-30 yards its a soft front sight focus.  Past 30 yards it just depends.  Some say its just as fast to get a front sight focus as compared to not, but this is what works for me.  Because of vision issues getting a front sight focus for me is actually slow and confusing.  I use tape to distort my non dominate eye for this reason.  

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 My problem is I'm a right handed shooter who is very strongly left eye dominant.  Left eye dominant to the point that my right eye is generally only used for right peripheral vision.  My right eye turns ever so slightly inward such that both eyes don't focus on the same point.  As a result, my brain tends to "turn off" the right eye except for peripheral stuff.  I eventually had a pair of glasses made where my left eye is focused very clearly on the front sight to the point that any target beyond 3  yds or so is blurry.  My right eye lens is set for distance (so I can walk/run without getting dizzy).  But, when shooting, if I don't maintain a front sight focus with my left eye, I'm constantly shifting between the front sight with my left eye and the target with my right eye.  That's too slow when trying to "see" if I hit the target and then transitioning to the next target.  But, if I just maintain left eye focus on the front sight (after calling my shot) while transitioning to the next target, it's much faster.  I agree, for close targets, it really doesn't matter.  But for me, for targets more than 5-7 yds, I've got to stay on the front sight.  My brain does a pretty got job of finding the center of a blurry target - much better than focusing on the target with my right eye than shifting to my left eye to see the sights.  So, beyond 5 yds, I force myself to keep the front sight sharp and pull the trigger when it's in the center of the target blur.

Edited by mvmojo
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After 2 seasons of shooting my Open gun I've had to go back to my Limited gun because my Open gun was sent in with a cracked comp. I've shot two indoor matches with the Limited gun and have found that I am not seeing my iron sights like I use to.  I've been dry firing a lot but during the match I don't think that I'm looking at my sights but more through or over my sights like with the Open gun.

I could call my shoots when seeing the dot but without shooting iron sights for 2 seasons it  became a lost skill that I need to practice to get back. It looks like I need to start shooting dots to get back to seeing the sights again. So tomorrow is dot drill day.

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