Metal Shooting Targets

[YumnaO]

Hi... I'm kinda new here, and same goes for shooting.

I was just wondering if there were any disadvantages to substituting a metal target for a paper one when training?

I am aware of the fact that you are to call your shots with the dot and not by looking at the target, so that shouldn't cause any problems, but just wondering if there were any other bad points to using this medium.

The reason we want to do this is because it will save us time running up and down patching the targets etc.

Thanks Yumna

[jasmap]

There are no real problems that I can think of with steel targets. One thing is you sometimes may want or need a visual reference such as holes in paper. We've all called a shot, or so we thought, and then found it was not there.

[Loves2Shoot]

The ding can be distracting, because when you shoot paper it won't give you that feedback.

[shred]

Hi... I'm kinda new here, and same goes for shooting.

I was just wondering if there were any disadvantages to substituting a metal target for a paper one when training?

I am aware of the fact that you are to call your shots with the dot and not by looking at the target, so that shouldn't cause any problems, but just wondering if there were any other bad points to using this medium.

Can't shoot up close ( <10 yards ) and reliance on the ding are the two I can think of. It's also harder to measure groups and you can't take the good ones with you to hang on the wall .

That said, I do a lot of practice on steel targets and they work great for 90% of any practice you could want. Layer on some rubber or make a cardboard sandwich between two plates to muffle the ring if you start to rely on it.

[DMH]

I like to use a set of steel plates cut the size of the A/C zone, with the A/B upper and scoring lines beaded in with weld. Paint with a nutmeg or light brown paint and score as usual. If you can hit that with drills in excess of 30 yards, everything else is gravy.

[Crusher]

I LOVE steel, it can be distracting as heck (falling plates and poppers), for me it MAKES me focus on sight lift to initiate transitions (not watch or hear plates/poppers fall) a couple of cans of white paint (Home Depot $ .99) and your good to go for a few rounds.

The walk to reset them allows the gun to cool, somewhat, and think about each shot that was made to KNOCK EM DOWN.

[LPatterson]

I have some cut the size of the A zone that I use in the spring when I am working on trigger contol. They have a hook welded on the back & I use a U shaped bracket stuck in the ground as the holder. Using 2 or 3 I can do transitions & the swing tells me if I called the shot right.

[Bigbadaboom]

I use full size steel metric IPSC targets for practice. Sometimes I use cardboard targets for grouping etc. but I've found that using steel targets trains me not to rely on the "RING" but rely on my sights. This helps me greatly on steel plates and poppers. A steel target will ring no matter where the bullet hits it so relying on the sound can cause you to drop a lot of points. Therefore, you have to rely on your sights and ignore the "RING".

I guess I have taken an opposite approach from most other shooters. I feel that when you don't shoot steel all the time you take the "RING" as an added advantage to shot calling which is a mistake. Because I shoot steel IPSC targets I see how relying on the "RING" can kill points so I train myself to read the sights because the "RING" can be a "D" hit.

[kevin c]

You have an interesting take on the subject, Dan.

I find the ring (or more exactly, listening for it instead of reading the sights) very distracting. But if you train yourself to ignore it by shooting steel deliberately, well...

[EricW]

Steel has its virtues and perils. It's easy to burn a lot of rounds and get in a lot of good practice in a hurry. It's also all too easy to let yourself get sloppy. Sure, shoot few 10 yard bianchi racks, but then step back to 50 and shoot the rack again. Never, ever let yourself get into the mode of accepting less of a sight picture. My goal this year is to clean the rack at 75 yards.

The major problem I have with steel is bay size. Most ranges only have 25 yard deep bays, and unless they have 6" or 8" plates, it's really tough to use steel and demand accuracy of yourself. I would always end up standing in the road, dodging cars between and during strings. At least with paper, you can shoot head boxes only.

There are 3 practice tools I couldn't live without, and only one of them involves steel:

- Plate Rack Trailer

- Timer

- And get ready for this: my target taper gun. (http://www.cedhk.com/show.php/Object605)

Now that I've had the tape gun for a year, I couldn't live without it. It makes volume practice on paper doable without getting hand cramps tearing pasters off rolls and trying to work your gun with glue-covered fingers. The tape gun makes shooting paper almost as fast as shooting steel. I literally value it equally as a tool to the timer and the plate rack.

Mike Gibson (www.mgmtargets.com) is the go-to guy for paper IPSC targets on the cheap. No turtle targets, but metric targets for 41 cents a whack is pretty much unbeatable, so you don't have an excuse for not having paper to shoot. (The metric target with 3/4 x 1/2" black pasters is also the ultimate MOR practice target, so they're multi-purpose tools. Anything that doesn't break the dot is a miss.)

FWIW...