What is the best target to shoot at

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I think there is even a sticky post floating somewhere in this forum with links to lots of online targets.
A printer and a copier and you are good to go.
 
Remember shooting is about many things but hitting the target is the main principle, right? - well if you shoot and don't really know where you just shot? You'll never be consistent and be able to hone your precision shooting skills. Might as well turn off the lights or close your eyes and blast away(please don't do this).

Yes, later when you are very proficient and know what the heck you are doing then move to targets with a "big black circle."

For the money and especially for people new or wanting to improve their shooting ability - shoot at a blank target - be it a piece of paper, a paper plate anything but....

Remember shooting is about practice and practice and practice. Make sure you're having fun and when your scoring dead center - now that's a lot more enjoyable.
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Paper plates are great targets, but shouldn't you have a dot of some type in the center as a central consistent point of aim? an 8" paper plate is a pretty big target. I like to have something specific to aim at. I don't think you will be able to consistently be able to "score dead center" without a consistent aiming point.
 
For the money and especially for people new or wanting to improve their shooting ability - shoot at a blank target - be it a piece of paper, a paper plate anything but....
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Paper plates are great targets, but shouldn't you have a dot of some type in the center as a central consistent point of aim? an 8" paper plate is a pretty big target. I like to have something specific to aim at. I don't think you will be able to consistently be able to "score dead center" without a consistent aiming point.
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Well, I can't speak for oldkim, but what he may be eluding to is that , ironically enough, shooting at a non-target, such as a big piece of white paper (ought to be bigger than a plain plate, though) or even just into a berm, can be a great training aid. When taking precise aim out of the equation, a shooter is often able to focus on the front sight better or relax enough to not flinch. They just smoothly pull the trigger. Said another way, when a shooter's thinking about aiming, they're often tensing, jerking the trigger, flinching, and/or not focusing on the front sight.
 
We went out to an old landfill in KS near my grandparent's house over the holidays. They call it a "landfill" but it's basically just wide open field with a pond.

Anyway, we found a pile of old glass bottles and set them out about 20yrds or so. There were more misses than hits, but the glass breaking is much more satisfying than punching holes in paper. :D
 
Sorry let me expand on shooting on a more blank canvas is better for improving your shootings skills than shooting at a large black bullseye.

When I was a kid I used to shoot at a dirt pit up in the hills. Used to shoot the heck out of bottles or anything we could drag up there. Now, those places are harder to come by or way too far to drive or plain gone.

So, we come to shooting at stagnet targets. You're basically just punching holes.

Yes, do need to mark a point to shoot at. You can just put a small mark (how large is up to you).

The reason I recommend shooting at this type of target is so that once you shoot you can see where you are shooting each time.

So do this on your next venture out to an indoor range. Go shoot at your regular target (typically one with a large black bullseye on it). Then take another one and flip it over and mark a small area to shoot at - shoot the back side and see if you can "see" the difference at the same distance.

What I expect you'll see is that for every round you place on paper you'll be able to make out clearly where you have shot. Now this allows your brain to comprehend that by holding and do this or that to your stance, hold, trigger and so forth allowed you to shoot and punch a hole down range.

With a large black bullseye with a dark backstop you'll be lucky to tell if you made a hole at all.

I'm not saying do this all the time but try it out and see for yourself.
 
Best target depends on what you are practicing to shoot in real life. If you are practicing to shoot targets any target will do. If you are practicing for self defense purposes shooting life like human picture targets will help with your mindset. Pick the BG targets not the woman with baby targets, however never forget the woman with baby might be a BG with a gun.;)
 
Care and feeding of a paper plate target

Most of my paper plates are being shot with a Taurus 85 or Ruger LCP, so I am generally within 5 to 7 yards. At that distance I can see a hole in the plate. The first hole becomes my "bullseye". No two targets seem to be the same!
 
If you are stapling them to a big piece of square cardboard at your range.

I would simply say,plain computer paper.

I like paper plates very much as well because they have strength and will not flap all over the place when you shoot them and a paper plates size is equal to a bad guys chest at every distance you choose to shoot at.

Therefore,if you hit the paper plate-preferably at center or near it-you are making a effective shot.

You could even get a marker and make a small black dot in the center for a bullseye mark.

And paper plates are very bright so it is really easy to see where you are shooting at up to ten yards away.
 
When I lived in the Aleutians we used to go out to the area where the EOD teams gathered old WWII munitions. We'd shoot bombs, land mines, mortar shells and all kinds of other fun stuff with our .22s. Since a lot of the stuff was still viable and shock sensitive every couple of rounds would create nifty explosions, which would create other nifty explosions and so on. It was fun to see how many explosions we could get out of a single .22 round. It was much more fun than going to the landfill shooting cat sized rats at night.:D
 
B-27s and a magic marker to make small targets in different place's, and mark your shot's each load.

Then turn it upside down and do the same, as they are long, and hang low.
 
Here's something fun to shoot at:

Fire Extinguishers:

FireEx.jpg
 
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