• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Shot Marker (Review)

Thanks. Haven't been to 1000 yet, just didn't want to waste time and bullets.

I know what my first thought would be if a shot didn't register.
 
Last edited:
...

Bright sunlight.
Bright sunlight is a problem with every device, phone or tablet. Yes a shade is necessary, that was a given before I even ordered my SM....
Sure beats sitting in the pit and using a long stick with an orange disc to mark the shots. This is what we did in 1963 at the 600 meter range in Putnamville Indiana.

Does anyone in the pits today complain about the 'good ole days" when you had to use a long stick to mark the shot hole and gooey paste to stick pasters on the old shot hole :)
 
...
2) bright sunlight. It's a royal PIA to work the system when you can barely see anything on the tablets ! We are thinking quality sun shade systems for all the tablets.

The only device that I have used that can work in sunlight without a shade is the OLPC laptop ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/OLPC-XO-1-....l4275.c10&_itm=164073096938&autorefresh=true) which were used by the One Laptop Per Child programs. It works great in sunlight without a shade. They are black/white displays.
 
Does anyone in the pits today complain about the 'good ole days" when you had to use a long stick to mark the shot hole and gooey paste to stick pasters on the old shot hole :)

Never seen that... but when I took over the HP program here, they had a bunch of old target faces, "Target, Rifle 'A'" and "Target, Rifle 'B'" (roughly equivalent to SR and MR centers), and some old 'lick-em-n-stick-em' pasters. Just for the heck of it, I tried using those pasters... *ONCE*. Nasty, nasty, nasty!!! Made postage stamps taste *good* by comparison! ;)
 
d
Never seen that... but when I took over the HP program here, they had a bunch of old target faces, "Target, Rifle 'A'" and "Target, Rifle 'B'" (roughly equivalent to SR and MR centers), and some old 'lick-em-n-stick-em' pasters. Just for the heck of it, I tried using those pasters... *ONCE*. Nasty, nasty, nasty!!! Made postage stamps taste *good* by comparison! ;)
Being somewhat older, I remember the gooey paste days and the pits seemed to have been built during WWI and also remember when a course of fire required the pit puller walking back and forth with a stick exposed as a moving target.
 
That is a good report. While I don't own a shot marker, we shoot on them every week at TCGC in Sherwood Oregon at the 600 yard matches. We shoot all year around, even in the rain, and have learned a couple of things about the sensors.
1) rain can mess with the sensors if you get water droplets covering the center. We started rotating the bottom sensors so they did not face the center of the target. The rain runs off and the sensors still work if the center of them is more or less verticle instead of pointing at the center of the target.

2) We off set the Y value in the sensor so that we actually hit two minutes high at the target. (That is about 12 inches at 600 yards.) The system still works just fine and records the shot as if it had hit the center but it doesn't. The reason for this is we don't need to replace the center of the target for each relay. As a matter of fact we can use the same targets for several days running because while there is a big gaping hole around the 7 ring at 12 o'clock, the center of the target we aim at is still intact so we still have an aiming point.

If you have never shot at a shot marker target this may sound like nonsense but it all works in real life.
 
Best defense
Thanks for your input.
My intention this morning was to read through this string to see how ranges are dealing with the calibration needs when refacing a target.
My question is have you had anyone question a shot on the edge of a scoring ring and wanting the higher value.
By not shooting at the actual center of the target this situation cannot be verified.

To the rest of the Shot Marker users out there (with full understanding of the need to reface targets with accuracy)
Has anyone come up with a method to reface and verify calibration mid match or the first string the next morning of a two day match?

thanks for any input
Leo
 
Best defense
Thanks for your input.
My intention this morning was to read through this string to see how ranges are dealing with the calibration needs when refacing a target.
My question is have you had anyone question a shot on the edge of a scoring ring and wanting the higher value.
By not shooting at the actual center of the target this situation cannot be verified.

To the rest of the Shot Marker users out there (with full understanding of the need to reface targets with accuracy)
Has anyone come up with a method to reface and verify calibration mid match or the first string the next morning of a two day match?

thanks for any input
Leo
I have only seen one instance where the shooter questioned the score when the shot was on the edge of the ring and the system scored the lower ring. The representation of the shot and the rings on the monitor is not exactly what the software/hardware are measuring. It is just a visual representation of the target for the shooter to see shot fall. The system will give the proper score based on where the bullet passes the sensors. It would be analogous to the shooter looking at shot placement from 30ft back from the target (the monitor on the line) and the puller assigning score from looking at whether the higher ring is cut/not cut from very close up and with another set of eyes if needed (the hardware/software).

Interesting technique of changing the sensor orientation. How do you do that when the sensors are indexed in the 'cup' by the notch in the cup that accommodates the plug?
 
Ok. Ordered a shot marker yesterday. I will be using it for load development. Most of my load development is done at the lgc 200m range. There are no pits to protect the sensor hub from stray shots. I plan on building a 4'x4' folding frame similar to the ones posted in this thread. I may try to use the frame at longer distances if all goes well.

Has anyone tried using a ar500 plate to protect the sensor hub from stray shots? Will the plate interfere with the signal to the access hub?
 
Last edited:
Boulder City Rifle Club has the shotmarkers on their rifle range. Here is a video that I made shooting Service Rifle a few weeks ago. I also ordered a SHOTMARKER after shooting with one. They are awesome.

May be a dumb question, but what is the name of this type of competition? It is only for AR-15 (or semi-auto)? Only slow shot prone? Which distances?

LRCampos.
 
Ok. Ordered a shot marker yesterday. I will be using it for load development. Most of my load development is done at the lgc 200m range. There are no pits to protect the sensor hub from stray shots. I plan on building a 4'x4' folding frame similar to the ones posted in this thread. I may try to use the frame at longer distances if all goes well.

Has anyone tried using a ar500 plate to protect the sensor hub from stray shots? Will the plate interfere with the signal to the access hub?

The ShotMarker will come with cables (sensors and antenna) that are long enough to mount the hub down and out of the way. If you do decide to place a piece of steel in front of the hub leave an inch gap between the steel and the hub, don't mount the hub to the steel for obvious reasons.
 
May be a dumb question, but what is the name of this type of competition? It is only for AR-15 (or semi-auto)? Only slow shot prone? Which distances?

LRCampos.

NRA High power and CMP (Civilian marksmanship Program)
You can shoot any military variant rifle. 90% of the guys shoot AR15’s, but there are guys/gals that shoot M1A’s and M1 Garands.
We shoot:
200 yards standing slow fire
200 yards rapid sitting
300 yards rapid prone
600 yards prone slow fire
 
NRA High power and CMP (Civilian marksmanship Program)
You can shoot any military variant rifle. 90% of the guys shoot AR15’s, but there are guys/gals that shoot M1A’s and M1 Garands.
We shoot:
200 yards standing slow fire
200 yards rapid sitting
300 yards rapid prone
600 yards prone slow fire

Thank you Firemedic301!
I tought that on NRA HP and CMP, only metalic sights were allowed. I did not know that scopes can be used.

LRCampos.
 
Best defense
Thanks for your input.
My intention this morning was to read through this string to see how ranges are dealing with the calibration needs when refacing a target.
My question is have you had anyone question a shot on the edge of a scoring ring and wanting the higher value.
By not shooting at the actual center of the target this situation cannot be verified.

To the rest of the Shot Marker users out there (with full understanding of the need to reface targets with accuracy)
Has anyone come up with a method to reface and verify calibration mid match or the first string the next morning of a two day match?

thanks for any input
Leo

I have no answer for system recalibration, but to reface the target, I put vertical and horizontal lines on the frame and target backer, and I put pencil lines on my targets, vertical and horizontal, through the X. Simply align the pencil lines with the lines on my target frame, and the new target is centered.
I do not use it in competitive matches, so I have not reclalibrated the system, as I see no reason to do so for my own use. I suggest contacting ShotMarker for their comments on recalibration.
 
Her is a simple question - we have quite a few Shotmarker and some is showing problems so we would like to test all of them at once.

One idea I have is to line them up and be up close to them - close as in 10 yards away and not 600/1000 yards away and shoot at them with a 22LR shooting supersonic rounds. This seems like a quick way to test and since you are close, its easy to go through all the targets, call the line safe and go down to check/fix and then come back up and retest. This way, you can go through all of them quickly and then ID the problem child and send them back for repair.

I like this because it could be fast and cheap. My only question is would shooting the targets this close i.e. 10 yards confuse the sensors? So specifically, how close is too close?
 
@asyoung and @john_m44 does something like this at our clubs with either a 9mm with supersonic rounds or an AR I believe. Works pretty well to identify crossed cables and other issues. Shoot away from the center in the corners and make sure the shot registers where you shot. Maybe they’ll chime in with other specifics.
 
Done that more than once, but it's just as easy to tap them with a finger and look at the target sensor data. Also one of this relatively stiffer "pool" noodles works well too.
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
165,900
Messages
2,206,071
Members
79,207
Latest member
bbkersch
Back
Top