The whole setup seems like a Dilbert kind of thing..

[XTR]

Before reading this thread, I swear I have never heard anyone complain about the color of the targets before.

^^^ Same here.

Take another look in your target shed. F class centers paste over standard HP targets, the fames can be used for either with a center replacement. For most clubs it's a pain in the arse to get people to come make up targets as it is, this would require a complete separate set of centers for F class, and find a place to store them.

I've really never had problems finding holes in black targets, unless they are hidden at the edge of the pasted center when there are 10 or so centers on the face, or in the top or bottom of the "8" (sneaky one), or in the NRA lettering in the lower left corner. This assumes the center is replaced after two to three shooters have fired on it.

 

[ryanjay11]

"F"ers...

lol

 

[BoydAllen]

The club that I was president of a couple of decades back has had a highpower program forever. Before this this thread I had never heard one complaint about bullet holes being hard to find by those pulling targets. Perhaps by slowing down just a bit, noting the impact location on the berm, and noting where overlooked holes have tended to be, you might be able to improve your performance.

 

[Erud]

Exactly.

 

[ShootDots]

I have never had a REAL problem finding the bullet holes on a black target. There are times when I am looking for a "somewhat extended" time frame. The question is, would it be easier to see bullet impact holes on a light colored paper? Of course it would. Is there ANY harm in exploring the possibility of doing something that may make things a bit easier? Is the color of the paper centers going to throw shooting clubs into vapor lock? Would a color change somehow damage F-Class? What would be the downside? I see no harm in at least opening up a discussion to the possibility of change. I wonder how much "resistance" there was to change, when going from "Sling Sized" targets to the now F-Class sized targets?

 

[Erud]

ShootDots, see XTR's reply 4 posts above yours...

 

[kohai133]

RAFII, SB F-class matches should be set up with the targets binder clipped to a fame (single sheet target ) and a backer about a foot beyond that. You may have to look a bit but bullet should be visable. They have always been visable with my 25x spotting scope.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[rminut]

 

[Joe R]

Erud,
This is Dilbert...

 

[mr45man]

They have always been visable with my 25x spotting scope.

What brand scope is that?

 

[Taildrag15X]

I have never had a REAL problem finding the bullet holes on a black target. There are times when I am looking for a "somewhat extended" time frame. The question is, would it be easier to see bullet impact holes on a light colored paper? Of course it would. Is there ANY harm in exploring the possibility of doing something that may make things a bit easier? Is the color of the paper centers going to throw shooting clubs into vapor lock? Would a color change somehow damage F-Class? What would be the downside? I see no harm in at least opening up a discussion to the possibility of change. I wonder how much "resistance" there was to change, when going from "Sling Sized" targets to the now F-Class sized targets?

Ben once I heard the NRA was getting involved in F-Class in 2004 or so we wondered what they would do.....the smaller "F" targets to me were a good thing because it made the game harder, not easier....I heard no "resistance" and was happy we finally had Rules and our own Targets when the NRA took over in 2007.....

 

[Kevin]

I like the idea, personally. Some ranges (mainly military) don't have impact berms. While I consider myself a decent target puller, there are still some hits that are not readily visible. Usually, as was mentioned, they hide in numbers or surprisingly enough, perfectly centered on a line. I don't know why those are so hard to spot. It may be because we get so used to concentrating on the black-on-black.

CIHPRS.org (Central Indiana High Power Rifle Shooters) shoots at Camp Atterbury and this year, we have gone to electronic targets. First match is in the books. A few issues need to be worked out. But it sure showed a lot of promise to solving pit related issues. Several people kicked back behind the ready line and fell asleep due to not needing to pull targets.

 

[RAFII]

Dear kohai133
Our targets are stapled to a cardboard backer that has 6 inch diameter holes cut out for, and aligned to the center of each of the three black bulls. This is then set into a slotted frame that has a white removable backer 12 inches behind that. So there is nothing between the holes in the target paper and the white backer other than air.

I had made some test paper targets that were a complete reverse of the "regulation" targets, black scoring rings on an off white (buff colored) background when we were getting our league set up. These were well received by the shooters, with positive comments.
But were NOT what was required, and have since been abandoned.

 

[CaptainMal]

Only related but I also wondered what "Dilbert" was but kept silent so as not to appear stupid.

Now that I know it's some kind of cartoon character, I don't feel any smarter.

 

[XTR]

Only related but I also wondered what "Dilbert" was but kept silent so as not to appear stupid.

Now that I know it's some kind of cartoon character, I don't feel any smarter.

Dilbert is a cartoon character in a comic strip that has been around since the 80s. The character Dilbert is an engineer, the strip is satire that makes fun of office life, and it is quite often hilarious and frequently painfully close to the realities of working in a similar setting.

 

[kohai133]

mr35man: my spotting scope is the Kowa 663 with the 25x LER.

It took a while to decide if the extra $ for the ED glass was worth it. The was a store near me that was a dealer and they were both (standard and ED) in stock. On a clear day I really couldn't tell the difference. Stopped in on a dull cloudy day and focused both scopes side by side on a large galvanized light pole about 150yds distant. I could read the city ID numbers in both scopes just fine, but with the ED glass it just made the scaling of the galvanized stand out.

 

[xswanted]

I'm 36 with great vision and have wondered this same thing. It's not so much seeing them as it is trying to hussle for the shooter in hopes they do the same for me...this makes me miss the holes more often if that makes sense.
Not to hijack but on a related note, my rant on this...if we could ever get electronic scoring to be officially accurate enough to be approved or whatever the hold up is outside of cost, I think the sport would grow significantly. Think of how many more relays we could shoot and the amateurs like myself could spend more timing watching conditions from the mound to learn more about the wind.
Driving 2.5h each way to only shoot 40-60 rounds for a full 12h+ door to door trip is quite frustrating and hard to manage with wife and little kids.
Sorry again for the rant.

One of the reasons I won't or can't travel do that matter is time constraints. I live within walking distance of the local range here and it is still a 9-4 or longer day if a registered match is shot, and a guy fires 60 shots for record and a few sighters. other than I like being competitive and shooting with others, it's a LOT of time to invest in that little of shooting. I could shoot hundreds of shots at home in the same amount of time. This doesn't have to do with color but something or anything for that matter to shoot more shots in less time would be helpful to grow the sport.


Personally I've never had a problem finding the bullet holes in the black face but I was taught right from the get go to watch the impact berm. After a few shoots it was easy to figure out where the bullet hole would be if the impact was off center. Having said that, the blue bench rest target is much more pleasing to my scope eye. I can surely see the holes could be hard to find for older eyes.

 

[clowdis]

If you want a color change on the targets then you'll need to petition the NRA to change it. Since they have contracts with suppliers to make the black and buff colored targets that everyone uses at registered matches I'm sure they'll consider your request to change them to blue and white.