Is it the diamond with the lines in the middle for your crosshairs or what? Or maybe the classic bullseye? I'm looking to get the best groups possible, so I was just wondering if how a target looks does anything towards precise retical placement. If anyone wants to post links to some especially good ones, that would be great too. Thanks for any replies!

Tyler

A lot will depend on the scope power, the type of reticle, and the distance. A 36X with a 1/8 target dot at 100 yards needs a completely different target than a 4x with a post at 250 yards. One of the best for general use I make myself. It consists of 4 black squares that form a cross. The size of the squares and the cross are adjusted to the caliber/distance/reticle. I make my own by making a template, laying it on a sheet of paper, cardboard, or the back of a target, and then spray painting it with matte black paint. After a while you have several different templates and it takes only a minute to pull out the right one and make a target or two. And a lot cheaper too. A can of spray paint costs only a buck (on sale) and a quick trip to the dumpsters behind a shopping center will yield all the target material you need for a long time.


http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i239/ray928/target.jpg


Ray

http://www.midwayusa.com/midwayusa/staticpages/pdf/targets/rifle_target.pdf

For me,with high power scopes,these work best.Just line up your cross-hairs with those and shoot.

this should keep you buisy for a few minutes.
I like targets with grid lines and blacked out squares.
Put the targets on as streightand level as you can
http://home.earthlink.net/~jonaa/Targets.html
http://www.protargets.com/targets/index2.htm

I tried the Midway targets, slightly larger groups than normal off a big bean bag (good for shooting off of!), but then just kneeling I got a very small group, about .3 inches. Perplexing...

I like a few targets off of this website. www.mytargets.com

Laner: You should know!

"Arguing on the internet is like competing in the Special Olympics; even if you win, you're still retarded".

Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Tyler what I think you are begining to see is that there is a considerable amount of opinion available here. Mine included! In the case of target type the best thing to be said is what type of sight will be used, and they should be a good match up. the theory would be a match which most quickly would show your eye (you) that something is out of alignment. That would of course indicate a shot which would not be true. Lighting conditions affect the size of the targets relative to the sights. A considerable while back I was using dot type reticles because of the theory which says that the human eye BEST aligns things in a concentric or circular fashion. Keeping that in mind, I utilized some scalable fonts and a dounut shaped big black circle, sort of a mega bold zero, which I tried in sizes of .75 inch and down. I finally settle upon the .5 inch for a Leupold 16x Mark4 and a .35 inch for a Leupold 36x target model. This was for group shooting at 100 yards. The only thing I would add is that using color which contrasts to the sight or reticle would be desirable for the above mentioned reasons.

Another thought:
if you are looking for ultimate load testing with a big X scope, like my new Leupold 45X 45mm obkective 1/8moa clicks; make sure you take a 24" level to the range and use it to align the target parallel to the crosshairs straight up. One degree of cant is worth an inch at 100 yards.

Rich

Hey Idaho,is that 45X too much at 100yds?

Idaho...
Show me your calculation for the 1" per degree of cant?

Glockmeister: not unless the rifle you are shooting will give you scope eyebrow every shot. Any rifle accurate enough to make use of it should during load testing. You can only group as well as you can see to hold off for conditions. In general, any rifle/cartridge that will group under 1" consistently at 100 yards.

Ireload2: the data is from the USMC machine rest testing at 100-1000 yards, and the newest data from Picatinny Arsenal in NJ. The marines did a lot of work just moving the rifle around in one-degree increments with a boltgun that would shoot under 1/4moa during 100-200-300yards ammo testing. It was the Sierra 155gr Palma bullet and a special lot of H4895. The cheaters were using special semi-balloonhead cases made after Sierra took over the Lake City Arsenal in the late eighties. The brass only came to light the year after they went to the 6.5-284 for Camp Perry 1000 yard competition.

Rich