We could all use improved gun handling skills, and these shooting targets will help make it happen.
Shoot targets, they say. Do it regularly, or your proficiency with a gun will never improve. Isn't that why we own guns in the first place, to see how good of a shot we are?
But a plain old bullseye can only tell you so much about your accuracy and ability to properly use a gun. Sometimes there's more to it than just aiming for the middle. Sometimes you need to take things up a notch.
We've got three shooting targets in mind that take a significant step beyond your typical paper grid. They're made by RE Factor Tactical, who has made it their mission to create fun and effective means of becoming a better shooter.
The targets require more thought and concentration than most shooters are used to, providing an excellent way to sharpen the skills we all need to keep honed.
The IQ Target
An IQ Target really stretches the intelligence, which is precisely what it's designed to do.
A seemingly endless combination of shapes, colors, letters, and numbers lets an instructor or training partner call out demands the shooter then needs to work through. They could make requests such as "Shoot all the blue targets," or "Shoot the squares that contain a number." Imagine the quick thinking needed to make that happen!
The IQ Targets come in two versions, one with 3-inch shapes and one with 5-inch shapes. That means you can use them for both handgun and rifle training, up close or from a little farther away.
The bottomless well of combinations this style of training target can provide is pretty impressive. Can you see yourself getting sharper with IQ Target practice?
The Essentials Target
There are plenty of training programs or procedures that smart gun instructors have developed, but they sometimes call for a specialized target to get the most out of the drills.
A good example is the Essentials Target, which is perfect for the 150-round accuracy test that runs you through 17 courses of fire. Each one of the courses has a designated target or area, and scoring is quick and easy. Your results are basically spelled out on an easy-to-interpret score card.
Some courses are timed, some are strictly based on accuracy, and each one is vital to your overall shooting capabilities. Unfamiliar with exactly how to use an Essentials Target? RE Factor Tactical will explain it for you.
The Defense Target
Of the three we're suggesting, the Defense Target is perhaps the most applicable to real life. It starts with a realistic digital photo-based background of an actual person, and can be customized with stickers that indicate whether the person is armed, a civilian, a member of law enforcement, and more.
Each sticker is designed to seamlessly match up with the subject's hands, chest, or hip, and RE Factor has made it as close to the average human anatomy as possible. When the stickers are swapped and the targets are changed, it forces shooters to quickly scan different places on the body, and make a determination on whether or not the subject poses a threat.
There are scoring zones on the target subject's body to indicate how successful the shooter would be in wounding or killing if faced with a real scenario.
You can get a better idea of what a session with the Defense Target looks like by watching this video.
If those recommendations don't get the point across, then we'll make one last attempt.
Training with your weapon isn't something to be taken lightly, and if you aren't moving on from simple point and shoot practice, you're doing yourself (and your gun) a disservice.
When you're ready to graduate to something more advanced and improve the skills you need the most, shooting targets like these three should be on the short list.
NEXT: SHOOTING SPORTING CLAYS, AND WHY IT'S MAKING YOU BETTER
