# How do you see where you hit?



## piojo (Jan 3, 2016)

I'm learning. It's not enough to know *whether* I hit the beer can in the center of the catch area. I need to know how the shot went wild!

My catch box is a large sheet of denim hanging from a clothesline. It works a treat, but I can't see the point of impact. (I usually shoot at night.) I was thinking of hanging a white sheet in front of it, and the point of impact will be a brief blue circle where the two sheets are pressed together. Is there something more obvious? (I don't think poster paper would work--I couldn't see the holes without getting really close, and in any case I'd lose track of the old holes after a few shots.)


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Special paper is used which makes a vivid spot where you hit. I live in Ecuador and no such thing exists here but it's available in USA...saw videos on it.

If it's only 10 or 15 meters away, you can usually see about where you hit if you use a contrasting color target. For better vista of my ammo, I paint my steel slugs a fluorescent "tracer" color, fav is a very visable/loud spray paint.. fluorescent pink/fuscia, easy to see in the grass for bounce outs as well.. but white paint works fine. That way you can see the ammo in flight if your frame isn't in the way.

I use two things these days for targets.
1. Truck inner tube disks that flip around a steel bar when hit...a "round the world" we call it. I make the disks 3" and 4" and shoot exclusively at 15 meters.
2. Steel targets such as paint can lids and tuna fish cans. I can tell the way these targets react to impact where I hit also.

My catch box backing is old blue jean legs hung over a piece of rebar. I can tell by the impact where the ammo hit as well...sort of. All that together tells me where I hit.

That's the way I see where I hit.


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

If the catch cloth in your catch box is a contrasting color to the target it's easier to see where the ammo flies just at the hit. Say, if your catch box cloth is a dark color and your ammo is white or fluorescent yellow or pink etc.. then the flight path of the ammo can be seen against the dark background of the catch cloth. If your catch cloth is dark make your targets bright...white, yellow, or any lighter color or even fluorescent painted.

If you really really want to dial things in then reduce the size of your target. If you miss, you know it, if you hit you know it and using the above mentioned color schemes, you should know pretty much where you hit.

When I first made my catch box I used a large piece of cardboard over the face to which I taped a white paper disk as a target. At 10 meters I could see the holes produced when I hit or missed the target, que'd in by seeing the ammo as well as it flew at the target. But that got old quickly as the cardboard became riddled with holes after only 10 minutes of shooting and record keeping became impossible trying to see a new hole at 10 meters.

I put a small piece of making tape over the holes every ten shots or so, and new hits would show up.

Actually I was trying to reproduce a pistol range and target which for slingshots proved a bit silly and impractical. Spinner targets or hanging cans and contrasting background catch cloth became my modus operandi.


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Shooting at night... place a large piece of cardboard in front of the cloth. If the catch cloth is white like a bed sheet, the light will shine though it but not the cardboard. When you make a hole in the cardboard the light will shine though the hole alerting you to where you hit.

Many times a slingshot ball won't make a hole that stays open, it's not like a bullet hole where the hole is made into dust, leaving a void or partial void. So you will need the type of cardbloard that makes a hole that light can shine through.

Better idea. If you have a bright (very bright) light behind you at night and use white colored ammo (painted ammo or white marbles etc.) the light will illuminate the ammo against the dark catch cloth and you can see where it went.

If you use a large catch cloth and don't miss it, you can reuse the ammo indefinitely.


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## Samurai Samoht (Apr 6, 2013)

I personally put my target on white cardboard to see where the shot went. Sometimes I trace a small circle onto the cardboard and sometimes I use targets like this. http://www.amazon.com/25-Pack-Splatterburst-Instantly-Florescent/dp/B00YEP24LU/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1455048915&sr=8-11&keywords=shoot+n+see


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## Byudzai (Aug 31, 2013)

Back light. Get a task lamp with a strong bulb and hook it up somewhere between you and the target, close to your line of sight as you're comfortable. Get the angle right and the shiny BB will reflect its course brightly.


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Samauri that's $14 for 16 targets not incl postage. That's the special paper I was talking about earlier. I didn't know the price when I posted.


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## Samurai Samoht (Apr 6, 2013)

Chuck Daehler said:


> Samauri that's $14 for 16 targets not incl postage. That's the special paper I was talking about earlier. I didn't know the price when I posted.


Those were the 2" targets and it was 400 targets in total for $14. I always bump my orders up to $35 with other things I want/need so I get the free shipping.


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## flipgun (Nov 14, 2012)

Let us not forget Lee Silva's home made Shoot and C targets. He used packing tape, but I figured that if I spray the paper with a $1 can of gloss paint and when that dried spraying it with $1 flat paint and drying it, the flat will pop off when hit, leaving a bright mark.


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## tpinaz (Dec 6, 2015)

I started out 2 months ago with the same issues. I started to use a plain sheet of paper.

Shooting 3/8+ size ammo so I could see on the paper where I was hitting-

IF I HIT THE PAPER AT ALL 

For a catch box I build one with a rod to hold a roll of wrapping paper and back lit it with an old under the counter light I HAD STASHED.

When you hit the paper the light from behind let you know very clearly where the hit was!

I started out at 5 feet and couldn't hit that sheet of paper.

Now 2 months later with lots o shoots fired. I am back to 20 feet shooting 1 1/2" , 2" & 2 1/2" leather targets, using a few heavy old towels I am,

still able most times to see the impact point.

None of these ideas are mine, just borrowed them from the forum from fellas willing to share !


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## piojo (Jan 3, 2016)

I just front-lit the target tonight (just used a brighter flashlight than usual), but I still saw less than half of the shots. I didn't try anything more complicated yet, but



flipgun said:


> Let us not forget Lee Silva's home made Shoot and C targets. He used packing tape, but I figured that if I spray the paper with a $1 can of gloss paint and when that dried spraying it with $1 flat paint and drying it, the flat will pop off when hit, leaving a bright mark.


Looks like we have a winner! Lee Silva explains his design in the text under his youtube video. (And f uck, it took me ages to find the info since he didn't bother to give the page a proper title!) He used neon poster paper covered in plastic wrap, with the plastic wrap spray painted black. This works because almost nothing sticks strongly to plastic wrap, so the impact flakes it off.

I wouldn't mind ordering shoot n-c targets--thanks for the name, I hadn't heard of those--but I would need some really huge ones, so it's better to make my own.


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## HOTSHOT III (Jan 23, 2016)

Shoot-n-c targets look good 

I made a target which I keep hidden in some local woods, it's basically half a 20 litre drum painted red with a travel sweets tin (about 4" dia.) painted yellow to represent the bullseye (I shoot from 20 yards), it works well because hits in the red area result in paint chips which allow you to adjust your aim accordingly and when you've finished shooting just repaint it ready for next time!!

Only thing i've noticed is the tins don't last very long so you either have to eat a lot of sweets or pack out/reinforce the inside of it with Shoe Goo, bits of wood etc.


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