Offgrid, sent you a message with pictures of the scores.
Wind was tough for some, we were blessed by the Wind Gods again, only playing havoc at distance with mildly switchy moments. Team that won was out of Montana. Speaking with the Match Director, next year the carbine will be limited to .223/5.56 only, 18" barrel limit.

Prize table was loaded with great stuff. I just missed out on a Defiance Certificate, so I went with a Burris XTR II 5-25 Certificate. My partner grabbed one of the two Rem 700 SPS Tactical Rifles in 308.

Burris, Kahles, and Proof Research were sponsors who were present, with many other companies contributing as sponsors and some nice prizes.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Alpine,

So, photos and a review, as promised.


First, let me start off by saying that I owe Fritz HUGE. He's a GREAT guy, I don't care what you guys say about him!


I drove in, got in the afternoon before. Had some dinner, called it a relatively early night at the hotel.

Woke up at 0600, packed, grabbed a coffee and fuel, and headed off to the range. It's deep in the heart of the middle of nowhere. Nothing but dirt roads, tumbleweeds, cacti, cattle, fences, and powerlines. And rattlesnakes too, or so I'm told (didn't see any, thankfully).

We were able to sight in ahead of time, thankfully. Since we were at 6500DA (when we started), my dope was WAY off from the 2000DA I normally shoot at.

Offgrid spotted for me at the 910 target, and then I just plugged that dope into Applied Ballistics and let it regenerate my dope chart. It adjusted my velocity to 2848, which is much more realistic (compared to what I was seeing locally, as some of you may recall from my thread of puzzlement). My elevation was spot on all day, including the 1251 yd target where I scored a first round hit!

Signed the waiver, filled out my scorecard, had the safety briefing, and we're off!

When we started, the temps were in the upper 60s at 0900. Our squad started on station 5. Fritz went first, and cleaned it. Next guy went, and didn't hit anything. I expected to be like that guy, but much to my surprise, I was like Fritz, and cleaned it! w00t!

It was getting warmer. I drank some water from my Eberlestock hydration pack as we walked to the next stage. It was so nice and cold still (I filled it with hotel ice and bottled water).

We walked to station 6. Station 6 was interesting. There was a haybale laying on it's side, lengthwise away from you. Targets were on T posts, large targets on the left, small targets on the right. You had 4 minutes to engage the large 4 targets from the haybale kneeling, and then grab your rifle, get down prone, shoot through a "window" in some haybales in front of you about 3" wide and engage the small 4 targets. I ran out of time, but hit all 6 that I shot at. Time was wasted trying to line myself up through the window in the bales, and then trying to get my bipod legs adjusted on the super uneven ground (left leg fully extended, right leg up 2 notches).

Grabbed all the gear again, started walking to station 7. It's really getting hot now. Drank more water from my pack, it was cool.

The walk to station 7 was a little longer. By the time we got there, between my out of shape ass, the elevation, and the fact that I was wearing a BLACK long sleeved shirt (the elbow pads worked GREAT for those three stations!) I was pretty hot. It was my turn to be wind bitch, so I did. The heat was beginning to get to me. I dialed my 467 dope when I took the 421 shot. I can't remember how I scored on that station, but I know for sure I missed at least that one that I misdialed. Why can't I remember? I was ROASTING. My brain was just cooking in my skull. Took off my shirt (had an UnderArmor HeatGear shirt underneath), and sat there. Drank more water. It was sort of cool. Sun was way up high now, relentlessly beating me as though I was a rented mule. As I sat there, I got into a HUGE fight with myself in my head. I was beginning to get dizzy, felt like I had the beginnings of heatstroke. Got out my Enduracool towel, moistened it, and WOW! That thing actually DOES get cold! LOL

It helped marginally.

Continued to fight with myself. "I should probably DNF myself and go sit in the truck in the air conditioning before this gets worse". "No, dumbass, quit being a panzy, you drove 15 hours and paid $100 to shoot in this thing, not to mention the fuel and hotel. This is the first of many, if you fuck it up now you'll never get back on the horse." "But I'm dizzy! And hot! And tired, dammit!"

As I sat there fighting amongst myself, the other guys finished up, and it was time to move. Somewhat reluctantly, I stood up, grabbed my bag, and went to grab my rifle. Fritz must have seen the look on my face (I can only imagine what fresh hell I must have looked like), and stepped in, saying: "No, you're not going to carry this. I'll take care of it." I was so hot and dizzy that I couldn't even object, much as I wanted to.

Off to station 8 we go. When we get there, he hands me an insulated container. "Drink this. As much as you want." It was frozen Gatorade.

Station 8 was the shoot house. Because of that, there was some shade (As you can see in the pics). I crawled into that shade like an injured puppy and sat there for a good 3 or 4 minutes while the rest of the squad identified the targets and readied themselves. I crawled out just in time to not be pummeled by the brake of the number 4 shooter's 300 WinMag.

I continued to drink the Gatorade, and started feeling MUCH better.

That station was shot starting from the roof, engage the center 3 targets, then climb down, prone through the bottom right window, engage 3 targets, then move to the left window and engage those 3 targets weak-handed.

Well, Fritz shot off the front target at the bottom right shooting position, so I had to shoot the middle one, then the far one, then the middle one again.

In any event, I climbed up there, missed the first shot, hit the next two, climbed down, hit all three on the right, then slid over for the weak handed shot. I had never even TRIED this before. Heart pounding, mind racing, trying to even locate the eye box. "30 seconds!" came the call. "Ok, I'm ready. -- Hey, why isn't anything happening? Oh, shit, I forgot to close the bolt!" <close the bolt, hunt for the eye box again> "TIME!!" "I want to take this shot, I'm set up, I've never tried this before" "OK" "IMPACT!" That was cool.

Everyone finished up, and once again, Fritz grabbed my rifle. He would continue to do this for the remainder of the match, by the way.

The walk from station 8 to station 1 felt like it was 20 miles long. Roughly halfway, there was an ATV parked. I sat down on it for what only felt like a second, but it must've been at least 5 minutes. Fritz stayed and talked to me, the other 2 guys continued on to station 1. Eventually I got up and we finished walking.

Station 1 was the long range station. Adjusted my DA to 8200, as per the reading on a Kestrel one of the guys in the squad had. I don't recall all of the hits I got, but I remember my score was a 6, and that I got a first round hit on the 1251. I missed the follow-up shot because right as I broke the first one at 1251 the call came "15 seconds!", so I rushed it and broke it low. As we were grabbing our gear, I expressed my gratitude to Fritz yet again, and professed how indebtted to him I was. I insisted that he let me buy him dinner and drinks afterwards. He agreed.

Sidenote: See, where I come from, someone says they'll buy you dinner and drinks after doing a huge favor for them, it usually means steaks or something pretty nice like that.


I don't recall my score on station 2, but mostly because I thought I was dying. I finished that frozen Gatorade on station 1. Paul, the owner of TriggerTime, brough from fresh bottled water down from his truck for us (he was riding around on a quad). I drank that bottle so fast it seemed like it was empty when he handed it to me.

Station 3 was a pain in the ass, but only because it took us 10 minutes to figure out what to shoot at. Since we were the last squad of the day to shoot that station, it had already been beat up by the other guys. Paul had told us that only 2 of the 4 hostage targets (IPSC steel with a flapper) were standing, but when we got there, you could only see 1. The far right one. The left-most one someone must've shot the post, because it was leaning right at a 45 degree angle, and the flapper was hidden behind a tree. So we had to shoot the right target twice, then the center "sniper headshot" target, then back to the right flapper for the last 2 shots. I cleaned it. Fritz scored a 3.

As we were walking to station 4, Offgrid passed us with a couple guys from his squad and said something about how it was unfair that Fritz got to shoot two rifles. Some other conversation that I don't remember, but I remember saying something to the effect of "he's carrying it because I'm beating him." Offgrid laughed. Then I said to him "No, I don't think I'm beating him, I was just joking." Fritz said something about having trouble on the last stage, to which I absent-mindedly replied "that stage was easy" "Well I didn't clean it". I felt the fool, as he carried my 20 pound rifle for me through the 93 degree, cactus-infested hillside.

Station 4 was the mover. I scored 5/10 there. I don't recall what the other guys did, I was just so happy I finished the course and wasn't dead or DNF'd or medevac'd out.

As we began walking back to the trucks, which were up over the hill and out of sight, I asked Fritz how far the walk was. The reply came "30 or 40....Miles." "Nice to see you haven't lost your sense of humor." He laughed. I then told him "If it really was 30 or 40 miles, I'd just as soon turn around and go find one of those rattlesnakes I keep hearing about and end this faster!"


Halfway back to the truck, Paul comes down on a quad. There's another quad parked about 100 yards away, it's been sitting there all match long. It must've been pretty common knowledge that I was having some heat issues, as he pulled up and said "Here, you take this back up to the top. I'm going to go grab that other one."

As I ride up, I pass Fritz carrying my rifle. Once again, I felt the fool.

I get to the top, we walk down to my truck. I start it, turn on the AC, roll down all the windows, open the gate. Throw the rifle in the case, and take off my boots, socks, and pants. Throw on shorts and sneakers, grab a bottle of water from the back of Paul's truck and dump it on my head.

"There's no way I won anything, I don't want to walk the 100 yards to where they are all standing to discuss scores."

But I did it anyway. At that point, I was feeling SO horrible about my physical shortcomings that I wasn't sure I'd ever attempt this again, so I figured I'd make the most of it, heat be damned, and go see who won, and say goodbye to people.

Get up there, Paul is tallying scores. He announced Offgrid the winner, with a score of 56 (of a possible 63). WOW! Offgrid graciously accepts his winnings.

Then, Paul says that there was a 3-way tie for second. So, they pooled the money from second and third, and split it three ways. The score was 44. I complimented Offgrid again, since he clearly WALKED AWAY with it, 12 points ahead of the second place guys!!

Paul says the first two guys names, then the third guy (I'm barely even paying attention because I didn't feel I'd done that well), he says "And some new guy from Wisconsin." I was astounded, but graciously accepted.


I invited Offgrid to join Fritz and I for dinner. He declined, stating "I have a 2.5 hour drive home." "I have a FIFTEEN HOUR drive home!" Everyone laughed. He recanted, and came with.

Now - for the dinner part? I had no idea where anything was, where to eat, was was good or what wasn't. I told Fritz to just pick the place, I'd follow him. Where did we go? Subway. That's right, his reward for caddying my rifle for more than half the match was a stinkin 6" sub, a bag of chips, and a soda. I Was flabbergasted. I still don't feel that was adequate, and need to dream up some way to repay his kindness.

I greatly enjoyed the match, even though I nearly passed out. I need to be better prepared to deal with that heat. I picked up LOTS of tips from everyone there on how to do so, and plan to be MUCH better prepared next time. Yes, there will be a next time. No, it won't be in July again. Or August. But perhaps in October. We'll see, I need to research what the weather looks like that time of year.

Some pics and descriptions below.



The first three pictures below are my scrawled notes & dope (MOA) for the 8 stages.










Getting ready to head into the range.



Our starting station.



Random pic. The headshot targets were hidden in that fenced in area with the trees in the right-most portion of the shot.



Random picture of the valley.



Random shot.





The shoot house.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: exx1976,

Any idea, or a link...to find out WHO was on the winning team from Montana? Simply curious.

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:
Any idea, or a link...to find out WHO was on the winning team from Montana? Simply curious.

Montana team of Demary & Lund.

fritz and exx1976,

here's how I shot the shoot house. Started on the roof, 3 shots 637, 807, 915. Lower right port, 507, 615 (1st target at 417 was broke, shot 2nd, 3rd, 2nd). Lower left weak side for this right hand shooter, 462, 550, 700. Had a 4 minute time limit, I wanted to shoot it in under 3 minutes for fun! Oh, still think we should have had shot weak side first, penalty/reward type thing. Here's my dope I used for the above. Top number is what I dialed for each position, below what I held. Since I was pre-dialed for the 1st three targets only dialed twice, dialed for the 2nd position after the 3rd shot on the roof, I'm in a comfy position might as well dial there...... Held about .1 mil left of center on the 1st target, missed just right, cleaned the rest.

I practice this type of hold over/under at the range. Set up 6 targets at different distances, dial for the 2nd or 3rd target. It's easier in winds under 10mph, higher wind it gets a little tougher holding a long ways off for both elevtion/wind precisely. If starting prone, try to hit all in 30 seconds, start standing/mag in/bolt back/plop down prone 45 seconds.

Start prone, shoot all how many in 30 seconds? 3? 9?

The buddy I told you about with land to 840.. He currently has targets hanging at ~615 and 840. I'm going to take my steel out there and set it up at three other distances as well so that we can practice holding over/under and work on speed.

I definitely appreciate the tidbits you shared about practice drills and such to improve. I will certainly be working on them.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
Start prone, shoot all how many in 30 seconds? 3? 9?

The buddy I told you about with land to 840.. We currently has targets hanging at ~615 and 840. I'm going to take my steel out there and set it up at three other distances as well so that we can practice holding over/under and work on speed.

I definitely appreciate the tidbits you shared about practice drills and such to improve. I will certainly be working on them.

6 targets starting prone.

Could just add one target to your buddies targets at around 300 or so. Shoot near, middle, far, near, far, middle.... Have as much L-R swing between the targets as posiible.

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
Start prone, shoot all how many in 30 seconds? 3? 9?

The buddy I told you about with land to 840.. We currently has targets hanging at ~615 and 840. I'm going to take my steel out there and set it up at three other distances as well so that we can practice holding over/under and work on speed.

I definitely appreciate the tidbits you shared about practice drills and such to improve. I will certainly be working on them.

6 targets starting prone.

Could just add one target to your buddies targets at around 300 or so. Shoot near, middle, far, near, far, middle.... Have as much L-R swing between the targets as posiible.

That would be nice, on all counts. Except that to get that far, we have to shoot over a pretty wide (And very deep) creekbed, so we can get targets to about 100-120, and then we can't see the ground again until about 480-ish.

Being that it was a swatch cut through the forest, it's only about 10 yards wide at the best, so left-right won't be too possible.

Yes, even practice conditions here are a challenge.


6 targets in 30 seconds, feeding from a mag.. I feel pretty confident about that. I can't wait to give it a try!

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
6 targets in 30 seconds, feeding from a mag.. I feel pretty confident about that. I can't wait to give it a try!

Yes, but did offgrid mention that you must run an American Ninja Warrior obstacle course between each mag change?

***
I was at the family ranch yesterday -- much more of a work day than a shooting day, but did get a little time with both pistol and AR-15. A couple of items with the AR (offgrid):
- The new APA Micro Bastard muzzle brake works. I only put in on my 20" barrel AR. It shoots quite softly already, so the brake's recoil reduction wasn't a big eye opener. But it definitely reduced recoil, just like its big brother for .308 & 6.5 Creedmoor. What I did notice is the rifle just didn't move during the shot - there was way more gun movement the cycling the BCG than from the initial recoil. The 18" AR has a bird cage flash hider, so I just need to pull it to test the APA brake. I may wait until after the Team Challenge Match, however.

- I'm getting a little more comfy shooting prone off a backpack instead of supporting the front of the gun with a bipod. I will post 100-yard group results later, as my work schedule sucks this week. With limited testing, the bottom line is that my 100-yard zero didn't change (pack support vs. bipod). I think lateral dispersion from pack-supported positions will be my primary challenge going forward.

- Hornady TAP 75 and Hornady HPBT Match 75 are not loaded the same. Even though they (supposedly) use the same bullet, the HPBT Match round is loaded a little hotter. Duh, I should have known this. Along with my the POI difference of heavy vs. light weighting of the bipod, this contributed to my down-range WTF's with the 18" carbine I will use in the Wyoming match.

Nice AAR! Now here is the part where I give you shit about the heat. Actually, no, I won't. It doesn't get that hot where you're from so I'm not surprised you had some issues. Besides, I wimped out of the USPSA match yesterday due to the heat, Heat index here was 106 degrees.

93 degrees in CO with that little humidity can sneak up on you. Hydration and conditioning are the keys to survival.

You need to drive your Yankee ass down here for a bit of heat conditioning! We'll teach you to sweat!

Congrats of surviving and taking 2nd/3rd place!

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
I then told him "If it really was 30 or 40 miles, I'd just as soon turn around and go find one of those rattlesnakes I keep hearing about and end this faster!"

One of my favorite jokes (with tons of variations).

Two buddies are hiking in the desert. First guy takes a leak, doesn't watch what he's doing, and pees right on a rattler. The snake's isn't pleased, coils up, and bites the offending spitting snake. First guy's in horrible pain, doesn't know what to do. Second guy whips out his cell phone, luckily gets internet coverage, reads up about snake bites. The website says if you're not close a medical facility, you must suck all the poison out of the wound. First guy asks what the website says. Second guy responds, "Yer gonna die."

Hope you had fun. You definitely shot well.

FYI, I figured you were in the early stages of hyperthermia -- maybe 1 to 2 degrees elevated body temp. Your body was just losing the heat race. Ice cold drinks to the core help boat loads, similar to hot chocolate or coffee in the early states of hypothermia. One of ways I knew you were struggling is that your skin was quite red, but you weren't sweating very much. I mean like a rivers running off your face and arms.

So....if I'm going to be rifle caddie, gun bearer, or firearms beyotch in the future, I want to renegotiate my contract:
- Golf caddies sometimes get as much as 20% of the winnings. Er, on second thought, there isn't much money in this game. Nice place to start, but let's keep going.
- I want a frickin' padded sling to carry that telephone pole. This open handed carry using the buttstock for support thingie, like a revolutionary soldier, has to go. Even better, get a lighter rifle. Ruger's 10/22 could be an option, as long as you go with compact optics. Maybe a red dot sight.
- I want a cute cart girl to serve me drinks in between stations, just like they have on golf courses. Frozen Snickers bars, frozen M&Ms. She must be a good pole dancer, too.
- The cart girl should have a cute cousin who will load my mags, pick up my spent brass, and make perfect wind calls.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
I then told him "If it really was 30 or 40 miles, I'd just as soon turn around and go find one of those rattlesnakes I keep hearing about and end this faster!"

One of my favorite jokes (with tons of variations).

Two buddies are hiking in the desert. First guy takes a leak, doesn't watch what he's doing, and pees right on a rattler. The snake's isn't pleased, coils up, and bites the offending spitting snake. First guy's in horrible pain, doesn't know what to do. Second guy whips out his cell phone, luckily gets internet coverage, reads up about snake bites. The website says if you're not close a medical facility, you must suck all the poison out of the wound. First guy asks what the website says. Second guy responds, "Yer gonna die."

Hope you had fun. You definitely shot well.

FYI, I figured you were in the early stages of hyperthermia -- maybe 1 to 2 degrees elevated body temp. Your body was just losing the heat race. Ice cold drinks to the core help boat loads, similar to hot chocolate or coffee in the early states of hypothermia. One of ways I knew you were struggling is that your skin was quite red, but you weren't sweating very much. I mean like a rivers running off your face and arms.

So....if I'm going to be rifle caddie, gun bearer, or firearms beyotch in the future, I want to renegotiate my contract:
- Golf caddies sometimes get as much as 20% of the winnings. Er, on second thought, there isn't much money in this game. Nice place to start, but let's keep going.
- I want a frickin' padded sling to carry that telephone pole. This open handed carry using the buttstock for support thingie, like a revolutionary soldier, has to go. Even better, get a lighter rifle. Ruger's 10/22 could be an option, as long as you go with compact optics. Maybe a red dot sight.
- I want a cute cart girl to serve me drinks in between stations, just like they have on golf courses. Frozen Snickers bars, frozen M&Ms. She must be a good pole dancer, too.
- The cart girl should have a cute cousin who will load my mags, pick up my spent brass, and make perfect wind calls.

LOL! Many of those things, if not all those things, would be awesome. Well, except for the fact I don't think that 10/22 could reach the 1251 plate.

I definitely need to get a sling. The eberlestock is nice for long-distance carrying, but for only station-to-station, it's way too much of a hassle. Definitely something padded, like you say. I'll look into that.

However, next time, I will hydrate the day before, and the morning of, and carry frozen Gatorade. I hope to never need a rifle caddy again.

Also, I joined the local Y this morning, so here's hoping October goes smoother. It should, since the average high is only 68 degrees (according to brief online research). We'll see, but I'll definitely be back at the October match. Hoping to bring a friend or two with me as well. Perhaps we can have a proper meal afterwards?


RMD - I'd rather have 93 and dry than 93 and humid. The humidity makes things so much worse, or at least it does for me.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
I joined the local Y this morning, so here's hoping October goes smoother.

All right, git yer disco on, everybody sing alone now,
"It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A."

Good job. Stay with it. Baby steps.
Colorado can be a tough place to play. The altitude robs your lung capacity, the dry air steals moisture from your lungs, the sun bakes you. Ski season does it too, with even thinner air.

<Arnold voice> You vill become strong, like bull. Yah.

I prefer Macho Man.

If exx shows up dressed like an Indian...Id run.

Just sayin'.

Nice AAR. Sounds fun. Heatstroke can sneak up on you. Glad you had someone there to spot it because the person that has it usually never does.

Sounds like evryone had a nice weekend. Me? Jlemmy made a journey to the land of poor summer ice fishing to join my youngest son and myself for our own distance shooting. He ran his 300WinMag with 215's and 230's to get some good dope. I got both my 175smk and 185 Berger loads trued (thanks again Jeff) and managed to ding the 16" plate at 1K using the Bergers. Jlemmy tried his bestest to get that WinMag out to a mile but the gods werent co-operating...the ATV ride out was a hoot however. Note to self: Not all creeks show up on 2year old GoogleMap footage. Even got the youngest son some trigger time on the .308 and the WinMag.

...and there was (and still is...) good beer involved afterwards.


You know exx...if you would get rid of that can and get a brake, you could shave some weight off that rifle!!



Plate at 1K


free upload pictures


Some knucklehead and his kid taking a plate out to the mile spot. The visable orange plate below the tree is 4-something...I forgot, visible white plate is at 825, we're packing the 1K plate for relocation to a mile. The ridgeline right above the lone pine said 1799. What you dont see is the big dip in the terrain prior. Looks can be deceiving...and muddy.



free photo hosting

Youngest sending his college tuition downrange 185 grains at a time.


adult photo hosting

Beer! (Courtesy jlemmy)


capture

Congrats to the match shooters over the weekend, fine shooting.

Exx, as someone who used to venture out to ski out there quite regularly, I know the feeling. I know it isn't always practical but I used to try and go out early and spend a day or two letting my body adjust. I have see more than a few people pass out.

Entropy, had a great time, all back home now. Hope you enjoyed all the beer. As said I just couldn't get my Leica to range that 16" plate past 1200 or so. Will be actively looking for a workaround. Took a few pokes at it but just couldn't land it. The tall grass all around didn't lend well to spotting the miss.

quote:

Originally posted by jlemmy:
Congrats to the match shooters over the weekend, fine shooting.

Exx, as someone who used to venture out to ski out there quite regularly, I know the feeling. I know it isn't always practical but I used to try and go out early and spend a day or two letting my body adjust. I have see more than a few people pass out.

Entropy, had a great time, all back home now. Hope you enjoyed all the beer. As said I just couldn't get my Leica to range that 16" plate past 1200 or so. Will be actively looking for a workaround. Took a few pokes at it but just couldn't land it. The tall grass all around didn't lend well to spotting the miss.

Make a frame out of 2x2's, 48"x48" or so. Staple thin black plastic sheathing on it, Krylon it white. Put it behind your steel plate, should easily see your misses.

Dang. Simple. Cheap. Why didn't I think of that? Maybe a couple of feet made from 2x4 to insert the uprights in, sandbags to anchor. Or even better some pipe fittings on the target stand uprights to allow the 2x2s to be mounted directly to the stand.

I'm gonna need to borrow a bigger ATV.

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:

quote:

Originally posted by jlemmy:
Congrats to the match shooters over the weekend, fine shooting.

Exx, as someone who used to venture out to ski out there quite regularly, I know the feeling. I know it isn't always practical but I used to try and go out early and spend a day or two letting my body adjust. I have see more than a few people pass out.

Entropy, had a great time, all back home now. Hope you enjoyed all the beer. As said I just couldn't get my Leica to range that 16" plate past 1200 or so. Will be actively looking for a workaround. Took a few pokes at it but just couldn't land it. The tall grass all around didn't lend well to spotting the miss.

Make a frame out of 2x2's, 48"x48" or so. Staple thin black plastic sheathing on it, Krylon it white. Put it behind your steel plate, should easily see your misses.

Thank you I'm going to give that a try. I have a set of target legs in the garage