This is a revision of a previous thread that I deleted after deciding that the description of the drill was too complicated and hard to understand. The other thread didn’t get any replies, but if you are interested and anything’s not clear, let me know.





This is a picture of 10 of the 12 different faces that are provided in four sets on a sheet available from Targets Online.

https://targetsonline.com/inde...th=1&products_id=233

The target sheet is available on paper or card stock; I prefer the latter although it’s more expensive.

The face targets can be used in a number of ways, but my drill involves identifying which one needs to be shot after memorizing a picture of the intended target. I prepared a deck of the 12 faces so that they can be shuffled into random order for the drill.

The target with the 10 faces is set up at the desired distance. My measurements indicate that the small faces are about 0.28 of full size. That means if the target is set at 28 yards from the shooter it’s equivalent to 100 yards for full size images. Because of my rifle’s zero I put the target sheet at 50 yards, or about 178 yards equivalent.

The shooting can be from any position and mine was standing with the rifle supported by a tripod and Arca clamp. I use a shot timer with a random start feature, and I’m completely off the rifle with bolt open before each shot. I load my Ruger 77/22 magazine with its full 10 rounds to begin.

The drill begins with starting the timer. At that time I select a face card from the deck that I try to memorize in the 10 to 15 seconds before the start signal of the timer sounds. I then get on the rifle, identify the proper target, and fire one shot. The targets photo shows two shots on each face because I ran the drill twice with targets in different random orders. The goal is to pick out the right target and fire as quickly and accurately as possible. I haven’t established a firm par time to get the shot off, but as I recall for this session all mine were less than 20 seconds, and some just over 10 seconds.

I like the drill because not only does it test marksmanship under time pressure, it’s also necessary to engage the right target from an array of somewhat similar faces. And because there are 12 possible targets in the deck to choose from but only 10 targets, that means two selections will be no-shoots; i.e., the face chosen from the deck is not in the target array.

This is the rifle.

Oh boy can I think of a few faces to put there! I guess it doesn’t work as well when you recognize the face though.

Somewhat related: Michigan DNR recently built, after much foot dragging and politics, a brand new shooting range out by Goose Lake. Trap, 600 yard rifle and a pistol range. I went there just before deer season, thinking it might be crowded with hunters sighting in their rifles. Completely deserted. No DNR staff either. I looked over the pistol range. It is built so that you can only shoot through a square opening in a fully walled barricade and this opening appears to be 18 inches X 18 inches. Posted on the pistol range was a notice that all targets must be circular and non silhouette. And there was a rate of fire restriction too. One round every 3 seconds.
Your facial targets would probably cause the DNR to ban you from this range for two lifetimes.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Your facial targets would probably cause the DNR to ban you from this range for two lifetimes.

Oh yes, I’ve seen such restrictions for many years, and the “no silhouettes” rule is why we have long had the “tombstone” and the strange sort-of hexagon targets that are required for some competitions. As for these, the torch and pitchfork crowd probably would have descended on the target manufacturer if the faces depicted anything other than men of apparently northern European heritage, but their all being so similar does increase the challenge, so there’s that.