Paper Bag Targets

[BarryinIN]

Instructor Louis Awerbuck wrote a book several years ago called "Hit or Myth" that mostly concentrates on what is wrong with the majority of our practice methods. He also includes instructions for one of the most clever target ideas I've seen.

You start with a regular old paper grocery bag, make five straight cuts, and end up with two targets that fairly well represent the head and upper torso.

First, you cut the bag in half by cutting vertically down the middle.

Then you cut along the crease where the bottom meets one side. Stop at the end.

Make the same cut where the bottom joins the opposite side of the bag.

Open it up...

And you have a target!

That Louis Awerbuck is a genius. He has sure saved me a lot of money on targets anyway, since these are what I use for pistol practice almost all the time.

The bags from my Kroger store give me a target that is almost identical in dimensions to an IDPA or IPSC target except for being a little shorter. If you want, you can clip or fold the corners at the shoulder to get it more realistic looking.

I put a cardboard sheet backer behind them and replace the paper bag as needed.

By stapling it up so the sides are pulled in toward the centerline a little, it curves it some to take on a more realistic frontal surface. That's harder to do with cardboard. A curved target is a helpful training tool when you turn the target sideways a bit, showing that aiming right down the line of shirt buttons can cause a grazing hit if the target is turned. Sometimes you have to hold off center to get the bullet into the middle of the recipient.

Earlier today I took old wheelweights that were a somewhat hard to dispose of waste material, and turned them into therapeutic sporting projectiles. This afternoon, I got six paper bags to convert into 12 targets.

I love recycling.

Hey! Earth Day is coming up. Do your part, save those bags, and take out the scissors and re-purpose them on Earth Day!

[Trapper]

I have got to try those! My little brother is a trapper in South Texas and a lot of his ranches are close to the Mexican border. Unfortunately, the odds are great that you'll run into a drug dealer hauling cash or drugs in the brush. If they see you, they come straight to you and it isn't to pass pleasantries. We have for decades practiced shooting off hand at 25 yds. The last time we practiced, we decided maybe that's not good enough so we moved out to 50 yds. We have been shooting 12x 12" steel plates and hitting it every shot has not been an issue but I think shooting at a target like these will sharpen the skills significantly. Now I have to get real sharp with my usual carry gun at this range. Last time was with a Python but the carry piece is a 40SW or a 45acp.

[BarryinIN]

Yes, working with realistic targets can be an eye opener. Shooting at the center of a flat piece of paper or cardboard is one thing, but when you think about it, you might not shoot center in real life. Like shooting at game, you are aiming where you want to bullet to end up, which is usuallly deep inside and not visible to you.

If an attacker is leaning forward like when charging at you, you will have to aim higher than usual to angle it in. And if he is turned to the side much like when shooting one-handed or running, you have to hold off to one side also. With some angles, you could easily be holding almost in the shoulder to get an upper chest hit.

A guy I know made some 3-D humanish targets and had balloons in the center. A string supported the target and ran through an opening and was tied to that balloon. If you broke the balloon, the target then slipped down off the string onto the ground. As it hung there, it swung so the angle to the balloon changed constantly.

Even though we knew more or less where the balloon was, it was still a job hitting it. And that motion is nothing like a person running around shooting at you.

This is one reason why I'm not all that surprised when people empty their guns and get one or two hits.

[RLH70]

A guy I know made some 3-D humanish targets and had balloons in the center. A string supported the target and ran through an opening and was tied to that balloon. If you broke the balloon, the target then slipped down off the string onto the ground. As it hung there, it swung so the angle to the balloon changed constantly.

Even though we knew more or less where the balloon was, it was still a job hitting it. And that motion is nothing like a person running around shooting at you.

This is one reason why I'm not all that surprised when people empty their guns and get one or two hits.

I saw the exact same target demonstrated on The Best Defense TV show last week. Pretty nifty training device.

[BarryinIN]

I missed that.

This guy's first effort was a bit complicated, requiring him to cut out cardboard pieces and tape them in place, etc. He made a simplified version that was basically two IPSC targets sandwiching a balloon between then, bowed so their edges met so they could be taped together. It did the same thing and could be thrown together in seconds on the range.

[Pablo]

Great ideas!

[steves]

Excellent!!!! Thankyou!!!