Scoring AP - Mystery Shots

[jaxontarget]

Per a previous thread; I discovered the bright white AR-1 targets that I'd been using recently are not official approved AP targets, not the least of which of the marked differences is having a white "10" zone (to help zero in your sighting I assume). So I switched over to official B40 target with an all black center area. I'm finding they've taken a bit of getting used to, but I seem to be adapting to not having a white bull pretty well...except for one mysterious detail. I'm suddenly getting MIA shots, or so it would seem. Now I'm far from an expert, but I've been doing it long enough to be a decent shot...enough so its the rare shot that makes it outside of the black area of the target, and that usually is still pretty close to the black. A "spaz shot" as Rover so aptly titled them. A senior lapse of concentration. Last minute flinch. Premature pellet release. Etc. Etc. Doesn't make for a good score in the end, and certainly doesn't portray the concept of "grouping" well either. But these are few and far between normally.

So I am trying to understand what is happening now that I've gone over to these B40 targets and their all-black centers and softer paper background (vs white cardstock I was using before). I shoot 10 shots per target. Beyond that and they become very difficult to score....or that's been my experience thus far. With the B40's however, I've been challenged numerous times now with targets where I've put 10 rounds down range, every one of them into the black I am quite sure, yet when the target is retrieved there are only 7 or 8 holes on some of them, with some conjoined holes, but with scant evidence of where the missing 2-3 shots might have gone through. I KNOW for a fact that I did not miss the target entirely from 10M. I cannot think of the when I ever did that. I would tell you in each case this has happened that all my shots were in the black (I can usually call them pretty well and almost always recognize a spaz shot by the time the pellet is on its way), yet all evidence on those targets would indicate to me that there were only 7 or 8 pellets fired, when there were 10 in every case. So my question is, how does one score a target like that? Could I actually be putting 2-3 shots through the conjoined holes so closely that they don't widen the hole further as evidence? Do I now have to go down to 5 shots per target? Or am I just delusional and have gone into full senility mode of denial of my lack of skill here?

[David Levene]

You now know the reason why ISSF rules call for 1 shot per card.

There are a couple of ways of finding a double shot.

If you look at the holes with an X25 microscope then any double will normally have much fewer fibres showing in the hole than a single shot.

If you don't need to use a plug gauge to ascertain the score then a taper gauge is surprisingly good at showing which is a single shot and which is a double. The ISSF sell one http://www.issf-sports.org/theissf/shop.ashx but you need to add a piece of cotton to lower the taper into the hole with. If you try using one without the cotton then you are less likely to see the difference.

[Gort]

I my experience, a quality target like Edelmann or Kruger will almost always reveal multiple shot holes. Soft, long fiber paper targets do not cut a precise enough hole for discriminate scoring.
Gort

[jaxontarget]

I my experience, a quality target like Edelmann or Kruger will almost always reveal multiple shot holes. Soft, long fiber paper targets do not cut a precise enough hole for discriminate scoring.
Gort

Yes, this would explain allot. I look at the targets in question and would opine that they would be impossible to score short of having a CSI unit investigate via microscopes, chemicals and extensive lab analysis. OK, from now on I'm going for the good targets! I just have to get through these 400 Shot-Concealer™ targets now!

Thanks for the input.

[theruleslawyer]

On good quality paper you can see faint scalloping with 2nd and 3rd shots. The biggest problem for me is when paper get shot out between holes. Then it gets really tough to tell. I find my targetscan app helps a lot too as you can look at the target under high magnification and it provides a round marker to help match up hole. I'm not a great shot or anything but with 10 per target it happens.

[Rover]

Fortunately for most on here, ten per target is simple to score. BUT, they must be quality targets.

[GaryN]

I use a guideline that I MUST be able to score each shot.
So the better I shoot, the fewer shots I shoot per target.
- On bad days, I can shoot 10 shots per target.
- On good days, 5 shots per target.
- On very good days, 3 shots per target.

Paper is cheaper is cheaper than the frustration at not being able to score the target.