apprehensions on using electronic targets

Displaced shooter · Post by **Displaced shooter** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:22 am

I haven't shot air pistol in a long time and I know electronic targets are frequently used right now. I'm about to practice at a range using electronic targets

Truthfully, I'm apprehensive in transitioning to electronic targets when I'm practicing. Is there anything that I should know or keep in mind when using them?

Any tips that I could use? I think they use Meyton(germany)

thanks in advance

Spencer · Post by **Spencer** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:50 am

focus on, and at, the front sight

David Levene · Post by **David Levene** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:01 am

Avoid the tendancy to shoot too quickly.

I'm not sure whether Meyton has the same feature as Sius of showing a cross where the centre of your group is. If it has, don't ignore it. The adjustable sights on your gun cost a lot of money; use them.

Other than that, enjoy.

proneshooter · Post by **proneshooter** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:19 am

It is real easy to lose your follow through as you tend to look at the display too soon!

Tycho · Post by **Tycho** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:37 am

Don't hit the electronics, that would really hurt your wallet (AP is pretty safe, though). Believe me, we've got the 10m and 50m range full of SIUS trash, and just recently threw out one of the 25m blocks for a conventional one. Costs were killing us.

LukeP · Post by **LukeP** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:01 am

What is the cheapest and easiest solution to have an electronic target for home range?

Brian M · Post by **Brian M** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:53 am

LukeP wrote:What is the cheapest and easiest solution to have an electronic target for home range?

Spend the $2000usd/1600Euro it takes to buy a Suis HS10. Or, if you're lucky (I've been watching for 2 years now with no luck), you'll find something used.

As for shooting on electronics, the above nailed it. I see a lot of shooters covering the display with a towel to keep from "peeking" and ruining their follow-through, but that's not allowed in competition so I believe it's best to just teach yourself that it doesn't matter (because it doesn't, you can do Nothing about the shot that's showing on the screen).

Dave IRL · Post by **Dave IRL** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:24 am

We use Megalinks in the college range. They're about €1500 basic cost. Ended up around €2k by the time we shipped and paid various taxes and duties though. That's to run them off a laptop, monitors are extra, so something cheap and cheerful to run them off will cost a few quid extra, but it's a brilliant system. I've been running one off a tiny little netbook, which is brilliant. Whole lot is small and convenient then.

zuckerman · Post by **zuckerman** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:21 am

If what you want is a cheaper, transition type "electronic target" to learn to shoot the ISSF match electronic targets, order a $30 webcam and a $80 flat screen tv.

The best way I found to learn when to look at the screen is to train yourself NOT to look until you are reloading. (shoot, follow thru, lower pistol, open breech, pick up pellet, load, >look<, close breech...or whatever variation of this procedure you feel comfortable doing.) And you should, by this time in your shooting career, if you are shooting the ISSF type matches, be looking at the shot hole >only< for its' placement and comparison to your call of the shot, not for what the score was.

At an official match, you can place the screen at an angle to your vision, shooters >are< allowed to do that at matches, rules say the screen has to be seen by the judges, which is why you can't cover the screen at a match, but you can position the screen to make it difficult for you, the shooter, to see.

proneshooter · Post by **proneshooter** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:32 pm

I have Megalink in our range and going on fours years no problems (except when the pistol team knocked them over with the target carriers). I use a spare target head to test ammo out to one hundred yards with a laptop outdoors. The paper costs are minimal and they offer great support. They are worth the money.

Cobbslane · Post by **Cobbslane** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:10 pm

I agree with Zuckerman but with a slightly lower cost.
I use a laptop together with a USB webcam cable linked over 10m. Webcam costs very little ($15 or less) and you may already have a laptop too.
There is a very useful delay between shot and the picture being refreshed which means that there is no point looking straight away as the shot has yet to appear!
I improved the setup by downloading a piece of software that takes the webcam to full screen. I rigged the whole lot up so the cam is focussed on the 7-10 rings only. Saves a helluva lot of walking to and fro and if you do make a dumb shot you can see the results quickly - helps immensely in training.

RobinC · Post by **RobinC** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:20 am

Place the screen so it can be seen by the range officer but so that you have to move your eye line to see it. i.e prone rifle I have it on the left (for right handed) and look across as I would a scope. For pistol right handed I'd put it on the right.
If its a band type such as the Suis get used to checking that the band is moving, if it jams the scores go haywire and you can loose points incorrectly before you realise its jammed, and in a match it can be a hell of a hassle to get the lost points back.
Good shooting
Robin

Spencer · Post by **Spencer** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:48 am

RobinC wrote:... it can be a hell of a hassle to get the lost points back...
Robin

?

David Levene · Post by **David Levene** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:16 am

Spencer wrote:?

I agree.

If they are Meyton as the OP suggested though then it won't be a problem.

gn303 · Post by **gn303** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:01 am

The biggest difference I experience is the size of the 'white'. The electronic target is bigger than the 17 x 17 cm of the paper target. When aiming you could be disturbed by seeing so much white if you hold a sub-six as I do.
More clubs are using them now. In Belgium Meyton, Kongsberg and Disag are quite popular. But there are still a lot of matches on paper targets.
Most interesting, I find, is the possibility to analyze your shooting.
Have fun shooting!
Guy

Tycho · Post by **Tycho** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:30 am

The electronic target is bigger than the 17 x 17 cm of the paper target

Agree - but even more difficult is the switch back, when you're used to that big white space...

redschietti · Post by **redschietti** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:07 am

only thing my daughter struggled with the first time was adjusting her sights. It is different looking at a group of holes and looking at a group of dots (the center of the hole) After the first match on them, and time to digest, she had no problems.