I have been thinking about this one for awhile and it has me thinking-as we practice and train, it seems that we are always shooting targets that are either IDPA silhouette (or some variant) or a circular target that gives us (refering to the shooter) instant feedback as to how we are doing with both pistol and carbine. Shooting carbine you can cheat to a point to help you remember your offset and with pistol you can do something in a similar fashion. How often do the “hood rats” aka bad guys who are most deserving of a nice dose of copper jacketed lead, wear a nice NRA B8 on their chest??
My point is-how often do other train by using an IDPA and putting a t-shirt or some kind of garment over it to force yourself to shoot where based on instinct of where proper shoot placement needs to be instead of a bullseye?
I’ll admit that I normally shoot bull type targets but I’m going to start doing what I described above and see how it affects accuracy. Put up a silhouette target, put bull/kill zone type target on it, then cover with a shirt and shoot that.
I think that it is a good idea. Once in a while I will staple a t-shirt or polo shirt over the target, then lift it up to see where I hit after shooting.
I don’t use button shirts, so I don’t use the center line of the shirt as a point of reference. If that’s all you have on hand, you can turn the shirt around and face the buttons toward the target before stapling.
Personally, I don’t think it would make a difference. You’re not going to shoot at the shirt, you’re gonna pick a spot on the shirt and shoot that. It’s like taking your shot in hunting, really- like shooting a rabbit, say. You don’t shoot the rabbit - if you tried, you’d miss or just wound the rabbit. Instead, you pick a spot in the kill zone and shoot that. One trick we used to do is shoot a completely bland piece of paper. You pick a spot and shoot a group
Before I say anything I do want to say this, I usually shot silhouette type targets and honestly find that my groups are better when I have a target without a target, if that makes sense, then if I have a bullseye type of target. My best groups have always been on straight silhouettes without easily noticed grid or grade lines. I have also tended to find that when I shoot and don’t think about it I do better than taking my time with every shot. IE, in some matches I have places quick shots on target and then when scoring it finding the groups were tight as hell.
Now that said, in reference to aiming at a spot on a target and firing I am curious to see how this works in the mind. In all the training, competition, ect, I never remember picking a spot on the target, it has always been, there target, kill it, and the body takes over. Granted I’ve had a gun in my hands for so many years I do a lot of things without much thought so perhaps I am processing things or taking several items and turning it into one movement as it were.
If you shot at entire IDPA targets, you would accept an A zone hit as an A zone hit. By shooting bulleyes, you’re forcing yourself to shoot a smaller target, center of mass, and your accuracy will greatly improve. A T-shirt doesn’t change center of mass. In real life you keep shooting (hearts and minds) until the guy is down.
When I shoot I always shoot at the bullseye. I always looked at it from the stand point of shooting where I aim, not where on the paper is the most effective place to shoot in a self defense scenario.
From the IDPA matches I’ve shot that had tshirts on(locals), it didn’t really seem to effect much. You still know where that circle is in relation to the collar of a tshirt, or the 2 buttons of a collared tshirt. I still picked a spot, and still got ‘acceptable’ sight pictures.
Plus, after a couple of rounds, you just end up holding on the bullet holes you/they already made.
My thoughts? Either I shoot too damn much or others don’t shoot enough or cannot comprehend where an acceptable hit zone would lie on any target that replicates a torso. Shirt, no shirt, bullseye, photo realistic, hit zones, no hit zones, etc…
I mean how the heck can someone know where to shoot an IDPA target but suddenly we put a shirt on it and the wheels fall off? Sorry not trying to sound harsh but those are my thoughts.