In a recent article, I mentioned making good use of a Birchwood Casey 8-inch steel plate target set-up for challenging practice sessions. Not surprisingly, I received a few messages regarding my endorsement of said target.
A couple of the messages asserted that steel targets are “too expensive.” In another one, the writer bemoaned that the range he uses prohibits the use of steel targets ostensibly for “safety reasons.”
Regarding the first claim that steel targets are too expensive, no, they aren’t free. Nothing is. However, if you factor that you can shoot thousands and thousands of handgun rounds onto an AR500 steel plate, spread out over time, the investment is certainly valid.
As to the “my range won’t let me” situation, I’ve heard that before. We don’t have the time or inclination to get into the reasons behind the prohibition against steel targets. However, that got me thinking.
Uncle Walt Knew
While writing a separate review about front sight focus and trigger press, I referenced a detailed conversation I had with my good friend and mentor, Walt Rauch, known as Uncle Walt to his close friends. I remembered how Walt, who was once a Secret Service agent amongst other things, used to keep a stack of generic white paper plates with his range bag as simple and practical targets. Walt had confided in me that one of his goals when training new shooters was to get them to put all their rounds into a paper plate target.
And so, given the previous comments about an 8-inch steel plate being too expensive and the other situation where steel targets were forbidden, I thought this old trick might be a good solution. To the grocery store I went.
I must admit that I haven’t bought paper plates in a while. I was a bit surprised by what I found. The grocery store had a 300-pack of the generic white plates. You know, the ones your mom used to buy for picnics, for $12. I didn’t need 300 plates, so I kept looking. I found a 48-pack of 8.5 inch round paper plates with colored decorations on sale for a couple bucks. Sold.
Practical Paper Plate Practice
Sure, colored pre-printed targets are nice and your indoor range has them in stock right by the checkout counter. There are also Skill Maintenance Targets that you can order online and we recommend those as well.
While the paper plates I had were a half-inch larger than the aforementioned steel plate, they were close enough to replicate the drills that I detailed in the previous article. In that piece I recommended breaking up your practice routine into thirds; ⅓ two-hand shooting, ⅓ right hand only and ⅓ left hand only.
In my truck I had a couple of cardboard silhouettes that had been shot full of holes from previous sessions. Stapling a paper plate over the existing holes was simple and practical.
How many of you folks out there use an outdoor range that has some kind of plywood or polymer target backer? Well, staple up a plate and you’re ready to go.
Are they fancy? Will they impress your friends? No on both counts. However, paper plates can be picked up at most any store, usually even that gas station in the middle of nowhere on the way to your range.
While the generic paper plate might not be impressive, you know what does? It helps develop the skill needed to stand back at seven yards and put a full magazine — left hand only — into an 8-inch circle. And it’s not that eight inches is some kind of magic number. You can get those smaller 6-inch cocktail party plates if you like.
The purpose of the exercise is to challenge yourself. We’ve all seen folks posting photos of themselves standing in front of the enormous B27 targets where it looks like there were patterning buckshot at twenty yards. Sure, peppering a paper silhouette wit hholes is fun, but it doesn’t help us improve our skills.
Firearm training and practice doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. Sometimes the K.I.S.S. principle is what we really need. Uncle Walt knew that.
Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.
I use the 6 inch cocktail party plates and the 4 inch desert plates.
I’ve been using doller store paper plates with a 1-inch piece of Harbor Freight electrical tape in the center since the 90s.
Way more economical that buying and/or printing targets.
I rarely buy targets, and when I do its mostly for 50 yards and beyond for rifle. Occasionally I might do silhouettes types for pistol and rifle within 25 yards. But mostly I use 6 and 4 inch paper plates and they work fine.
I had a guy one day see me put up a round paper plate on the backer. In the lane next to me he had spent like 15 minutes exercising his OCD and putting up these nice printed rectangular paper targets on his backer and making sure they were level with an actual small digital ‘bubble’ level device. I taped up a round paper plate at its edged in about 2 seconds. He said to me “Is that level? You want to use my level?” I looked at him smiling a little and asked him “Can you make sure its level for me?”, I wasn’t serious and was joking. But he took out his level and tried his best to level the round paper plate vertically and horizontally.
I’m even cheaper. I’ll use the backing of the peel off targets that everyone leaves in the trash. Usually has plenty of red/black stickers to put in the middle and there are plenty of staples left in the target backing… j/k I bring my own push pins.