DIY: Make Your Own Shoot-and-See Targets

Targets should be cheap, right? I mean, you’re just going to shoot them full of holes, after all. And sometimes, paper targets can be affordable, but targets that let you see your shots, like Birchwood Casey Shoot-N-C and Caldwell Orange Peel, can cost more than $2 each.

Someone came up with a way to make targets that do the same thing for cheap. The nice thing is, you can even do it to a large surface affordably if you’re just starting to zero a gun and don’t know where it’s hitting. It would cost a small fortune to cover a two-foot-square piece of cardboard with commercially-made targets, but you could apply this method to the same size surface for considerably less than a buck.

The video below will show you how, but here’s the gist: Take some brightly-colored paper like construction paper. Cover one side of it with slick plastic packing tape. Spray paint it with “el cheapo grande” flat black spray paint. Then paint (or stick on) some dots for aiming points.

Voila! Now you can see your shots, and you saved some money that you can use for ammo, gasoline, or a nice cold beverage to enjoy when the shooting’s over.

Nice.

Enjoy.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.