Texasflyboy
01-14-2011, 04:30 PM
:grin:
I am a cheapskate by birth and a bullet caster by choice. Those two afflictions led me to making my own targets years ago because I wanted the ability to design targets that would fit my needs then, and into the future when conditions changed.
And over time I realized I wanted to create a database of my loads and what worked with my weapons.
And the final piece of the puzzle was modern electronics in the form of high speed copiers/document scanners that can quickly create a .jpg or .pdf file.
So after 15 years this is what I have:
I make my own targets on card stock purchased cheaply from office supply stores. Office Depot, Office Max, and other big box office supply stores often put damaged or slow moving paper supplies on clearance. I keep a weather eye out for these sales. I've also been known to ask a manager to put old stock at a discount especially if it's covered with dust from sitting on the shelf for a year or two. The last 500 count ream of 8 1/2" x 11" white card stock I purchased cost $5.00 out the door. I purchased a 250 page ream of white card stock in ledger (11"x17") for $10 at the same store, the package had been opened by someone months earlier and the first one or two pages were damaged and dusty.
I take these and using my designs created in MS Word, I print on my office copier. Since I have an agreement with my management team to do this, no harm done to the office budget. So, printing is free.
After shooting, for the 8.5 x 11" card stock, I three hole punch and store in a 3 ring binder that carries the serial number of that firearm. My favorite Model 27 has about 200 pages of targets stored in that binder. Different powders, different bullets, what works, and what doesn't. Loads that work for me are transferred into an excel spreadsheet that hangs over my loading bench. Once a year the targets are removed from the binder and run through a high speed scanner/printer to convert into .pdf format. Once the targets are converted, they go onto a portable hard-drive with my other research.
The larger ledger size targets are used primarily at the rifle range. Once used, groups are measured, recorded on the target and I remove just the group section and transfer to a three ring binder.
Cardstock is preferable that plain white copy paper because it holds up better over time and the bullets cut cleaner holes.
Why go to all this trouble instead of using commerical targets? Since I am the manufacturer, I control the quality and style of target. Once designed, I forever have access to the same handgun target. The 8.5 x 11" size fits into a standard 3 ring binder which solves the storage and retrieval problem. I have been using the same round handgun bulls eye target for 15 years. My eyes have grown accustomed to it. I don't have to remember to buy more, and I never am at the mercy of changing designs.
My database now includes fired targets that number in the 1,500+ range. I have methodically worked through each firearm I own and run target samples to determine which load is best for that firearm, and bullet/powder combo. For handguns, I use the same bulls eye target for every firearm, the same for rifle (which use ledger size targets).
This is the handgun target, simple, easy, and cheap:
http://hgmould.gunloads.com/a/45COLT.jpg
I made it using MS Word and saved it as a .pdf file on my portable hard-drive.
An unexpected benefit of all this standardization and conversion to electronic format is that I always have my data at my fingertips. I never dread long layover's in an airport, nor do I find myself without something to read or review on boring nights when nothing is on TV and my eyes can't take any more surfing.
Another benefit is the data showing me which guns I tend to favor and which are becoming safe queens. I either remedy the situation by taking a safe queen out for a range date or decide if I need to find a more interesting handgun for experimentation. Over the Christmas break last year I realized I had not shot a Smith & Wesson Model 625 Mountain Gun I had bought on impulse years ago. That led me to look for a suitable bullet mould. Which lead me to find a damaged two cavity Lyman 452424 sitting in the back of my mould storage, which lead me to sending it off to Erik Ohlen at Hollow Point Moulds. One thing led to another and I ended up spending the next month enjoyably casting for that new hollow point mould and discovering the loads that worked best in the 625 Mountain Gun. The results are here (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=102225).
Another unexpected benefit was being able to downsize my powder storage. I have Bullseye, Unique, 2400, W296, W231, IMR 4895, & 4064 at my disposal. Except for a large stash of surplus WC820PD, that's my powder magazine. If I can't do it with those powders, I don't do it.
Almost weekly I find myself pulling down a 3 ring binder and going over the data. I review the compiled data, look for trends, look for new interesting combination's, or remember ill-advised trips down bad-powder bullet roads. Those binders sometimes come on a road trip with me, especially on overseas trips when I can't take firearms to play with. Combined with my portable hard-drive, I get to have electronic range time on my schedule, especially when I am awake with Jet Lag at 3AM in a foreign country and nothing understandable is on the TV.
It's never boring but it certainly wasn't expensive which is the golden rule for cheapskates who own guns: Save your money for powder, primers, and lead.
I am a cheapskate by birth and a bullet caster by choice. Those two afflictions led me to making my own targets years ago because I wanted the ability to design targets that would fit my needs then, and into the future when conditions changed.
And over time I realized I wanted to create a database of my loads and what worked with my weapons.
And the final piece of the puzzle was modern electronics in the form of high speed copiers/document scanners that can quickly create a .jpg or .pdf file.
So after 15 years this is what I have:
I make my own targets on card stock purchased cheaply from office supply stores. Office Depot, Office Max, and other big box office supply stores often put damaged or slow moving paper supplies on clearance. I keep a weather eye out for these sales. I've also been known to ask a manager to put old stock at a discount especially if it's covered with dust from sitting on the shelf for a year or two. The last 500 count ream of 8 1/2" x 11" white card stock I purchased cost $5.00 out the door. I purchased a 250 page ream of white card stock in ledger (11"x17") for $10 at the same store, the package had been opened by someone months earlier and the first one or two pages were damaged and dusty.
I take these and using my designs created in MS Word, I print on my office copier. Since I have an agreement with my management team to do this, no harm done to the office budget. So, printing is free.
After shooting, for the 8.5 x 11" card stock, I three hole punch and store in a 3 ring binder that carries the serial number of that firearm. My favorite Model 27 has about 200 pages of targets stored in that binder. Different powders, different bullets, what works, and what doesn't. Loads that work for me are transferred into an excel spreadsheet that hangs over my loading bench. Once a year the targets are removed from the binder and run through a high speed scanner/printer to convert into .pdf format. Once the targets are converted, they go onto a portable hard-drive with my other research.
The larger ledger size targets are used primarily at the rifle range. Once used, groups are measured, recorded on the target and I remove just the group section and transfer to a three ring binder.
Cardstock is preferable that plain white copy paper because it holds up better over time and the bullets cut cleaner holes.
Why go to all this trouble instead of using commerical targets? Since I am the manufacturer, I control the quality and style of target. Once designed, I forever have access to the same handgun target. The 8.5 x 11" size fits into a standard 3 ring binder which solves the storage and retrieval problem. I have been using the same round handgun bulls eye target for 15 years. My eyes have grown accustomed to it. I don't have to remember to buy more, and I never am at the mercy of changing designs.
My database now includes fired targets that number in the 1,500+ range. I have methodically worked through each firearm I own and run target samples to determine which load is best for that firearm, and bullet/powder combo. For handguns, I use the same bulls eye target for every firearm, the same for rifle (which use ledger size targets).
This is the handgun target, simple, easy, and cheap:
http://hgmould.gunloads.com/a/45COLT.jpg
I made it using MS Word and saved it as a .pdf file on my portable hard-drive.
An unexpected benefit of all this standardization and conversion to electronic format is that I always have my data at my fingertips. I never dread long layover's in an airport, nor do I find myself without something to read or review on boring nights when nothing is on TV and my eyes can't take any more surfing.
Another benefit is the data showing me which guns I tend to favor and which are becoming safe queens. I either remedy the situation by taking a safe queen out for a range date or decide if I need to find a more interesting handgun for experimentation. Over the Christmas break last year I realized I had not shot a Smith & Wesson Model 625 Mountain Gun I had bought on impulse years ago. That led me to look for a suitable bullet mould. Which lead me to find a damaged two cavity Lyman 452424 sitting in the back of my mould storage, which lead me to sending it off to Erik Ohlen at Hollow Point Moulds. One thing led to another and I ended up spending the next month enjoyably casting for that new hollow point mould and discovering the loads that worked best in the 625 Mountain Gun. The results are here (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=102225).
Another unexpected benefit was being able to downsize my powder storage. I have Bullseye, Unique, 2400, W296, W231, IMR 4895, & 4064 at my disposal. Except for a large stash of surplus WC820PD, that's my powder magazine. If I can't do it with those powders, I don't do it.
Almost weekly I find myself pulling down a 3 ring binder and going over the data. I review the compiled data, look for trends, look for new interesting combination's, or remember ill-advised trips down bad-powder bullet roads. Those binders sometimes come on a road trip with me, especially on overseas trips when I can't take firearms to play with. Combined with my portable hard-drive, I get to have electronic range time on my schedule, especially when I am awake with Jet Lag at 3AM in a foreign country and nothing understandable is on the TV.
It's never boring but it certainly wasn't expensive which is the golden rule for cheapskates who own guns: Save your money for powder, primers, and lead.