DIY High-Vis Targets: Shoot and See in your Garage

Immediate feedback is almost always helpful when you're on the range. There are a lot of tools and reactive targets out there, and in this article we'll bring you through how to make your own high-viz target similar to Shoot-N-C or Dirty Bird targets for only a couple of bucks. They are handy even if you're using some magnification, and prevents you from having to travel downrange to check or pull your targets. DIY High-Vis targets are especially handy for zeroing a pistol red dot.

Materials

-Poster board (brighter colors are better)
-Packaging tape (Year's supply for $12.19 on Amazon)
-Black or other high contrast paint + additional color

The quality level of these materials doesn't have to be high whatsoever–go Dollar Tree cheap if you can (we only used a premium Rustoleum because it was already in-hand).

1) Cut your poster board to your desired shape/size. A commonly found size is 24×36 inches and it's exceedingly easy to make four large targets from each piece.

2) Cover the front side of each sheet with packaging tape. You can reverse these first steps if you so desire and cover with tape and then cut. Overlapping is AOK.

3) In a well-ventilated area, cover the tape with your spray paint and allow to dry

4) Apply your aiming points freehand or use a stencil with your other spray paint. We opted for a quick squirt to make an easy aiming point.

5) Shoot!

Why it Works

The spray paint has a hard time adhering to the surface of the packaging tape because it's so smooth; there aren't as many small cracks and crevices for the paint to stick. When a projectile passes through the tape and paper, the paint immediately surrounding the bullet hole will flake off making your point-of-impact (POI) highly visible. Because the paint has so tenuously adhered, these DIY targets can get scratched or marked up, but by and large they'll survive in your range bag unless you fold them.

Cheap, easy, and useful DIY High-vis targets.

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• DIY… Suppressor? The Legal Way.
• DIY Truck Drawers for Guns and Gear.