Target/kz colors

[SqrlHntr]

As im building some airgun related websites and scouring photos I came across some FT pics from Poland. The target faces were a neutral gray and the kz was black.

We painted ours grey with a yellow kz for our (postponed) awards match but had multi colors faces with yellow kz’s prior. Both ways seem to have advantages and disadvantages, but havent gotten shooter feedback yet on grey/yellow.

Im curious now as to what color combos are used in different clubs and are any used specifically for say the worlds or afta events? And what do shooters prefer or dislike? Any color combos you do better or worse with?

Thanks in advance for responses.

 

[rich177]

I have almost always used day-glo orange for kill zones however a bright yellow is good for targets with black faces. Many years ago we tried other colors for kill zones and it was not good. Remember that some people are color blind or color challenged in some way. It is really wrong to hide kill zones and that is what happens with certain colors (like black)!
Some clubs paint their animals a solid color that has no relation to the target. That's the European style and I dislike it very much.
Targets at my matches were always painted somewhat natural colors for the animals and most animals are gray, tan, black, etc. but some birds and snakes are brightly colored so it depends on the animal. No unrealistic colors.
We're only talking about colors here and this is just my own opinion.

Rick B.

 

[isledweller]

Done all different kinds Single colors are easiest, but realistic adds to the realism...........

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Bright against camo is lovely but impacts zones are had to see on the camo part; bright orange is my other pick for pack color. I also like to draw with a black sharpie; a dot, then inside that dot with a silver sharpie; put another dot. Or combo the black and silver. *the silver is even shiny a bit

 

[Motorhead]

We ( The SVFTC ) have mostly KZ paddled in YELLOW .... as too face Plates, Well
* Shown @ 3/4's of our inventory.

* 2nd pic some news targets that started in Orange . POINT BEING the back side of face plates painted in reflective SILVER that helps bounce light onto Paddle. here is a back view you can see the light bounce

 

[Hateful McNasty]

Done all different kinds Single colors are easiest, but realistic adds to the realism...........


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Ya i remember when mine looked like them... About a million shots ago ..

Bright against camo is lovely but impacts zones are had to see on the camo part; bright orange is my other pick for pack color. I also like to draw with a black sharpie; a dot, then inside that dot with a silver sharpie; put another dot. Or combo the black and silver. *the silver is even shiny a bit

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Now we're talking my language.. have you tried colored lumber crayons? Last longer then ink and cheaper...

 

[Airgunoregon]

Realistic colors on the face plates make it super hard to see your miss on the face plate! Same with a black face plate. Yes, it's the same for everyone... sort of.

The new shooters need feedback even more that the seasoned shooters. Especially if we want them to come back and play with us some more. If they can't see and adjust after misses, then, they get really, really frustrated. I've seen it many times.

I like to use bright, light colors, like light yellow, light blue, or white for face plates. These colors make it easy to find the target, especially when placed in the woods, or brush. That can be another frustrating thing for new and seasoned shooters.

And, those colors also make it easy to see your miss on the face plate,.. at least until the face plate gets totally shot up at the end of the larger matches... by then, the competitor should know what's happening with their pellets anyway.

I like to paint the kill paddles red or orange, and the back of the face plate white or silver like Scott mentioned already to reflect light onto the paddle.

I've also used "red tail light lens repair plastic tape" that adheres to the back of the face plate over the kill zone when a lot of competitors are attending a match and the targets are in hard to see locations. Even after 500 plus shots, there is always at least a ring of red tape left to outline the kill zone. Otherwise, the paddles get shot up after 5-10 competitors and again, you can't see where you are hitting in most cases. The tape is stretchy and the pellet hole kind of gets sealed up for a long time... allowing the competitors to see their hit much longer.

If the match is for a championship with all top shooters, then OK fine, make it as hard as possible to help weed out the competitors.. if that is what the MD wants.. but not me.

Dealing with the wind, 3/4 to 1" kill zones at 30-40 yards, and range finding is plenty enough challenge for this competitor and match director.

Wayne

 

[AirNGasman]

I prefer, and usually set-up natural-colored face-plates with BLOOD-red paddles. But any color combination with excellent contrast is functional (notwithstanding color-blind shooters, that might not be as uncommon as you'd think).

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Ya i remember when mine looked like them... About a million shots ago ..

Now we're talking my language.. have you tried colored lumber crayons? Last longer then ink and cheaper...

go on then; tell me where to get them

 

[Hateful McNasty]

Where they sell building supplies / lumber.. there's Black, yellow , blueish, red, ect.... Here local black is hard to find if at all for some reason .

Amazon.com : lumber crayon

Like at a lowes or home Depot there like 99¢ each. ( 2 for 1.97)

Don't think i wount stoop to kids crayola type jumbo crayons ..i will. Heck ill stoop to normal sized kids crayons. I have little shame.

I can see hits well enough on these painted ones

 

[BC]

Hey SH, to answer the Worlds target colors....at World events, they will have a whole 50 shot plus course the same color and each course a different color. The matches are 3 days, and the typical colors are Black, Yellow, White, Blue, Red faces. The black faces are loads of fun to find in cloudy England shooting in the shadowed woods.

 

[tjmac]

You will never see a red face on a target at the worlds. Black, yellow, white and light blue is what you will see. Black have white hit zones and all the rest will have black. These turned out to be the best combinations for color blind shooters and as someone mentioned, there are more than you think. In England in 2019, there were black targets with white zones, white targets with black zones and yellow with black zones. These test how well one can shoot, range find and compensate for wind, not so much the quality and price of your scope to discern the zone on targets that are nearly camouflaged in nature.

 

[bvan]

My current target color scheme is to try for contrasting colors. I hadn’t considered color blind shooters when painting these.

 

[Motorhead]

Flat & even colors across the entire target face .. BORING !!!
Idea is too get in the hole ( Correct D.O.P.E. & ranging ) Seeing a MISS outside KZ only lasts so long and once area is peppered only the most skilled who have trained there eye to look where not aimed are able to pick up on where ... Then again once more skilled your generally in-da-hole !!

After 10 years of painting targets monthly and running matches, along with our crew mostly "Hunter" shooters, the ability too better RANGE FIND on a textured target far out weights seeing ones misses has been more favorable.

No right, No wrong ... just Field Target

 

[tjmac]

I never range find on the face of the target, but I do like to be able to see the target and differentiate the hit zone. I never find knocking down targets of any colour boring.

Tim

 

[Hateful McNasty]

My current target color scheme is to try for contrasting colors. I hadn’t considered color blind shooters when painting these.

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Ha..your bats look better then mine i made. Too bad i deleted the pictures to show.. i hang them from like limbs to flutter in the wind. There a tad smaller as well

 

[oldsparky]

I like hearing others opinions. I never had thought some may like solid faces to try to see the miss. When I range I use everything available pull attachment, swivel, block and sometimes a faceplate with contrast. I always figured the solid paint was cheap and fast. I appreciate the opinions

 

[beerthief]

After painting or paying for realistic Faceplates i would not want to destroy them . I think they would be a slight distraction also .

 

[Hateful McNasty]

I like hearing others opinions. I never had thought some may like solid faces to try to see the miss. When I range I use everything available pull attachment, swivel, block and sometimes a faceplate with contrast. I always figured the solid paint was cheap and fast. I appreciate the opinions

Yup.. a 98¢ can of walmart spray paint fixes them right up fast

 

[scotton]

As the main target painter, I prefer hot orange or yellow for the KZ. I generally pick whatever the previous color was, so usually yellow for black targets and orange for most of the other targets. The exception to this is if the yellow rattle can is working better, then there may be more yellow KZs for that match.
The realistic face plates look nice but are a messy pain in the butt to paint. Most of our targets are black, tan, grey, brown or green with the occasional blue, white or red thrown in. A few are two toned tan and grey. We have one black vulture that has a red KZ and we have a mouse holding a yellow block of cheese that goes around the kill zone.

If I had my druthers, they would all be black, grey or tan with orange kill zones, but my laziness would make for boring targets.