Best targets for the shooting range when you're just starting out

Good targets for the shooting range do one job for a new shooter: they show you where the shot went, clearly enough that you can do something about it on the next one. That's why every pick here is a paper-style sheet or sticker, why the top two are packs Birchwood Casey describes as showing a colored ring or a splatter around each hit, and why none of them is steel. Every range rule we read allows paper targets, and several allow nothing else.

This page is for the first-time owner, or the parent packing for a family's first range trip. If you're building the whole kit, start with our first range kit. Targets are one line on that list, and they come after ear and eye protection, not before.

How we picked these targets

We haven't shot these targets for this page, and we won't pretend we did. Plenty of gear sites say they tested thirty of something. What we did instead: we compiled what each maker publishes (sheet size, pack count, how hits show, adhesive or not), checked it against the maker's own product page, and scored every pack on our public target rubric. The weights are hit visibility and feedback (30%), indoor-range compatibility (25%), size and standard (15%), and pack contents and portability (30%). The full rubric and the reasoning behind it are on how we pick gear.

Two rules shaped the list. First, a target only scores well on feedback if its maker says how hits show. Birchwood Casey does for Shoot-N-C and Dirty Bird. Champion's VisiColor page doesn't, so it scores lower there even though it offers the most designs. Second, steel carries a gate: we only list a steel target when its maker publishes a minimum safe shooting distance. No steel made this beginner list. It belongs on an outdoor range with room to spare, and we cover it separately in paper vs steel targets.

Check what your range allows before you buy

Targets are one piece of gear the range gets a say in. Rules vary from range to range, so treat these as examples, not a national standard:

• The Range 702, an indoor range in Las Vegas, lists "Personal steel targets" first under the things to leave at home in its beginner guide.
• Connecticut DEEP's Glastonbury range says "Shooting will be permitted at standard paper targets only" and bans bottles, steel targets and exploding targets. It also says targets are not provided, so you bring your own (Glastonbury range rules).
• Mississippi's MDWFP ranges: "only paper targets may be used. No fruits, vegetables, plastic or any other type of targets may be used" (MDWFP shooting facility rules).
• Georgia DNR ranges allow targets "constructed of paper, cardboard, ballistics polymer, or similar material that will not shatter or cause bullet ricochet," with metal targets only at special events the DNR approves in advance (Georgia DNR firearm range rules).
• Louisiana's LDWF tells shooters to "Use only provided targets and frames unless otherwise specified," and several of its ranges list target frames and paper targets as provided (LDWF shooting range information).

See the pattern? Every rule we read allows paper, and several allow nothing else. That makes a paper pack the safe first buy. Anything that isn't paper, including self-healing targets and steel, is a question for the counter before it goes in your bag. The NSSF's advice for new shooters is the right habit here: on your first visit, ask the staff to go over the range rules, and tell them you're new so they can walk you through the safety orientation (NSSF Let's Go Shooting). Our guide to your first time at a shooting range covers that conversation and the rest of the first visit.

Plain paper vs reactive targets

All six picks are sheets or stickers you staple or stick to a backer. What separates them is how a hit shows up:

• Plain paper shows a hole and nothing else. On a dark bull's-eye, or once the target is hung farther out, a small hole can be hard to pick out from where you stand. You end up squinting, or waiting for the next cease-fire to walk down and look. Contrast helps: our plain-paper pick, the Eze-Scorer Double Bull's-Eye, is "High-contrast black print on bright white paper," per Birchwood Casey, which also calls it "Great for indoor and outdoor ranges."
• Reactive targets add a visible change around each hit. Birchwood Casey describes its Shoot-N-C Handgun Trainer as leaving "crisp, chartreuse rings around each bullet hole," and its Dirty Bird targets as giving "instant splatter feedback."
• Bright aiming points handle the other half of the job: one clear spot to aim at. Birchwood Casey describes its Target Spots as "high-contrast, radiant orange." The page describes the color, not what a hit looks like, so treat them like plain paper for feedback.

For a beginner, feedback matters more than it sounds. When you can see each hit right away, you can connect what you just did with where the shot went while it's still fresh. With plain paper, you often find out after a whole string, when it's harder to tell which hole came from which shot. That's why our top two picks are reactive.

Reactive targets have a page of their own: our reactive target picks compare Shoot-N-C, splatter and self-healing targets and what to ask your range about each. If you want to know what the printed designs are for (bull's-eye, silhouette, B-27), read types of shooting targets.

Target size for a first range trip

We won't hand you a magic distance. None of the makers we cite publishes one for paper, and lanes differ from range to range. At Louisiana's Sherburne Wildlife Management Area, for example, the covered pistol range lists targets at 10, 25 and 50 yards (LDWF); the range you visit will have its own setup. What we can give you is the logic for sizing:

• Start big. A full 12 x 18 inch sheet like the Shoot-N-C Handgun Trainer or the Dirty Bird combo gives you room to miss the center and still see where you went. On day one, that's the whole point.
• Start close. Ask the staff where new shooters usually hang a first target and begin there. Move it out only once your hits are landing close together, not before.
• Shrink the aiming point, not just the distance. A 6-inch Target Spot, or one of Champion's 5 Inch Double Bull or 8 Inch Bull designs, gives you a smaller mark at the same distance. A 1-inch paster is a tiny aiming point for much later.
• Rifle sight-in is its own job. Champion's VisiColor line includes a design named 100 Yard Sight-In. If you're only shooting a handgun, you won't need it.

How you'll hang it: adhesive, staples and stands

How a target attaches decides what else goes in your bag:

• Self-adhesive (the Shoot-N-C Handgun Trainer, Target Spots and the 1-inch pasters): peel and stick to a cardboard backer, a stand's backer board or an old target. No stapler needed for the target itself.
• Non-adhesive (the Dirty Bird combo, which Birchwood Casey lists as "non-adhesive target material"): staple or clip it up. Champion sells a compact staple gun it describes as the way to "Keep your paper targets securely in place," and it takes JT21 staples (Champion Staple Gun).

Where the target hangs depends on the range. At an indoor range, ask how targets go up on your lane and whether you need to bring anything for it. Some public ranges supply the frame: Glastonbury says "All targets will be secured on standard DEEP target frames set downrange." Where you set up your own, you need a stand or a backer. Our best target stands covers the ready-made options, and the DIY target stand guide walks through the 2x4 route.

Pasters: how one target lasts a whole session

Pasters are small stickers you put over bullet holes, so you can shoot the same target again and tell new hits from old ones. Birchwood Casey puts them in the box with some packs: 110 with the Shoot-N-C Handgun Trainer and 120 with the Target Spots. It also sells them on their own. The Shoot-N-C 1 Inch Repair Pasters come 432 to a pack, self-adhesive, and Birchwood Casey says each one shows a chartreuse ring when hit.

Pasters matter most at ranges where you can't walk down whenever you like. Glastonbury, for example, schedules it: "Halfway through each session will be a planned cease fire for target change." Covering your holes at that cease-fire lets the second half start on a clean-looking target without hanging a new one. They're small and light, so they earn a permanent spot in the range bag. For the rest of that list, see what to put in a range bag.

Which pack fits your first trip

The six picks below each suit a different first trip. Match yours:

• First trip to an indoor pistol range: the Shoot-N-C Handgun Trainer. It's self-adhesive, it shows hits as rings, and the 110 pasters mean one sheet can carry you through several strings. Ask at the counter whether you can hang your own; Shoot Indoors notes that targets are available at most ranges if you'd rather buy there (Shoot Indoors).
• An outdoor public range where you bring your own targets: the Dirty Bird combo plus a stapler. Birchwood Casey lists heavy tagboard and non-adhesive sheets, so you'll staple or clip them to a frame or backer, and you get silhouettes and bull's-eyes to swap between.
• A parent with a new shooter who needs one clear thing to aim at: Target Spots, stuck to a cardboard backer or an old sheet. A single bright orange spot is easy to explain and easy to find. Our guide to taking kids to the shooting range covers the rest of that day.
• Lots of plain practice, or a group sharing one pack: the Eze-Scorer 12 x 18 Double Bull's-Eye. It comes in 10 or 100 packs, and two bulls per sheet means two aiming points per target.
• Sighting in a rifle: Champion VisiColor in the 100 Yard Sight-In design. Check the listing for pack count and sheet size, since Champion's page doesn't state either.
• You already have targets: the Shoot-N-C 1-inch pasters. They cover old holes so the sheets you already own last longer.

What to look for in a beginner shooting target

1. Hit feedback the maker actually describes. The word "reactive" on a listing isn't enough. Look for the maker saying what happens around a hit: a colored ring, a splatter. If the page only describes the printed colors, assume it behaves like plain paper.
2. A material your range allows. Paper passes every range rule we read. For anything else, ask first.
3. A size that forgives misses. For the first trip, a full 12 x 18 inch sheet beats a small bull. Save the 5-inch bulls and 1-inch dots for later.
4. Adhesive or not, matched to your gear. Self-adhesive sheets need a surface to stick to. Non-adhesive sheets need staples or clips.
5. Pasters in the box, or a pack on the side. They turn one sheet into several strings.
6. A design that fits what you're practicing. Bull's-eyes give you a precise center. Silhouettes give a bigger outline to aim inside. The Dirty Bird combo has four of each.
7. Enough sheets for the trip. Pack counts differ: 5 sheets in the Shoot-N-C Handgun Trainer, 8 in the Dirty Bird combo, 10 Target Spots, and 10 or 100 Eze-Scorer Double Bull's-Eyes. Champion doesn't publish the VisiColor pack count on its page, so check the listing before you order.

Targets are the fun part, but they're not the first purchase. If you don't own ear and eye protection yet, start with our hearing protection picks and our shooting glasses picks. Range rules like Florida FWC's ask for both: "Wear eye and ear protection."

Beginner mistakes with range targets

• Bringing steel, or "any target," without asking. The Range 702 tells visitors to leave personal steel targets at home, and several public ranges allow paper only. Ask before you pack it.
• Starting too small and too far. You learn nothing from shots you can't see. Big and close first.
• Forgetting how it hangs. A non-adhesive pack and no stapler means borrowing one at the range. Match the target to the tape, clips or staples you're bringing.
• Going downrange at the wrong time. Only when the range is called cold. Mississippi's MDWFP rules put it in capitals: "FIREARMS SHALL NOT BE HANDLED WHILE ANYONE IS DOWN RANGE!"
• Shooting at things that aren't targets. Glastonbury bans bottles, steel and exploding targets outright, and MDWFP bans fruit, vegetables and plastic. Stick to the targets your range approves.
• Skipping the hand-washing. FWC's rules end with "You should wash your hands and face after shooting." Our guide to lead exposure at the shooting range explains why.
• Buying five packs before the first trip. Most packs here hold 5 to 10 sheets, and pasters stretch them further. Buy one pack, see what you like shooting at, then stock up.