A Need For The Perfect Target

Paul J. and I went to the range again yesterday. He was zeroing his new custom built Remington 700 sniper rifle. I wish I had my camera with me; that gun is really impressive. He has, by far, the largest diameter barrel on that rig that I've seen. Its gotta be at least .900, and might be thicker than that. I'll find out and get some photos. Paul really can shoot, and was getting sub-MOA groups out at around 250 or 300 yards. Without an electronic range finder, I couldn't tell, but it was further by quite a bit than I typically shoot.

One thing Paul and I are on the Quest for is the perfect target. This perfect target needs to have some specific characteristics, though:

• needs to be a free download
• black and white is better
• Must be realistic

Now, there are plenty of free targets out there that fit the bill, and quite a few more that have two of the three. Plus, there's one more that is critical: its gotta be a Zombie target. We may see civil unrest as gas prices continue to rise, and we may see another terrorist attack on these shores. However, the threat posed by Zombies is clearly the soft white underbelly of America. That being the case, the perfect Zombie target is needed. It has not yet been located.

We've been using the headshot target from Zombie Hunters and it's worked quite well. However, we agree that we'd like it even better if it were more realistic looking, and would be a better training aid if we had some forward-facing and full body shots as well. The advantage of the full body shot is that it acts as a long range, unknown distance target. Since headshots are all that count, shooting at the rest of the body is little more than a waste of ammunition. You might be able to knock one off its pins, but that doesn't stop it. I'm sure you all remember the aftermath of the hyperbaric bombing run at Yonkers in World War Z. What would completely destroy the living does just about nothing to the ambulatory un-living.

But I digress. I think what I'd like to see, and what I don't have the computer art skills to do, is a series of targets. We need headshots of a few different angles, some full body images, and one or two of what I'd call the bum's rush target: a representation of a group (or gaggle, herd, or stick) of Zombies that you can yell "They're comin' right for us!!" before you start surgically picking them off. That may be the best training aid of all: proof to the shooter that carbines are individual projectile weapons, not room brooms or spray and pray ammo-wasting units.

At any rate, the search continues.