Dry-fire target generator

Print a target at the right size to practise long-range holds in a short space. Tell it the range you want to simulate and how far back you can stand, and it sizes the target to fill your sights just like the real one at distance. You get an exact-size A4 PDF to print.

Your target

Your distances

Print it this size

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Fill in the target and both distances to see the size.

Prints at exact size. Choose 100% / Actual size when printing, not "Fit to page".

How it works

Why a smaller target works

Your eye and your sights only care about one thing: the angle the target takes up. A Figure 12 at 200 yards fills a certain slice of your view. Shrink the target in step with the distance and it fills that same slice a few metres away, so the sight picture and the hold are the same. You're dry firing, so there's no bullet, and nothing to work out for wind or drop.

1

Pick a target and distance

Choose a standard target, or type in your own size, then set the range you want to practise at.

2

Measure your space

Enter how far you can actually stand back, whether that's 5 metres down the garage or 25 down the hall.

3

Print and dry fire

Download the A4 PDF, print it full size, and dry fire against it.

Worked example

A Figure 12 is 560 mm tall and 455 mm wide. To shoot it as if it were 200 yards off, with 5 metres to play with:

  • 5 m ÷ 182.88 m (200 yd) = a 1:36.6 reduction
  • 560 mm × 0.0273 = 15.3 mm tall
  • 455 mm × 0.0273 = 12.4 mm wide

Print it at 15 mm, hang it at 5 m, and through the sights it's a Figure 12 at 200.

Getting it exact

Check it with a ruler.

The preview on screen is only a rough guide to size, because every screen and phone is different. The PDF is the one that's drawn to the exact millimetre.

Print it at 100%, then check the 100 mm bar on the sheet against a ruler or tape before you trust it. If that bar comes out short, your printer has scaled the page down: set it to "Actual size" and print again.

Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

It lets you practise a long-range sight picture in a small space. You print the target shrunk in proportion to the distance, so a target on the wall a few metres away looks through your sights just like the real one a few hundred yards off. It's good for working on position, hold and trigger control indoors, with no live rounds.
It matches angular size, the angle the target takes up, since that's all your eye and sights go on. The print size is the real size times your distance divided by the distance you're simulating. A 560 mm Figure 12, simulated at 200 yards (182.88 m) in 5 m, works out at 560 × (5 ÷ 182.88) = 15.3 mm tall. There's no bullet in dry fire, so no wind or drop to worry about.
The PDF is drawn to the exact millimetre, but printers and PDF viewers will shrink a page to fit the paper if you let them, and that throws the size off. Pick "100%" or "Actual size" rather than "Fit to page". Every sheet has a 100 mm bar on it, so you can check it against a ruler before you trust the size.
Yes. Choose "Custom size" and type in the real height and width in millimetres, and it'll size and print that. A custom target comes out as a plain rectangle at the right size. The built-in targets print with their real artwork.
For now it's the Figure 12 (head and shoulders), with the real target artwork, plus a custom-size option for anything else. More standard targets will follow, including the rest of the common service-rifle figures.
The size will look right, so it's a fair starting point for reduced-distance shooting. But live fire brings in things dry fire doesn't: where the round actually lands, the trajectory, and a safe backstop. Take the size as the visual match only, not as ballistics advice.
No. It all runs in your browser and the PDF is built on your own device. Nothing you type is sent to us or saved anywhere.
From Range Mate

This one's on us.

Range Mate is club management software for UK target shooting clubs. The generator's free and there's no sign-up. If you help run a club, it can take the memberships, bookings, payments and shooting records off your plate.

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