Scaled target generator

Scale a target down so you can practise a long-range hold in a short space, for dry fire or live fire at reduced range. 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. Print one, or fill a sheet, at exact size.

Your target

Your distances

More options copies, orientation, layout

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. That holds whether you're dry firing or shooting live at a reduced distance.

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 garden.

3

Print and practise

Set how many copies you want, print the sheet full size, and get to work, dry fire or live.

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's shooting a shrunk target at a short distance so it looks, through your sights, exactly like a full-size target far off. Print the target scaled in proportion to the distance, and a target a few metres away gives you the same sight picture as the real one a few hundred yards away. It works for dry fire indoors and for live fire at a reduced range.
It matches angular size, the angle the target takes up, since that's what 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.
Yes. Set how many copies you want, choose portrait or landscape, and pick a layout: a single column, a single row, or a grid. It spaces them evenly across the sheet, and tells you if that many won't fit at the size you've chosen.
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 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. The scaled target is the right visual size, so it's sound for reduced-distance live fire. Just remember the things dry fire skips: check your zero and point of impact for the actual distance, and make sure you have a safe backstop. The tool sizes the picture; the ballistics and safety are on you.
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

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