What causes target misses?

[Matthew Duncan]

IMHO it is bad target placement. 

[Leroy Luck]

My personal experience is going too fast and not using the sights 

[Red Oak]

I'm going with bad target placement!!

[Hells Comin]

Someone at the loading table moved my sights. 

 

Hells Comin 

[I. M. Crossdraw, SASS# 8321]

Targets are too small and waaaay back there.

[I. M. Crossdraw, SASS# 8321]

Oh yeah, black powder smoke.

[Eyesa Horg]

Forgot to cast in rare earth magnets.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

I shoot Gunfighter and my left hand is a little near sighted.

[John Kloehr]

Crosswind.

[Blackwater 53393]

Stealth Bullets!!

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

lack of sight alignment 

[Griff]

Moving targets.  It's either they're moving, or my sights are... 

[Phantom, SASS #54973]

Moving eyes before breaking shot...

 

ohhh...this is in jest.

 

Never mind.

 

Phantom

[Sam Sackett]

Hate to say it, but I agree with Phantom. I think back on a stage with misses and think I may have seen sight alignment, then quickly shifted my eyes looking for the next target before I pull the trigger. Either that or I’m moving way faster than the bullet can get out of the barrel before I swing to the next target. Yeh, that’s it. I blame it all on slow bullets. 
 

Sam Sackett 

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

Depending on whether you hold yer tongue right, the Targets will move Left, Right, Up Or Down just as you break the shot.  Seen 'em do it I have.  

[PrairieDogPete]

2 hours ago, I. M. Crossdraw, SASS# 8321 said:

Oh yeah, black powder smoke.

Most definitely black powder smoke! If we cannot see the targets, how can the spotters, right?

[Frederick Jackson Turner]

Gravitational gusts. This, coupled with the Coriolis Effect, compounded by the fact that the earth is rotating at 1,038 mph at the equator, can easily lead to target acquisition and subsequent projectile impact difficulties. 

 

Now, because that speed changes as you draw closer to the poles, you are more likely to miss, depending on the latitude in which you are most accustomed to shooting.  If, for example, you shoot regularly in Quito, Ecuador, and you transition to a shooting match in, say, Utqiaġvik, Alaska, where the rotational speed is far less, your point of impact is just going to be all over the place, compared to what you're used to shooting.

 

Always glad to help,

FJT

-The Professor

Edited October 4, 2024 by Frederick Jackson Turner

[Krazy Kajun]

2 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

I shoot Gunfighter and my left hand is a little near sighted.

Black powder smoke cures near sightedness. 
 

Kajun

[Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903]

3 hours ago, Matthew Duncan said:

IMHO it is bad target placement. 

I’m pretty sure it’s jittery targets, they jump every time they hear a gunshot!

 

Randy

[Hells Comin]

3 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

I shoot Gunfighter and my left hand is a little near sighted.

So your're a right handed gunfighter. 

 

 

 Hells Comin 

[Reverend P. Babcock Chase]

To paraphrase the great nascar driver Daryl Waltrip: I got a little behind on my aiming. He said "Steering" after a spin.

 

Rev. Chase

[Mad Dog Jack, SASS #77862]

I am going to go with gremlins moving the target.

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

3 hours ago, Frederick Jackson Turner said:

...compounded by the fact that the earth is rotating at 1,038 mph at the equator, ...

Thank you sir, for explaining this more eloquently than I could have.  Coupled with this effect, if most of the clubs you shoot at have the targets in one general compass direction, then you shoot at one with targets in a different direction, this will increase the problem.  

 

One other overlooked issue is tectonic plate movement.  This of course varies from one location to another, but is unpredictable.  Well, sometimes it actually is predictable, like during the last shot of an otherwise clean match.

 

edit: oh yeah, and I heard that too much finger in the trigger guard will do it, but I think that's an old wives tale.

Edited October 4, 2024 by Abilene, SASS # 27489

[Mister Badly]

My dang cursed left pistol. Cost me a clean match at the SE Regional last year. 

[Erasmus]

I don't miss, sometimes my bullets just happen to be in the resonant frequency of the plate and don't happen to make a sound...

 

[The Rainmaker, SASS #11631]

Isn't it obvious? Climate change. It's causing all kinds of havoc: droughts, floods, hurricanes and misses.

Let's just throw some money at it! "How dare you?"  😜

[Captain Bill Burt]

Since I’ve never missed I can’t answer this one. 
 

Now all those incorrect misses that have been called on me over the years…clearly there’s a conspiracy of some kind.

[Possum Skinner, SASS#60697]

Lack of dark matter.  If it's dark enough, spotters can't see misses, so they don't matter.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Gravity 

[Cayuse Jack, SASS #19407]

13 hours ago, Matthew Duncan said:

IMHO it is bad target placement. 

I’ve seen you shoot… You need to open your eyes while shooting.

 

 

[Yusta B.]

Most likely not holding your mouth right.

[John Kloehr]

For troubleshooting why you miss, try using this diagnostic target:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Matthew Duncan]

3 hours ago, Cayuse Jack, SASS #19407 said:

I’ve seen you shoot… You need to open your eyes while shooting.

 

 

That would explain why I can’t find the sights!

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Sights?  Remember Shane's revolver had no front sight.  On the other hand maybe that explains why he missed the target less than three feet away.

 

 

 

[Frederick Jackson Turner]

13 hours ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

One other overlooked issue is tectonic plate movement.  This of course varies from one location to another, but is unpredictable.  Well, sometimes it actually is predictable, like during the last shot of an otherwise clean match.

 Absolutely correct, and a worthy and necessary addition to this thread.

Cheers,

A wiser FJT