The proper distance to practise at is the distance you can hit the invisible bull’s-eye twice in three shots. As soon as you can do better than this, move the target a few feet further off, or decrease the size of the bull’s-eye.
The idea is to have a target on which when shooting your very best, you may just be able to make the highest possible score.
This is the principle on which the targets are made in all the Gastinne-Renette competitions in Paris.
The highest possible score is not beyond the power of the pistols, if held by a very good shot.
For the Grande Medal d’Or, the holding has to be nearly as good as if the pistol were fixed in a vise, but it is possible to make, as several dozen winning targets made by the crack shots of the world testify.
A target impossible to make a full score on discourages the shooter.
It rather adds to the interest if a hit breaks something; if a clay pigeon, for instance, is put on a nail for a bull’s-eye on a man target painted the same colour, it is practically an invisible bull and it is a great satisfaction to see the pieces instantly fly at a hit, instead of having to examine the target to see where your shots are.
These clay pigeons, or soup plates, or whatever you use, would not do if put against an iron target, as the splash of the bullet would break them even if they were not actually hit.
One can buy an apparatus in Paris which fills rubber balls with water, which make good targets to shoot at either hung up or thrown in the air.
To hit them with a pistol with a bullet when thrown in the air is extremely difficult, and can only be safely tried when shooting out to sea, or against a high cliff.