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The military uses human silhouette targets so that you learn to estimate ballistic compensation from the sight picture geometry. It is part of basic training. A

The military uses human silhouette targets so that you learn to estimate ballistic compensation from the sight picture geometry. It is part of basic training. A target that is round does not provide useful visual cues for estimating ballistic compensation as might be seen on a battlefield. You only have a second or two to estimate range and make appropriate ballistic compensations based on what you see in the sight picture. The US military stopped having people punch holes in paper targets a very long time ago. In the 1990s, you trained on a field of varying silhouettes that randomly pop up for only a few seconds at ranges anywhere from 50 meters to 300-400 meters. You were expected to detect the target pop up in a busy field of view, estimate range from silhouette geometry, compensate for ballistics based on the range estimate, smoothly pull the trigger, and still hit the target most of the time before the target disappeared again. It becomes muscle memory but it is all based on silhouette geometry in the sight picture.

jjeaff 5y ago
That may be one reason, but it has been widely reported that the military has long been working to decrease hesitation to kill another human using more lifelike targets, video games, etc "The Pentagon improved firing rates. Research suggests that 55 percent of U.S. soldiers fired on the enemy in the Korean War. By Vietnam that rate had climbed to more than 90 percent. Police studies document similar changes in recent decades. One of the key changes was to get rid of the old firing ranges, where shooters took target practice in an open field aiming at a bull's-eye. This failed miserably at preparing shooters for real-world confrontations." https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sfgate.com/science/amp/THE-SCIENCE-OF-CREATING-KILLERS-Human-2514123.php https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sfgate.com/science/amp/THE-...

jjeaff 5y ago

That may be one reason, but it has been widely reported that the military has long been working to decrease hesitation to kill another human using more lifelike targets, video games, etc "The Pentagon improved firing rates. Research suggests that 55 percent of U.S. soldiers fired on the enemy in the Korean War. By Vietnam that rate had climbed to more than 90 percent. Police studies document similar changes in recent decades. One of the key changes was to get rid of the old firing ranges, where shooters took target practice in an open field aiming at a bull's-eye. This failed miserably at preparing shooters for real-world confrontations." https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sfgate.com/science/amp/THE-SCIENCE-OF-CREATING-KILLERS-Human-2514123.php https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sfgate.com/science/amp/THE-...