By David Howard
For over 150 years, the National Rifle Association has stood for marksmanship, skill, and responsibility. Its founding purpose was clear: to promote rifle shooting on a scientific basis, to prepare civilians with practical shooting skills, and to maintain America’s deep-rooted tradition of ethical firearm use—even as urbanization chipped away at it.
Yet today, much of that mission is measured through a bullseye that hasn’t evolved with the times. Traditional NRA scoring targets, while useful for competition, offer little practical context. A shooter can hit the “seven ring” at 100 yards and log a score, but what does that hit really mean outside of the scoring booth? Could that shot drop a deer cleanly? Could it stop a threat under pressure or at distance? Would it be ethical—or lucky?
This is exactly where Determinator Targets deliver what the NRA has long stood for—but in a modern, relevant way.
Determinator’s patented reducing concentric ring bullseyes don’t just track shot placement—they deliver a scientific, skill-based analysis of a shooter’s real-world effectiveness. Each ring corresponds not to a number, but to a distance rating, based on animal size and shooting position. Shooters know exactly how far they can ethically and accurately take a shot on game like deer, elk, or varmints—from prone, seated, kneeling, or standing.
This transforms marksmanship from abstract scorekeeping into meaningful, practical capability. It teaches shooters their personal ethical limits—not just their competitive scores. It rewards consistency and discipline with actionable feedback. And it creates a direct path for training progression—from shorter ranges to longer, from casual practice to true proficiency.
In short, Determinator targets bring the NRA’s original vision into the 21st century.
Imagine a new NRA standard: instead of qualifying marksmen by ring scores alone, we qualify them by their proven ethical effective range. Instead of numbers that impress on paper, we offer standards that translate directly to the field, the hunt, and the responsibility that comes with carrying a rifle.
If the NRA truly wants to fulfill its founding goals in today’s world—to restore practical skill, promote scientific shooting, and prepare citizens for real-world marksmanship—then adopting the Determinator bullseye as the new standard is the logical next step.
It’s time for a bullseye that means something. It’s time for a target that trains the whole shooter.
It’s time for the NRA to aim forward—with Determinator.