So you have been plinking for a long time and have come to adopt a certain routine when you go to your favorite shooting range every other week. You hear about this new app that objectively measures your shooting performance from your range buddy and it seems intriguing. Having little to no experience with such apps, how do you get started without missing a step? How can you make sure that it will be a breeze and nothing like pulling teeth even if you may not be the most technology-forward person among your peers?

That’s where this blog post comes in, aiming to make life easier for you. So let’s get started and go over the steps involved one-by-one.

1. Sign Up for AccuShoot

Start by navigating to the AccuShoot website and create a new account during which you will need to provide your credit card data. By default, you also receive a 14-day FREE trial after which your credit card will be charged the first monthly fee of $15. If you are a veteran, military service member, law enforcement officer, or first responder you get an additional 10% discount.

After you complete your registration, if you have an iPhone, just head to the App Store to download the latest version of AccuShoot. You can simply sign in the app with the same credentials as on the website. For those Android users out there, we’re already actively working on the Android app and planning on launching it before the end of 2023. Please drop us your email at info@accushoot.com and we’ll keep you updated on its availability.

In the meantime, with your Android phone, you can still take advantage of our picture-based scoring feature to snap and upload a picture of your target after your session is complete. After that, you can manually score your target since real-time scoring is only available for iPhones at this moment. This way you can start accumulating historical data on your shooting performance and see how it evolves over time and compares to other AccuShoot users.

2. Configure Your Digital Locker

As a next step, you can use either the website or the app itself to add some guns, ammo and accessories to your Digital Locker as seen above. Your shooting sessions will be linked with the equipment used during a particular session. This way you can objectively analyze how your performance fluctuates under different circumstances like different pistols, ammo or accessories such as red dots. It must be noted that you, as the user, have full control over whether to keep any or all your data, inclusive of your Digital Locker, completely private or share with fellow AccuShoot users.

3. Get a Tripod

To take full advantage of AccuShoot, we recommend that you first invest in a quality tripod. If your smartphone is not stable and is moving around or vibrating notably with each shot, it gets really tricky to detect shots correctly. Mounting your smartphone on a sturdy tripod will stabilize it and help it consistently focus on your targets for better results at the shooting range. A free-standing tripod seated on a firm surface like concrete works best outdoors.

Ultimately, your choice of tripod depends on your range conditions, e.g, indoor, bench, long-range shooting. Below is a tripod that we had good results with in our testing when placed on a bench.

The brand seen above can get the job done and they also offer a larger model that sits on the ground as opposed to a bench. If you have a bigger budget, you can go with Manfrotto MT190XPRO3 3 Section Aluminum Tripod paired with a Manfrotto MHXPRO-3WG Geared 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head for around $550. Of course, all these tripods can also serve other purposes such as photography if you happen to be into that kind of thing.

To avoid vibration from the shockwave of the shots, it’s best to place the taller tripods to the side and slightly behind your shooting position. This will not only help reduce vibration but also give you peace of mind that you won’t accidentally shoot your phone. After all, it’s unlikely that your phone’s insurance plan covers bullet holes!

4. Get Some Targets

As an avid shooter, you’d know that there are a dizzying amount of targets with many different variations even within the same theme, e.g. bad guy targets. So far, we have taken the approach of optimizing AccuShoot’s shot detection performance on some of the most popular targets such as high-visibility and white paper with markings target types. We have even added some simple targets that you can download and print at your convenience in case cost is a concern. 

When setting up AccuShoot to capture a live session, make sure that you are using a supported target and that you have the matching target configured in the drill settings. Some users forget to specify the target they are using and start shooting with the default generic target setting in place. Although AccuShoot will still collect data in that case, it is not ideal when it comes to real-time shot detection and scoring.

If you are interested in accessing more targets through our beta tester program, send an email to beta-tester@accushoot.com . Be sure to include your username and we’ll enable your account with access to more targets in exchange for your feedback. If you have a favorite target that we currently don’t support, let us know at info@accushot.com and we can always prioritize adding it to our growing list of supported targets.

5. Plan Ahead of Your Range Visit

We recommend that you always go to the range with a number of things you want to test and improve on. A specific goal and corresponding drills can give you a sense of purpose and serve to make you a better marksman over time.  We’ll soon have another post detailing the basic drills you can perform with AccuShoot so it becomes your crafty companion at the range.

There are a number of setups that we have already tested AccuShoot during our countless live fire sessions at both indoor and outdoor ranges. While those are not the only possible arrangements that get the job done, they serve as references to give you an idea of how you can set yourself up for success.

As you set up your gear once you’re at the range, don’t forget your eyes and ears. And always follow the ground rules of firearm safety. Start by recording a few test sessions and see if your shots are being detected correctly. If you have any issues you can always contact us for support.

7. Don’t Just Shoot, AccuShoot!

Once you have the AccuShoot app up and running, you get the benefit of all the cool features it has to offer for the nominal monthly fee of $15. That growing list includes:

• Real-time Target Scoring
• Group Analysis
• D.O.P.E. (Data on Previous Engagements)
• Performance Prediction
• Digital Locker
• Picture-based Session
• Rankings
• Granular Privacy Management

Once you’re done with your sessions, the fun part begins. You get to enjoy all the analysis from AccuShoot and start seeing your performance evolve. If things don’t turn out as you hoped for performance-wise, don’t worry. As a last resort, you can always use the “I DON’T FEEL LUCKY” button reserved for such trying moments! We’ll explain more about that in the upcoming posts.

Well, that’s about it folks! Now it’s your turn to join the AccuShoot nation and start improving your marksmanship skills in a fun and engaging way. Let us know of any questions along the way as we value your feedback to help us further digitize marksmanship for the masses.