NRA AR-4 target: dimensions and scoring for 5m BB gun

Your kid joins a junior BB gun program and comes home with a stiff card full of bullseyes that looks like an ISSF target shrunk in the wash. That card is the NRA AR-4 target, and it is where a huge number of American shooters take their first recorded shots. Parents coaching from the sidelines, and plenty of club volunteers running the line, end up asking the same questions: how big are the rings, what is that small black circle really worth, and how does scoring work when the holes are barely wider than the BB itself.

This guide walks through the NRA AR-4 target ring by ring, explains the gauge system that makes it different from ISSF paper, and covers what a 5-meter BB gun match actually looks like. If you are curious how the AR-4 fits alongside other federation targets, we compared FFTIR, BDS and NRA cards against ISSF in a separate head-to-head.

What is the NRA AR-4 target?

The AR-4 is the official target family for NRA 5-meter BB gun competition, defined in the NRA BB Gun rulebook. It comes in three variants: AR-4/1 with a single bullseye, AR-4/5 with five bullseyes, and AR-4/10 with ten. The AR-4/10 used in matches is printed on tagboard measuring 14 by 12 inches, with rings 8, 9 and 10 in black.

Three variants, one geometry. The aiming black on every AR-4 bullseye ends at the 8-ring edge, which sits at about 0.73 inches across. Junior programs like 4-H clubs and scout troops shoot the same card that championship shooters use, which is part of the design: a seven-year-old's practice card reads exactly like a match card.

How big is each ring on the AR-4?

Ring values run from 1 to 10, with the 10 ring smallest. The dimensions follow one simple rule from the NRA rulebook: the ten ring measures 0.125 inches, and each ring outward adds 0.300 inches.

Two numbers deserve a second look. The 0.125-inch ten ring is about 3.2 mm, which sounds generous until you remember that a BB leaves a hole roughly its own diameter and a wobbly eight-year-old is aiming at it. And the whole scoring area fits inside 2.825 inches, so ten bullseyes pack comfortably onto a 14 by 12 inch sheet with room for a sighting bull beside them.

For perspective, the ISSF 10m air rifle ten ring is 0.5 mm wide. The AR-4 ten is over six times wider in absolute terms, at half the distance. The card is scaled to the shooter, not to make life easy for them.

Why does the AR-4 use two scoring gauges?

This is the detail that surprises everyone coming from ISSF scoring. The AR-4 card is gauged with two different instruments:

• An outward gauge for rings 10 through 3, which works like a standard plug: if the gauge touches the ring line, the shot gets the higher value.
• An inward gauge for rings 2 and 1, applied from the opposite logic because of how the outer rings sit on the small card.

The two-gauge system is spelled out in the NRA BB Gun rulebook, and it exists because the outer rings of a compact bullseye behave differently at the card edge. If gauge scoring is new to you generally, our guide to plug gauges and edge-to-edge scoring rules covers how plugs decide close shots on any target.

At a junior match you will usually see the range officer doing the gauging, not the shooters. BB holes are small, cards fill up fast with ten bullseyes, and a plug in trained hands settles a "is that a nine or an eight" argument in seconds.

What guns and distances is the AR-4 for?

The AR-4 belongs to 5-meter BB gun competition. Five meters is 16 feet 4 3/4 inches, a distance chosen so that school gymnasiums, church halls and basements can host a legal match. Guns are smoothbore BB guns, the Daisy Red Ryder type most American families already own, shot with iron sights and no jackets or fancy gear.

NRA qualification programs extend the card's life too. The 4-position qualification course can be shot by BB gun shooters using 5-meter BB gun rules, and the AR-4 target is approved at every qualification level. So the same target carries a shooter from their first prone shot at a club open house through structured positional practice, before they ever graduate to 10m air rifle.

Wondering whether your child is old enough to start down this path? We covered what age kids can begin shooting in a separate guide, and BB gun programs are usually the recommended entry point.

How does a 5-meter BB gun match run?

The rulebook sets the framework and local programs fill in the schedule, but the shape is consistent. Shooters fire record shots from the positions their course of fire specifies, and here is the detail worth knowing: NRA 5-meter rules allow unlimited sighting shots in any position, provided all sighters and record shots happen inside the allowed time. No counting sighters, no separate sighter target juggling like ISSF shooters do.

A typical club event looks something like this:

1. Safety brief and equipment check, with BB guns kept in a case or on the line until commands are given.
2. Sighting shots, as many as the clock allows, on the designated sighting bull.
3. Record shots by position, changing positions only when the range officer calls it.
4. Cards pulled, gauged and totaled by the scoring team.

Scores from ten bullseyes with a maximum of 10 each give a per-card ceiling of 100, and courses stacking multiple positions multiply from there. For a first-time shooter, breaking 50 on the card is a genuine achievement; the ten ring does not hand out charity.

Scoring an AR-4 card without eye strain

Reading 3.2 mm rings by eye is miserable, especially under gym lighting. Take a photo of the card instead. The same habit that works for ISSF paper applies here: flatten the card, light it evenly, and let software find the holes. TargetLog scores AR-4 cards from a phone photo, plots the group on each bullseye, and keeps a record as the shooter improves, which is exactly the kind of feedback loop that keeps juniors interested. If you shoot other federation cards as well, the paper target scoring app handles the whole family from one place.

faq

Can I print AR-4 targets at home for practice? Printable practice cards are fine for informal training, and any correctly scaled bullseye builds the habit. For record scores and qualification, use official tagboard targets, because gauge scoring depends on exact ring dimensions.

Is the AR-4 the same as an air rifle target? No. Air rifle events at 10 meters use ISSF-pattern targets with a 0.5 mm ten ring, while the AR-4 at 5 meters carries a 3.2 mm ten. The guns, distances and scoring tools all differ.

What score should a beginner expect on an AR-4? First cards often land between 30 and 60 out of 100. Consistency matters more than the total: a shooter whose groups tighten week over week is improving, even when the score barely moves.