Once you have mastered the basics of sight alignment and trigger control to the point that you control where you hit, the next step is learning to hit faster – a better shot can hit a given target faster then a less skilled shot. Would you consider practicing without a target? Of course not, because without a target you have know way to know where you are hitting, you have no feedback, you’re just be flinging lead at the side of the hill – fun, but you’re not learning anything. Conversely, with a fresh target you know exactly where each shot hits, and you relate that hit to what you were doing in your shooting process – improving your skill.

By the same token, without a PACT shooting timer you have no idea how long a given shot is taking you. No idea of whether or not a given technique is helping or hurting you. Why? Because we humans have a lousy sense time passing, what might feel fast turns out to be shaky and slow, and what might feel slow turns out to be smooth and fast with no wasted movement – high speed hitting is the goal. The PACT gives you the feedback you need to instantly know the time of your run, and a concise breakdown of each portion and shot. This allows you to learn where you are picking up time, and find the little bobbles that cost you.

If you are buying Timers for your shooting club the decision is simple; don’t spend the extra money for a MKIV as you’d be buying features you’ll never use buy two Club Timer III’s instead. If you are buying a timer for training the decision is a little tougher. The Club Timer III is a fine timer for basic training and that’s how most of them are used. It has the same super loud buzzer as the MKIV. However it lacks the some of the sophisticated training features of the MKIV Championship Timer as well as the rate of fire indicator, ballistic computer, lead calculator and optional chronograph.