Target Lead
Also: Lead
Aiming ahead of a moving target so the bullet and the target arrive at the same point at the same instant. It grows with target speed and time of flight.
When a target moves across your front, the bullet needs time to reach it, and during that time the target keeps traveling. Target lead is the distance you aim ahead of the target so that the two converge: you point not at where the target is but at where it will be when the bullet gets there. The amount of lead grows with the target’s speed and angle and with the time of flight to that range, so a faster mover or a longer shot demands a bigger offset.
Shooters express lead in reticle units and apply it the same way they would a holdover, placing a mark on the target rather than the center. Reading trace and spotting the splash helps refine the lead from shot to shot, while a deliberate moving target hold puts that offset on a repeatable reticle reference instead of a guess. Good lead is a calculation, not a flinch, and it calls for a smooth swing through the shot.