A simple shooting question

[dodgyrog]

It was my pal Ronnie's 75th birthday today so we shooting in the quarry where we shoot -what better way to celebrate a birthday?
We put up our new home made (by Ronnie) reactive target - a swinging steel plate 5" square (don't ask me the cms as I don't do them - see Dromia's comments) and a shoot and see target stuck on our target holder (an empty 5 gallon plastic drum).
THE QUESTION: why did both of us consistently shoot better on the steel plate than the paper target. 30 odd shots from 2 different guns - a pair of Tikka T3's, one in .222 and one in .270 . A selection of bullets (none cast on this occasion). ALL the shots in a group of 3" or thereabouts.
The .222 shot fairly well on the paper but the .270 was not grouping well at all.
I guess it is shooter driven but why do we shoot better on the steel target?

[Sandgroper]

It's more fun seeing (or hearing) the target react than simply punching a hole in paper!