Fun stuff to shoot

[MtnCreek]

" Salt blocks "
That's going to get expensive fast!

 

[Jessie James 58]

Shame on all of you new guys. In the old days we would buy a roll of Necco Wafer Candy. Double tape them to a piece of cardboard. back off 50 to 75 feet. then take turns, 1 shot each with a 22 rifle. Whoever hits (shatters) the most wins. Back then it was 5 cents a roll and they would dust ball when hit.
This also works with BB guns and air rifles at shorter ranges.

 

[0to60]

" Salt blocks "
That's going to get expensive fast!

Granted, you don't get to shoot a whole lot of them, but they are fun as hell for "ballistics tests".

In case anyone is wondering, a 12ga slug will turn a salt block into a table salt that floats down from the sky for the next minute or two. It takes several 5.56s to pick apart a block. Handgun ammo (.40, .45) will leave a divot but mostly just bounce off. A stout .30-06 or 7.62x54 will turn it to table salt also.

Another fun thing to shoot at is a 6x6. We buy these at Home Depot and stand them up (using 2x4 "legs" screwed into the bottom) and blast away at them. The 7.62x54 will shoot straight through one. That's 6" of fairly tough wood! We actually shot one end-on also. The Mos' penetrated maybe 20" into it.

Another fun thing? Go get yourself a block of modelling clay. A 25lb block is roughly the size of a human head, and pretty cheap (maybe $5 or so). Stick this on top of the aforementioned upright 6x6 and shoot it with anything you have. Remember the scene in Terminator 2 when Arnold hits the T1000 with a grenade at point blank range? That's what happens to the clay. And then you can put it all back together (like the T1000) and shoot it several more times.

 

[Certaindeaf]

One thing that'll really get your heart going is a paper plate. especially one that is all greased up with some bbq'd rib leavings.

 

[j1]

Skeet set on a berm.

 

[highlander 5]

+ 1000 on the Necco wafers.

 

[kimberkid]

Go on the McDonalds diet ... just eat a happy meal and the targets are provided!

 

[hariph creek]

At my first Armored job, we had a truck roll over, at highway speed, on black ice.
Somehow there were no bad injuries.
Since they were going to "total" the truck. My boss let us take some of the armor out in the desert and shoot it.
Handgun rounds .44 mag and up, clean through. Rifle rounds .223 (FMJ) and up, clean through.
3" 12Ga slugs were impressive. Like a giant hole punch.

 

[vtail]

Can a bullet even penetrate a Necco wafer?

I think they may even be harder than steel targets.

 

[vtail]

Instead of salt blocks, how about a bag of water softener salt pellets?

Each bag must contain thousands of those things. Kind of small, but would be great for .22's.

 

[mljdeckard]

My brother and I have bought a case of Keystone Light cans to set at random distances and zap with the 22-250. Shiny and spectacular.

A mod recently suggested (it might have been in this thread) using ice chunks made in Dixie cups, we vaporized a couple dozen of them with the .22 yesterday. In the desert at the south tip of the Great Salt Lake, it might be the ultimate 'no clean up' target. We also took a burgeoning collection of water-filled milk jugs.

 

[0to60]

Another fun thing we did at my Annual Memorial Day Gun and Ballistics Testing Jamboree was breach a door with a shotgun.

We went to Home Depot and an indoor, hollow door + frame that had been slightly damaged in shipping and they wanted $11 for it. We used some 2x4's to stand it upright in the woods and had at it with the 590 Special Purpose. Buckshot and birdshot both had the same effect on the hinges; the metal was never penetrated but the hinges were completely ripped from the wood and sent flying. A slug turned the knob into a twisted, barely recognizable (and very sharp) mass of thin metal.

Buckshot will go through the hollow door from pretty much any normal distance, but birdshot definitely has a limit. Inside maybe 10 yards, birdshot will blast a face-sized hole in a hollow door (it'll do the same thing to plywood).

 

[justice06rr]

I shoot at a friend's private lot in his backyard. Although we only have about 50yards to shoot, we have shot many things like:

- Old hard drives and computers
- hollow blocks
- any kind of steel plates or poles
- fruit (melons, etc)
- the usual beer cans, soup cans, and big bottles of liquor filled with water.

It all depends on if you prefer to do clean-up or not. My friend and I set up our targets on a steel rack or on the ground in an area of his lot that does not have to be cleaned up.

 

[Dlowe167]

With .22 or even .380 i like shooting bouncing targets i got from Cabela's & also a golf ball

 

[CZguy]

My personal favorite is shooting hard boiled eggs with a .22. They explode, and wildlife takes care of the cleanup.

 

[WardenWolf]

A hard drive can explode quite impressively when struck just right with a 203-grain soft point out of a Mosin Nagant. The parts were scattered over 10 feet. I hit a screw that transferred all that energy into the base of the hard drive, shattering it into 3 pieces and sending parts flying everywhere. I didn't quite expect *that*.

Don't worry. I cleaned up after myself. I took the remains of my target and all my casings back with me, and presented my father with the remains of his dead drive. He took it into work to show people, who were all impressed with the destruction.

 

[2@low8]

Empty plastic 35mm film canisters (usually free for the asking) at film processing places.

Fill with cheap flour, cap and shoot. Nice large puff of “smoke” and easy to clean up.

 

[morcey2]

Empty plastic 35mm film canisters (usually free for the asking) at film processing places.

Fill with cheap flour, cap and shoot. Nice large puff of “smoke” and easy to clean up.

Some of the young'uns had to run off to google to see what this "film" thing is of which you speak.

 

[Barry the Bear]

Non-working electronics like that plasma tv that my dog thought had to be knocked over

 

[brainwake]

Empty plastic 35mm film canisters (usually free for the asking) at film processing places.

Fill with cheap flour, cap and shoot. Nice large puff of “smoke” and easy to clean up.

I love this idea...I was thinking old prescription bottles instead of film cases....but I like the flour idea.

 

[2@low8]

morcey2 - "Some of the young'uns had to run off to google to see what this "film" thing is of which you speak."

A young neighbor was helping me build an experimental airplane and I asked him to turn a wing nut on a jig clockwise and he gave me a bewildered look.

I told him to look at his watch to figure it out, He did and the look never changed… he was wearing a digital watch! Suddenly, I'm feeling ancient!

 

[brickeyee]

The cheapest reactive target we used to be able to get was 'Kroger Super Cost Cutter Beer'

It was less than $5 a case.

And yes we cleaned up.

Despite the 'range' being an on fire strip mine site.

It was spectacular at night with all the small blue CO flames from the underground fire.

 

[Agsalaska]

TURTLES!!

 

[allaroundhunter]

TURTLES!!

They eat the fish and their eggs on our stocked pond so yes, I do shoot them...

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I do enjoy playing rimfire golf with golf balls. Set a point, and see who can get past it with the fewest shots. First 5 rounds with pistol, then switch to rifle. Alter rules to suit, and since golf balls are pretty tough cleanup is just a trip downrange.

I've done that and it's FUN! We were coming up with new rules every game, and even that was fun.

I'm definitely going to try the ice thing. I'm already thinking on the various receptacles for freezing certain shapes. And I've got a ton of film cases!