fun targets, and fun target shooting

I like to shoot stuff I generally don't have to clean up. But it is always a matter of degree.

With 22's, Necco wafers, animal crackers, clay pigeons, shot 22 cases (empties) beside the usual trash like aluminum cans, soda bottles, jugs and so forth (that you have to clean up). Empty cat food cans are good on strings. Recycle the aluminum after shooting full of holes.

Our club has a monthly combat steel match which draws a good amount of shooters. The winner gets a nice wall plaque. And the club earns a bit of cash for the shoot.($5.00)a shooter.

As we tally scores and times .m. We finish with a "piece of the share" game We stick a two inch "shot and see" target on an IPSC target and set it at 20 yards. Each shooters puts in 2 bucks for one shot. Hit the SnC. You get a piece of the kitty if not all.. Each shooter that hits gets a share. This game pretty much equalizes everyone. We then repeat at 25 and 30yards again with a 2 dollar buy in. If nobody hits the SnC which does happen once in a while the kitty goes to the club.

So depending on the alignment of stars a shooter spends 2 bucks a flight, runs the chance of keeping his 6 bucks and earning a few bucks.Maybe enough to pay for his combat shoot fee of 5 bucks.

It is a lot of fun with a whole lotto friendly Jack jawing going on.

My kids loved shooting frozen water bottles with rim fire rifles. They move when hit, and can be shot many times. They particularly enjoyed fishing projectiles out of the piles of ice...so they could brag to Mom about how well they had shot AND provide some supporting evidence.

go to a garage sale and buy junk to shoot at. I discovered what things were fun.

Plastic stuff isnt that fun because the bullets just pass through. The most fun was a wooden christmas nutcracker soldier and a wooden duck.

The thick frying pans were bad as they caused ricochets. If we had hung them it might have been better.

We shot alarm clocks - not bad
Tv - not that fun
plywood santa decoration - bullets just passed through couldnt tell you hit - not fun
string of large plastic lights - not fun, bullets just passed through
brass cups/vases - very fun - ding noise plus they fell over

Range didnt allow you to shoot glass, but there was tons of cheap glass stuff at the garage sale.
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I'm sure you are not advocating it, but unfortunately that is the kind of stuff that is hard to clean up, and people leave behind on public ranges until they get shut down.

This thread has lots of great ideas for very cheap biodegradable targets that blow apart, that I think that buying junk and glass to shoot at, whether on your own property, or someone else's is a bad idea unless its a dedicated dump or landfill.

We've shot clay pigeons, soda crackers, spoiled fruit and vegetables , post Halloween pumpkins, and make fist size ice cubes to shoot. It's all stuff we don't have to pick up. Then we have the cans, and steel plates as well.

TimSr said:

I'm sure you are not advocating it, but unfortunately that is the kind of stuff that is hard to clean up, and people leave behind on public ranges until they get shut down.

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My range is paper targets only...pretty boring.

I'm sure you are not advocating it, but unfortunately that is the kind of stuff that is hard to clean up, and people leave behind on public ranges until they get shut down.

This thread has lots of great ideas for very cheap biodegradable targets that blow apart, that I think that buying junk and glass to shoot at, whether on your own property, or someone else's is a bad idea unless its a dedicated dump or landfill.

We've shot clay pigeons, soda crackers, spoiled fruit and vegetables , post Halloween pumpkins, and make fist size ice cubes to shoot. It's all stuff we don't have to pick up. Then we have the cans, and steel plates as well.

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that is a great point. Luckily the things that were the most fun either didnt make a mess (brass/copper cups and vases) or are biodegradeable (wooden duck and nutcracker). We of course did not leave a mess.

I have found that water bottles arent that fun as they get a hole and empty out and then what?

The wooden nutcracker and duck could be shot over and over again and slowly got destroyed.

The brass cups got holes in them and fell over but could be shot over and over.

The other stuff you couldnt tell when it got hit and didnt react in any interesting way.

If you are in a place where cleanup is not a problem, cinder blocks make great targets too. They break into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually blowing up into puffs of sand.

I used to start on a full-size block with a centerfire handgun and then finish off the smaller bits with a .22 rifle.

Good point about the non-biodegradable targets. In my younger days I was not really as mindful or responsible about it. Leaving pieces of plastic, glass or other materials that won't go anywhere for a long time and might cause problems for humans or animals later on is not cool.



The best target I have right now is a basically a 7-inch miniature gong that I bought from a local gun shop. It is thick and actually rated for centerfire rounds at appropriate distances, but I only need it for .22lr at medium to longish for iron sight distances. It is perfect. Gives enough challenge to be interesting, audible feedback, no walking and no mess. I used to basically do the same thing with old brake rotors, but this is better; less ricochet-prone, more compact and more mobile.

I like steel these are some of mine.

These are auto reset so you can shoot them from any distance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIOcNNcLxnU

These are more challenging but require manual reset
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02FNsp4-6NQ

I have an old 22 rifle without a front sight. Finally figured out what to do with it.

Use it to launch empty 12 gauge shells. First, shove a penny into the empty case to catch the bullet. Slip the empty shell over the muzzle and chamber the lowest powered 22 you have on hand. It doesn't take much. Shorts are good, low velocity (700 FPS) long rifles are even better. CB caps work well, also. With a LV load the empty shotgun shell will be launched about 5-600 feet!! Standard and high velocity shells are too powerful and will usually hole the penny. You actually get less range with them. The secret is to have the penny stop the bullet from exiting the empty shell. This way, the entire energy from the bullet is passed on to the empty shell.

I have been doing this for two years and several hundred shots. I have never had any trouble whatsoever with this process. No blowback toward the shooter....nothing. Shoot them straight up and see if your buddy can hit them with a shotgun on the way down. A lot of fun, and a good use for empty shotgun shells that are too old to be reloaded.

Before my Grandfather retired from DeSoto paint he was paid to dispose of discontinued paints. They all found their way down to the farm and have prevented rust over the decades since then. 20-25 years ago the aerosol paints all started to quit working and became neat targets.

Start with a paper towel set under the can and lit of fire, then run back and shoot.

The few times we did shoot glass, my Granddad brought cardboard boxes. Put the box on it's side, place the old jars, etc, inside and blast away. When you're done, simply turn the box right side up and carry it to the trash. Just don't keep using the same box over and over as the bottom will fail after a while and that's a bear to clean up out of the grass.

Other stuff was much less hassle, though, so we didn't shoot glass very often at all. Probably been 30 years or more and i don't see myself introducing my own kids to it. Too much other stuff that's biodegradable and easier cleanup.

jmorris said:

Before my Grandfather retired from DeSoto paint he was paid to dispose of discontinued paints. They all found their way down to the farm and have prevented rust over the decades since then. 20-25 years ago the aerosol paints all started to quit working and became neat targets.

Start with a paper towel set under the can and lit of fire, then run back and shoot.

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That's too cool! Thanks for the pic's!

Jmorris, now THAT looks like fun! I am visualizing this at night. If you REALLY want a BIG bang, shoot a plastic bottle filled with gasoline with a 22-250..... ten yards upwind of a lit candle. This is very dangerous, and the resultant explosion will rival a stick or two of dynamite. It is quite literally a fuel-air explosive. Do this too close to your house and you may lose some windows. It will also probably attract the attention of the Sheriff's office. A pound of Tannerite is nothing by comparison.

I would not recommend doing this unless your nearest neighbor is at least a mile or two distant. I'm lucky where I live, there are so many Tannerite explosions, and automatic weapons being fired in my area the local Law enforcement agencies don't even bother to investigate. Armalite, Springfield Armory and Rock River Arms are all within fifteen miles of my house, and there are several ranges in the area where they shoot their class III toys.

Nothing like the sweet sound of an automatic weapon in the morning.... Sounds as good as Napalm smells!!

Back 50 years ago or slightly more, a friend's Dad had a TV repair shop. Lots of picture tubes in various sizes. Hit them from 100' or so with a 22 and they make a pretty good bang when they implode.

Pumpkins and watermelons are loads of fun with high power firearms. Wildlife will clean it up pretty quickly.

We've had a couple of large wildfires here in Utah from people shooting "fun" targets. One was caused by some jokers shooting a propane canister with a road flare strapped to it. Another was caused by some homemade "tannerite". My understanding is that regular tannerite won't ignite brush and grass, but some of the homebrew stuff is quite incendiary.

We've done a couple of service projects where we clean up the results of other peoples "fun targets". Everything from TVs and computers to desks and couches to what looked to be expired food-storage. There was even an aluminum 4-cylinder engine block that had been shot up.

Our version of "exploding target" is 2-liter bottles of the cheapest soda that we can find. It's great, especially when hit with varmint bullets. We also shoot lots of canned soda. We'll set up a dozen from between 100 and 300 yards and see who can hit them all with the lowest number of rounds used. Ice blocks are great for demonstrating the power of high powered rifles. A 30-06 will effectively turn one into snow with one shot.

The most interesting thing I've ever shot was an old can of refrigerant. It was one of the small cans and it exploded when I hit it. It formed a cloud of what looked like snow that started to drift downward and then disappeared as quickly as it appeared. I've shot others since then and I've never been able to get it to happen again.

Matt

A five pound bag of cheap flour draped over a pound of Tannerite makes a good 20-30 foot around fireball when shot with say a 308 and is safer than gasoline or propane.

For me it's potatoes. My wife always buys too many of 'em.

Potatoes should be the projectile, not the target.....

I work in facilities in an office building. I received a call from a tenant one day:
"We have several cases of expired soda in our storage room. Do you guys have a flat cart and could you help us get rid of this?"

I'll be right there!!

Aluminum soda cans filled with water are great for 22LR. Plastic soda bottles are great for .357mag and center fire rifles. As already mentioned, the plastic bottles can be transported to the range already filled. The plastic bottles are impressive when hit, but they tend to split open and not break apart in a bunch of small pieces, so much easier to clean up.

I've shot plastic soda bottles water filled with a .223 FMJ. Not impressed as there is a .22 hole in front and a split in back.

joem1945 said:

I've shot plastic soda bottles water filled with a .223 FMJ. Not impressed as there is a .22 hole in front and a split in back.

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Shoot it with a v-max or speer TNT and it will be a different story. It'll be even better if the contents are still carbonated.

Matt

the range/club I belong to in Ashland, ky is open to members only and a pass key is needed to enter. there is several ranges and all are open except the 600 yard range. It's open only on the weekend when a range officer is present. Dues are only $50.00 per year .Scholarships and awards are presented to the younger members with several shoots for the younger set. Sorry, I know this has nonthing to do with finding a range it Northern Ohio, but if in Mansfield I can shoot on my sister's farm.