Fun Targets

C.R. said:

balloons are fun to shoot. inflated and tied to something ,they move a bit if there is any breeze so you have to pick your shot , you know if you hit it, and clean up is easy

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Another fun thing about balloons is that the bullet impacts upon them doesn’t have much effect on its path, so you can extend the play from the first one.

Like hitting multiple as the bullet goes down range.



Slow things down or make the distance longer and you can even see they are not level/the trajectory of the projectile. Also hear each hit on the way down. Was fun to me at least.

1976B.L.Johns. said:

jmorris' post made me remember this of years ago...I am not advocating this, (especially now, being so dry that I am afraid my spit may spark a fire)

A gallon size jug filled with gasoline with a glowing road flare 2-3 feet away. Done in Winter with snow on the ground here.

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I don’t know if there is a such thing as a safe flame thrower reactive target, this is the safest one I have made though.



Lots of people enjoy the sound of hitting a high pressure cylinder, with the bottom cut off, like a giant bulletproof wind chime. Hard to get any other gong to ring as loud as one of them.





I have spent a lot of time with TX star targets not sure if it was for fun or to make them a normal target for me. I was not a fan until I built a couple and figured them out to the point of being just another target.



I imagine I use my auto reset targets more than anything else, can be used at any range and are ready to be shot down again, by the time I am reloaded, without having to reset them and never having to pick up trash.

^^^ I've said it before, enjoy your engineering jmorris!!!^^^

Bits of sidewalk chalk, q-tips, playing cards. 3 q tips off hand at 10 yards can take all afternoon.

jmorris said:

I don’t know if there is a such thing as a safe flame thrower reactive target, this is the safest one I have made though.



Lots of people enjoy the sound of hitting a high pressure cylinder, with the bottom cut off, like a giant bulletproof wind chime. Hard to get any other gong to ring as loud as one of them.





I have spent a lot of time with TX star targets not sure if it was for fun or to make them a normal target for me. I was not a fan until I built a couple and figured them out to the point of being just another target.



I imagine I use my auto reset targets more than anything else, can be used at any range and are ready to be shot down again, by the time I am reloaded, without having to reset them and never having to pick up trash.

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I have tried some of those .22lr cal flaming reactive targets. It didn't go off until I put it in the trash can, then it set the trash can on fire. It was smoking after shooting it so I laid it on the ground & put up another target, after it quit smoking i tossed it in the trash. It wasn't long the trash can was flaming, thank goodness it was a metal can.

I've cut saplings/small trees down. Takes quite a number of .22 to do that.

Those Sycamore puffballs on a breezy day are a challenge.

Cockroaches. Generally in an old barn, though.

Cheap soda cans, cheap water bottles.

Shotgun shells.

Clay shotgun targets.

Golf balls.

Anything that makes shooting fun, especially for the young and the new.

I always bring several trash bags as part of the "leave the range cleaner than you found it" because invariably there will be at least a little trash from someone else.

At least you guys have engineering skills.

Those look like fun targets.

Our fancy private club allows only non-magnum handgun rds. to be used on their numerous metal plates in Action Pistol "alleyways".
Some .223 rds. supposedly cracked either a few rivets or some other area on <<< one or two steel plates .<<<. They have about fifty of these, both small round, and very large rectangular (3' or so), on numerous stands.

AK Hunter said:

I have tried some of those .22lr cal flaming reactive targets. It didn't go off until I put it in the trash can, then it set the trash can on fire. It was smoking after shooting it so I laid it on the ground & put up another target, after it quit smoking i tossed it in the trash. It wasn't long the trash can was flaming, thank goodness it was a metal can.

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That one is homemade, it’s an aluminum tank with half gasoline and 125psi air on top connected to a fuel injector from a dodge demon, activated by a shock sensor. Fun to play with but not a kids toy on several different levels.

Used the same shock sensor to activate a “running target” I made, but I actually using it as “moving cover” (on its lowest speed) the shooter had to keep up with. We used it in a few club matches and at a regional match MVSA put on. The cover doesn’t take off until the blast of the first shot activates the old drill motor. It was enjoyed by many but even some of them cussed at it.





Also on this one



There are other fun ones that get even more dangerous, Oxy/act is as loud or louder than any amount of tannerite I have shot but it is so much more unstable I wouldn’t suggest anyone mess with it.

Growing up in the Texas Hill Country we came across these paper wasp cones all the time. Usually deep within a Juniper Ash/Cedar Bush some, like this one, were two to three feet. One thing you don't do is get close enough and throw a rock at one.

.22's at a distance of 50 yds was the game. .25 cents a shot to hit the stem not the cone. If we hit the cone the wasps would empty and circle about ten yards out and return.

On a double dog dare a friend hit an exceptionally large one at about 40 feet with 12ga buckshot. The black cloud that formed had nowhere to return to so they came looking. I guess it was our running that attracted them but we were able to get inside the pick up right before they began their Kamikaze attack. We slowly drove away and that cloud of wasps stayed with us till we reached the blacktop and got up to 30 mph.

Unfortunately I don’t have a very good video of all of these together. There are IR sensors being used, the first sensor/reflector pair are under the yellow paint can lids to the left and right of center (I walk around at the start of the video and through setting off the chain reaction at the end). The second set is activated by the swinging target on the left in the back with blue and red paint can lids on that IR sensor/reflector pair.

The dual pop up and turning targets (self resetting and can activate additional targets upon presentation or reset) are much like a pair of windshield wipers that have adjustable delay timers I built for presentation (from 0 “pause”-10 second presentation) the swinger, drop turn and double swinger are all solenoid activated.

So in the video I am resetting the double swinger, then drop turn and single swinger. Upon breaking the first beam, the two turning targets with the no shoot activate. As they return the single swinger is activated and at full left breaks the beam for the two pop up targets with no shoot. When they reset, the drop turn in the back and the double swinger are both activated. The double swinger s always been one of my favorite builds because you can get a fast shot it at more risk than waiting for more separation.



The plate racks I posted before can also power other targets while resetting, like the pinwheel on the right of this also old and grainy video.

It's not reactive, but it can be fun if you're shooting with a friend or friends. You shoot 7 cards each, and best 5 card poker hand wins. Losers owe the winner a box of ammo is our standard bet. I have PDF files of several targets like this, but the poker one is definitely my favorite.

I picked up a new AR500 target at lunch today and grabbed a shovel after work. Been eye'n this spot on my hill to reach beyond 200yds. Can't wait till tomorrow...
View attachment 1019443

BigBL87 said:

It's not reactive, but it can be fun if you're shooting with a friend or friends. You shoot 7 cards each, and best 5 card poker hand wins. Losers owe the winner a box of ammo is our standard bet. I have PDF files of several targets like this, but the poker one is definitely my favorite.

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You could get clever with it and go for the best pair to add a time pressure component to it.

I used to shoot playing cards with a BB gun when I was a kid.

Each card was loaded with diamonds, hearts, spades, and clubs, each one representing a separate bullseye. The goal was one BB for each bullseye on a card.

Learned a new one, in one of my wife's cousin's farm. He had a couple of cases of 1/2 empty two liter bottles of cheap soda , he would drop a menthos and cap it quickly.
You have a few minutes before pressure overtakes the bottle, hitting them with 22 handguns made a great fountain, sometimes they exploded if there was enough pressure.

Another fun target I've done is to hollow out a watermelon or pumpkin, put a container of tannerite inside, and shoot with a rifle at 100 yards. Pretty spectacular when it goes.

Easter eggs. Any variety. We have the normal egg hunt for the kids but then the cracked plastic eggs or any candy that has been accidentally opened or messed up then they go on the firing line. Lay out a tarp and hand eggs from trees using fishing line. If it’s dry, filling them with dust is great, but I have also used chalk and baby powder just for effect.

WestKentucky said:

Easter eggs. Any variety. We have the normal egg hunt for the kids but then the cracked plastic eggs or any candy that has been accidentally opened or messed up then they go on the firing line. Lay out a tarp and hand eggs from trees using fishing line. If it’s dry, filling them with dust is great, but I have also used chalk and baby powder just for effect.

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This is a good idea. Here in San Antonio they sell "Cascarones" which are empty egg shells filled with confetti . I'm sure that would make a great effect and paper is biodegradable .

BigBL87 can you share that poker target file with me? The site is gone now.

When you can find them ,travel size shaving cream works well. Used to get cases at the dollar store pretty cheap. Man they make a great white poof and go away ,no mess.

We have set of steel knock overs for the 22's (1/4thick for small caliber only) & bigger 1/2 size ones for larger calibers. Something like this
https://magnumtarget.com/products/s...overs-38in-thk-steel-pistol-shooting-targets/
We try to keep our range clean and these will last forever & have easily paid for themselves over the years.

We sit in the shade on an elevated tank dam and blast dirt clods in our freshly plowed field. If you don't manage your dirt clods you will really run into problems down the road...so to speak.

ms6852 said:

With my 22's I like to glue paint balls to a poster board and shoot them at a 100 yards. Oh...start at the bottom and work your way up.

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Maybe you could sell them at a flea market as "shot art" pieces.

JTHunter said:

Maybe you could sell them at a flea market as "shot art" pieces.

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I could give Picasso a run for his money