cheap, easy, homemade reactive targets

I live on a farm and I rarely go to a range and shoot; I just walk about my back door.
Paper and cans are a pain since you either have to go clean them up or(hides from environmentalists) keep shooting them until they sink.

I found one of these 5lb flat plate weight laying around the garage that used to go on a 1inch weightlifting bar.

We rigged that up where it cant fall over and had some fun trying to shoot through that little 1 inch hold in the center of it with a .22. It's got a nice high-pitched "dink" when you miss the hole and hit the weight. A single weight like that would be cheap at walmart 6-10$.

I guess if you just wanted "reactive" for the sake of it you could pack that center hole full of flour and shoot it out. You should be able to find 5lbs of flour for less than 2bux.

Lisa's hotcakes [Green Acres]

Very warm soda with a 30-06 is cool. Freezing water in plastic bottle then cut the bottle away and shoot the ice, thats ok. My favorite is the ammonium nitrate mix you can get in some states.

+1 on paintballs.

I've also used the extra orange foam earplugs that I always bring for other shooters.

(of course, not the ones I actually give to people-- that would be dangerous and irresponsible.)

Bowling pins suspended are great

Bowling pins suspended with rope, chain or cable, old plastic hard hats found beside the road, exploding targets bought at gun supply stores, old hub caps, fish or hog heads. Use your imagination. (pics of old girl friends that have done you wrong),

If you have a welder in the crowd, get a length of threaded rod, weld some nuts to some flat iron, shoot them make them go up and down on the rod, or either side to side. Some pieces of flat thin steel, fix them whete they will flop over when hit. The little thump or ping sound thay make when hit is cool. We used to have some old cow bells, but the didnt last too long.

Fix up a tic tac toe target, use clay piegons inserted into the holes in the layout.

PLUS 1 for claude clay, better watch out for the ricochet, no telling where it will end up at.

Well, if you want TRULY reactive you can try what a less than sane neighbor built when I was growing up...

You take a 55 gallon oil drum, weld a plate with a hole just big enough to accept a 12 ga shotshell. Then you attach a plate on a hinge with a small bolt that rests against the primer. Set the drum at the desired range lift the top plate, insert the shotshell and gently lower the top plate.

If this sounds like a good idea to you get professional help immediately!

Selena

If this sounds like a good idea to you get professional help immediately!

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Wellllll...
Actually...

I hate shooting gongs at long range. Can't hear the hit and usually can't see it.

The setup you describe at 2, 3 or 400 yards would actually work quite well as a reactive target. It'd kind'a suck having to walk out there to reset it every shot but then I'd bet you could put at least 5 plates and shells on the thing. Use 20ga instead of 12 and birdshot. The barrel traps the shot, makes a hell of a WHONGGGGG when set off and the plate flips back up for a decent visual.

Nope...
Don't see the down side there at all assuming the thing is built right.

JackBurtonJr said:

Flies...

Here's how you do it. Get piece of cardboard and dab a good smear of juice from a package of meat across the front. Let it sit out for about 20 minutes to begin to attact the critters.

When a fly lands - boom!

Best done with a .22 as that leaves evidence of a hit behind as a ring around the hole. Anything bigger than that kinda obliterates the target.

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Seriously?

Assuming you're not kidding (and I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because my Uncle could shoot doves on the wing with a 22 and do dime size groups all day at 50 yards with a 22) what range to you shoot at.

If you are kidding then just color me

I use a funnel to fill balloons with a bit of baby powder, then blow up the balloon. A cool "puff" of "smoke" when hit. Blue or red chaulk powder (used for snapping straight lines) gives colored puffs.

KK

milk jugs or laundry detergent bottles half filled with water and swing em from a tree limb

Hedge apples are a lot of fun, too.

but then I'd bet you could put at least 5 plates and shells on the thing.

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I don't think so, the recoil from the first would either set off one or more of the others. And the barrell would not contain the birdshot without solid bracing behind. Plastic shot or rock salt maybe but even bird shot would have enough velocity to penetrate.

Item last: get professional help!

Moth balls, marbles and jelly beans at 100 yards.

you know, i just had a thought. (i know, that's SCAREY!) what about a quart sized ziplock bag, spray a little spray foam insulation into the bag. as it swells, it will fill the bag. you should be able to make a LOT of 3 d targets with one can, and a box of ziplocks.

the barrell would not contain the birdshot without solid bracing behind. Plastic shot or rock salt maybe but even bird shot would have enough velocity to penetrate.

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If the there isn't anything around the shotgun shell the shot wouldn't be going very fast. It would need something like a gun barrel to get up to any real speed.

Propane cylinder next to a road flare. But only at a very good distance in a very isolate location.

Check out the You Tube vids of Heather Le Croix some time. Hot chick that loves a big boom and her 357. One vid she shoots a five gallon can of gas. She says "We're hillbillies, we do this **** all the time, but don't you try it."

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jeff3230, just love these.

Now, she's shooting several paint cans with like a .270 to make art which is for sale on ebay.

Railroad hold-down plates are everywhere. 5x5 size is half inch plate steel. its fun shootin holes thru them with a mosin ball cartridge or whatever.

GOLF BALLS on top of a tee at 200 yds with a 22lr. That a challenge. If plastic golf balls I use a syringe and fill them up with water or soda pop.

"Used" charcoal briquettes. After cooking with them (before they burn up completely), dump the briquettes in water. Take them out and let them dry. They make great BB and pellet gun targets because they are small, and they powder when you hit them.

plastic bottles

" I like the plastic soda bottles, they don't break up into tiny pieces, can take lots of hits and react nicely when hit. If you hit the dirt below where a two liter bottle (empty) sits with a .308 you can launch it 30-40' feet in the air and do it again where lands next. Great fun and visually appealing to the bystanders. "

--wally.

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I like to use plastic 1-gallon water jugs (used). I buy alot of these anyway,so like the others here, I found a use for them as targets. As Wally mentioned above, they do not break up [like glass bottles], and are therefore easy to clean up.
Usually I fill to about an inch of water to stabilize them in the wind, and put a square strip of red duct tape on the selected side for a bullseye. Having exhausted the first side, I put tape on the next side for more shooting. Every now and then, I fill a jug to the top with water. One shot and you get a spectacular explosion. And you always have enough left to clean up and leave no evidence or trash about the grounds. Jolly good fun.

- JKHolman

Plastic bottle, milk jugs, OJ jugs, water bottles. Fill 3/4 with water, shove 2-5 alkaselzter tabs in each, and there you go.