Does anyone else still shoot bottles and cans

[CajunBass]

Yea. I get a kick out of shooting cans. Did this one with an air rifle, off the deck.



I love to shoot glass bottles, but like everyone else, I haven't done it in years.

 

[jeepguy]

no bottles or cans but i have been known to shoot evil bowling pins.

 

[wishin]

I prefer bottles, cans, golf balls, rocks, etc., over paper targets. Unfortunately, our county range only allows paper.

 

[NMGonzo]

Well ... I just got me a decent sized cooler. Now, I should get some paper cups and fill them up with water and freeze them.

That will do as a reactive target I believe.

OR

Get some food die and let the chunks of ice be orange or bright yellow and reuse the ice - making container.

OR

Make a BIGGER blocks of ice so I can chip them into small crushed ice.

I guess the game warden would be O.K. with the idea.

 

[NMGonzo]

I prefer bottles, cans, golf balls, rocks, etc., over paper targets. Unfortunately, our county range only allows paper.

I do need to pick up 100 or so count of golf balls from my buddy.

Former boss of mine gave us a duffel bag full of them!

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

On private property with permission of the owner, it is fine. Making a soda can "dance" is a great deal of fun, but pick it up afterwards, being careful of sharp edges. I will also admit to having busted more than one bottle in my time and enjoying watching them shatter, but I would not recommend this today as broken glass is a hazard to yourself or others who may come along later. If you want to see things explode or shatter, try things like crackers, cookies, fruit and such. What doesn't biodegrade will be eaten by the wildlife.

 

[jcwit]

Bottles and cans, not much, but I shot a groundhog and a tree squirrel today . . . do those count?

Squirrels are in season in NE Ohio right now?

Poaching is not a High Road activity.

 

[Gottahaveone]

Another good reactive target is charcoal briquettes. Make a nice puff when hit.
I have a comment about shooting cans that I can't post. It's not very High Road

 

[Jason_W]

Cans are fun, but I'm partial to fruits and veggies that are a little too far gone to eat. Apples and potatoes are a lot of fun. Things like squash and pumpkin have too much air space inside and don't really blow up in an interesting fashion.

Punching paper is useful, but to me it gets kind of boring after a while.

 

[oldbear]

As much as I hate to admit it there is nothing like watching a gallon jug filled with water and red dye #3 explode when it’s hit with a hot .357 round. I don’t do that to often but when I do it’s great fun.

 

[doc2rn]

I go to the grocery store every other weekend and pick up rotten fruit n veggies and freeze them. Great bio-degradable targets

 

[jhco50]

Cans are nice but I like to have the grandchildren shoot clay targets. We go up into the mountains and set them in trees and bushes, or cubbied into hard to shoot places. They all go to town. BTW, they won't let me shoot until they get to the really hard ones. Seems after 40 years and my trusty 9422, I don't miss much. Again, I'm over qualified... LOL!

 

[gunsandreligion]

a tomato with 22lr hp's, is a lot funner than any can or bottle imo. bottles are fun, but I'v never made a contraption that cought the peices.

 

[hso]

Glass - No

Plastic and metals that can be easily recycled even after shooting - sure

 

[Kentucky_Rifleman]

For a good reactive target, you need:

2 - lengths of 3/4" or 7/8" PVC (4 ft or so)
4 - "T" joints
2 - sections of 1/2 rebar (concrete reinforcing rod) 7 feet or so long
24 - binder clips from any office supply
1 ball of thin nylon twine
1 box of clay shotgun tartgets (pigeons)

Glue the tees to the ends of the PVC pipe. Lay the pipe on a hard flat surface while the joints dry. This will keep the tees aligned with each other.

Drive the rebar rods into the ground so that the PVC crosspieces will slide down over the rods.

Clip the binder clips to the rebar to hold the PVC crosspieces at the correct heights.

Cut the nylon twine into several pieces evenly divided between 12" and 6" lengths.

Tie one end of the twine around the PVC crossbraces and tie the other end to a binder clip.

Clip the edge of a clay pigeon and let it hang to create a good reactive target.

Space out several hanging targets across each PVC crossbrace.

I've used this target stand for years. If the clay pigeons aren't to your taste, hanging tin cans can also be fun.

After the initial investment (cheap at twice the price) the only expense is the pigeons (or whatever you care to make dance on the string).

I'll get some photos up tomorrow, but here's a diagram in the meantime.

KR

 

[gdesloge]

"Get some food die and let the chunks of ice be orange or bright yellow and reuse the ice - making container."


GREAT IDEA, NMGonzo!

I am going to try this.

I also have a case of the "biodegradable" orange clay pigeons (about $10.00 for 100, I believe). I use these at our range. Also, empty shotgun shells which have been left behind - they really jump if you hit them just right.

gd

 

[XxWINxX94]

Family drinks alot of soda and saves the cans to get the 10 cents in MI, so I just grab a few and use those. Great fun with a .22.

 

[jojo200517]

Humm I used to love to shoot glass bottles and light bulbs with my pellet gun back in the day but I hated to clean them up, i'd lay an old 55 gallon drum on the side and sit the glass stuff to shoot inside it and shoot at it like that. Caught the pieces and wasn't nearly has hard to clean up. I suppose you could do the same with a normal firearm but the holes it'd make in the bottom of the barrel would let a few pieces out probably when ya tried to dump it. I never have shot at balloons but I bet hanging from a string on a even slightly windy day would be a big challenge. It is also a blast to shoot at a tennis ball and make it dance along.

I like the idea of potato gun trap but you'd have to find a semi automatic potato gun and trap shooters that weren't picky about the targets not being orange.

Since its politics time around my area, i'm picking up all the signs that the candidates leave behind after the elections. The corrugated plastic is great for stick on targets, comes with its own holder stand thing and will outlast cardboard by a long ways. Or ya can practice shooting the centers out of letters and such.

 

[irishelcid]

I killed some cans the other day with a .22 SA. there's just something satisfying about a can barely being held together when you're done with it

 

[Oyeboten]

The Range ( outdoor ) I belong to does not permit it.


When I used to shoot at a different, farther outdoor Range, who did permit it, I liked to shoot disused Fax Machines, small Appliances, Desk Telephones, Alarm Clocks, Toasters, Toys, Barbi-Dolls, Cans of Spray Paint, Shaving Cream, Hair Spray ( build a little fire next to it first if it is flamable ) Troll-Dolls, Base Balls, Golf Balls, and other fun smallish size things.

I would spend whatever time it took to clean it all up afterward, and, bring it home with me to put into the Trash, or, find a Handy Dumpster on the way Home.


I stayed away from Glass, since it is a hassle to clean up afterward.


I think one should always leave things no worse for one having been there, than it had been before one was there...or, leave it a little better even, for one's having been there, when possible.

 

[oldfool]

carrying a pair of 15 oz orange juice bottles (plastic, not glass) to the range every trip serves multiple purposes for me... once emptied they bounce rather nicely at 15 yards when doing "rapid" fire DA revolver practice

and it's fun once in a while to capture a perfectly mushroomed 17HMR bullet in one, laid on end and full of water at 60 yards
can use 'em after for DA revolver practice
or park 'em on the 100 yard berm wall for SA revolver practice

but mostly I have learned to love the hard foam practice golfballs and other various sizes of similar commonly found in the toy department
they bounce really high when hit just right, and can take an amazing number of hits w/ rimfire, and a surprising number of hits with centerfire

tie a foam golfball to spiderwire (use a carpet needle to thread), and a key ring to hang off a stick of PVC
makes a great swinger target
varying distances for varying gun/calibers
bonus points for hitting on the swing, and bonus points for extra revolutions

always mind your backdrop
and always pick up after yourself

 

[Ky Larry]

I was at a public range a few months ago and met a guy with 2 little boys (about 4 and 6). Evidently mom was over run with McDonalds Happy Meal toys and had decided to get rid of them. They had a fun range session disposing of a lot of household clutter.
I hate cucumbers, green peppers, and zuchini. In season, these are some of my favorite targets for my .22lrs. No cleanup and I always feel better after shooting a bunch of bad vegetables.

 

[22-rimfire]

No bottle shooting any more. Too much hassle to clean up afterwards. I do really like to poke holes in cans of varying size. Shoot what you like (safely) and then clean up afterwards.

 

[W.E.G.]

Pretty much just zombies these days.

But if one stole my beer, I'd try to shoot the zombie OFF the bottle.

 

[Gryffydd]

When I go to public outdoor shooting areas there's usually already plenty of trash lying around, I don't really need to bring my own targets. I just shoot up whatever cans and whatnot are already there and then take a couple garbage bags home with me. That way I'm having fun shooting free targets and cleaning the place up as well. Otherwise filling up containers of various kinds with water and shooting them is always a lot of fun. I haven't tried the ice thing, but that could be fun too.

For reactive shooting a fun one is to tie an empty 1lb Propane cylinder on a piece of cord a few feet long and hang it from something safe. Lots of movement when hit, makes followup shots challenging, and lasts for a LOT of rounds before it's worn out.

I am wanting to build a spud gun for some modified trap shooting.

I suppose you might be able to tone it down a bit with a compressed air or hairspray powered cannon, but my propane powered spud gun fires spuds at way, way too high of velocity to hit them with a shotgun. To give you some perspective, from 10' it'll send a potato 1.5" in diameter in one side of an empty cardboard box and out the other without making the box move. That's some pretty serious speed. And with propane if you try to reduce the charge your fuel-air mixture gets off and it won't ignite at all.