How many of you have shot something more than a paper target at the range.

[twofourthree73]

The 1,629 thread got me to thinking. I suspect quite a few urban gun owners have never had the opportunity to shoot anything more than paper with their rifles and have little to no idea what the rounds will do to flesh or hard materials. A few might have had a chance to shoot some computer monitor or tv, depending if your range will allow it.

Got me to thinking what the percentages here were.

Have you shot anything more than range paper with your rifle?

Tell us what you've shot and what round you were using. Pics or descriptions of the damage are a plus.

I've shot everything from TV's, fridges, tree's, cement cinder blocks, steel I beams, old cars. All using calibers from .22 to 30-06 and shotguns. Even the smallest .22 can do a lot of damage.

 

[waterhouse]

Water jugs, cars, clay pigeons, cantaloupes, pumpkins, a turkey that went bad because of lost power, probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. Mostly using .22, .223, or .308.

 

[Tarvis]

I made a gong out of an old sprayer frame and a disc blade. Took a bit of cutting and welding, but it worked well for a while. The blade sounded really good at 700 yards until the middle piece I welded over the hole where the blade normally bolts to the plow axle started to come off. The problem with disc blades is they are made from very high carbon steel so they are very hard, but it makes it difficult to weld and very brittle.

165 gr Nosler ballistic tips from a 300 winmag put holes in it at 400 yards and was fine at 700, while 208 gr Hornady A-Max's put holes in it at 850 yards. I'm probably going to find a 3/8" thick piece of hard steel for the disc replacement.

 

[SamG.]

Well I've shot concrete blocks, VCRs, Old helmets, clays, IV bags, fruit, trees, steel plates, paper tagets, dirt, beer cans, milk jugs,....... list keeps on going. The most interesting thing would probably have to be an RC car that my brother was driving across the range.
Sam

 

[taliv]

i shot a peacock

 

[SVT93]

Other then pop cans with a BB gun, I've only ever shot paper targets. I really need to find another shooting range to go to.

 

[TeamPrecisionIT]

Shot a few fryer chickens just the other day but it wasn't at the 'range'. It was in the back of a friends property with an appropriate backstop.

Damian

 

[JImbothefiveth]

I have shot at pieces of wood, pop cans, water and gatorade bottles, and spinner targets. The spinners are my favorite, and once I can hit them easy, I just shoot them from farther away. The gatorade bottle filled with water left me unimpressed by the
.22's penetration.

 

[Bartkowski]

I shoot a fair amount of metal targets and water filled plastic bottles. Hopefully I will find a metal target that will hold up to .30-06 and similar cartridges without paying an arm and a leg.

 

[squirrel sniper]

trees, clays, pumpkins, 2 liter bottles, hills, watermelons, and cans

 

[Neo-Luddite]

The most interesting thing would probably have to be an RC car that my brother was driving across the range.

Now THAT sounds like it might be fun.

 

[rcmodel]

Too numerous to mention, or even remember them all.

Probably the most unlikely was a Model-A Ford pick-up my dad left in a ditch on his farm.
It was my 200 yard pistol target throughout high school.

Oh!
There was that loaded Hotchkiss two-pounder HE/AP round I found at a flea market!


Oh!
And the dynamite sticks!

Oh!
And the 100 yard half-dollar.

rcmodel

 

[herohog]

All I'm saying is never shoot a Torque Converter out of an automatic transmission with a .303 Enfield... they shoot back!

 

[scott22]

Probably the most unlikely was a Model-A Ford pick-up my dad left in a ditch on his farm.

As awesome as that is... it is also a darned shame!

 

[Tarvis]

My old man was telling me that a 357 mag when fired at mason jars full of peach preserves will blow syrup and peach chunks 15 yards in every direction.

 

[High Planes Drifter]

I shoot deer every year with my .30-06.

 

[rcmodel]

As awesome as that is... it is also a darned shame!

Yes, it is!

But that was almost 50 years ago.
Who would have thunk!

Once in the Army, I found my temporarily missing squad playing mumbly peg with their bayonets on a solid oak Winchester ice box someone had dumped on the back side of Ft. Riley KS!

rcmodel

 

[dagger dog]

I have the advantage of living within 40 miles Of Knob Creek Gun Range, they have a twice a year machine gun shoot that draws from all over the US and abroad.

The crowds are huge so I started going the week after. They don't start cleaning up the range until some time later, so all the cars, truck bodys, 55 gal. drums, empty oxygen tanks, you name it ,are fair game .It gives you a chance to see what your slug gun, highpower rifles, hand guns will do to hard targets.

The hunting question, well I've never seen an animal, that you couldn't kill with the correct caliber, and the well placed shot.

 

[Rifleman 173]

I got to shoot a Brahma bull one day at the range. It had escaped from a nearby slaughtering house and officials/public were worried what the thing might do if it came across an unsuspecting kid. Used a 12 gauge shotgun to kill the animal. That was one TOUGH animal but I got it done.

 

[HM2PAC]

Willy's Jeep at 500 yards with M2.

That has to be the funnest I've done personally.

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

Let's see amongst the non-paper targets I have shot there are:

Deer
Pheasant
Doves
Rabbits
Pigeons
Crows
Rattlesnakes
Ducks
Trees
Cans of Soda
Water Jugs
Clay Targets
Computer CPU's
Televisions
Fire Extinguishers
Shoes
Aluminum Deli Platters

 

[Omnivore]

Lets see: Water jugs, steel targets, clay targets, empty .22 LR cases, railroad tie-plates (a .308 will punch right through the lighter ones) an old chainsaw (10 mm pistol will strip the fins off the cylinder, but a 7.62 x 39 mm will punch right through) pumpkins, targets filled with high explosives (see boomershoot.org) rocks, cow pies (really fun-- try it) glass bottles (back when kids could go to the local dump and shoot stuff-- tons of fun) stumps, sticks, boards...
Then there's hunting: rabbits, quail, grouse and pheasants. My kid has shot several deer (yum), empty 12 gauge shells make good throwing targets-- sometimes you can hit one shell several times before it dissappears.

I've used many different calibers, .17 airgun to 50 BMG and 12 gauge, modern and black powder, single-shot to full auto.

 

[35 Whelen]

Had a Ruger 77V in 220 Swift for years. In addition to being insanely accurate, it never ceased to amaze me what a bullet running 4000 fps would do. I used to have an 18" piece of 2 3/8" oilfield pipe (steel). Soft point bullets from the Swift would penetrate both sides of the pipe. To this day I cannot figure that one out. The same bullets would absolutely vaporize oranges and horseapples. I once shot a cola can full of water at about 25 yds. All I could find remianing of it was the base which was actually embedded into the ground.

35W

 

[oldgold]

Tannerite in an old fire safe. Door went 50 yards up range.

 

[john917v]

Rifleman, what kind of shotgun loads were you using to take down that bull?

As far as me, I've shot at a bowling ball with Super Colibris out of a Mk2, at an old city bus with .22Lr, cactus, steel 1/4 in torso targets with .22lr, .17 HMR, and 12-ga. slugs. None penetrated, but they were knock-down targets. I'll post more when I think of it.