Improvised Plinking Targets, lets hear what you use

Status
Not open for further replies.
My last trip I took out a box of ~3" tiles and had a great time blasting them apart. Unfortunately they were a pain to clean up.


I have 2 old bowling balls sitting here that I got from Savers for like $3 each. I imagine it will be worth the cleanup time.


I normally just bring some scrap wood and pick up whatever I see dumped on the way. A lot of dumping goes on in that area unfortunately. Cinder blocks/bricks are pretty easy to find around there and are a blast to shoot.
 
Cinder blocks are awesome. Just keep shooting the pieces until there is nothing left but sand.

Those little fist-sized chunks can just be laid in the dirt of the backstop, where they will explode nicely when hit with rifle fire. It's also fun to use a .22 semiauto to slowly chew a hole through a fresh block.

I find I do a lot of shooting now with those colabri primer-powered .22 loads. They are only about as powerful as a good airgun. I live in a rural area, so it's safe to shoot these things in any direction, even up. With these rounds, anything is a target - pine cones, berries, leaves floating on the pond, things you'd never dare shoot with a regular .22 rifle. A good steel can on a string will last forever, and ring each time you hit it.
 
MikeJackmin
I'm not familiar with these 'colabri' loads. Are they quiet? Expensive? Thanks in advance.
Biker
 
Biker, Aguila (of mexico) makes two types of Colibri rounds for the .22.

The Colibri fires a 20 grain bullet at ~350 fps and the Super Colibri fires a 20 grain bullet a ~500 fps.

The colibri is very quiet, and sometimes barely goes through a can. the super will make your ears ring from a handgun but is much more stout-it will drop a bird or chipmunk.

I use the colibri to shoot inside with my boys using a Bearcat or an old High Standard Revolver.

Kar-el
 
My favorite tagets are steel plates that I had welded onto 4' lengths of channel iron to jam into the ground. I kinda ruined one by shooting it with my .54 GPR. The steel has held up, but the divits make it a little unsafe for close-in pistol shooting.

I too am a Colibri/Super Colibri shooter. I have several cans stuck on an alder bush behind my house that I shoot from my bedroom.

I also have a damaged oak drawer in my kitchen where the Supers finally chewed through my plywood backstop and hit my oak cabinets.:eek: The good news is the damaged area is still a very tight group.:D
 
Proceed with all due caution and take an unbrella :)

I took a pumpkin that weighed about 20 pounds. Using a pearing knife, I cut a VERY tiny hole, not to exceed about .5 of an inch. Taking my time, I completely fill the pumpkin's interior with water...simple H2O. Next, I replace the plug and pushed a toothpick through to help keep it sealed.

I took my favorite .338 Win. Mag. handloads (a 200 grain, Speer Hot Core loaded with Acurate Arms 3100 powder and a Fed. 215 primer, producing a sizzling 3171 F.P.S.). THAT IS ONE HOT LOAD! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DUPLICATE!

I zeroed my scope for 25 yards or 100 yards (same general point of impact). I set the water-laiden pumkin at 25 yards and drew a nice X about 2/3 the way down, and dead-center.

We all saw nothing but orange pulp when I fired. It rained orange for some time.

I've often been tempted to try this with a .378 Wea, loaded with sizzling 235 grain loads. :) :what:

Doc2005
 
After holloween there will be a great sale on pumpkins, I've seen 5 for a dollar. We have good times with that. Then after Christmas, those Christmas tree bulb ornaments go on sale for around 70-90% off. Those are great targets, and for easy cleanup, just throw a big tarp below your shooting area.
 
Plinking target

Styrofoam dinner plates,with the bowl side facing you with a 2 in square of duct tape to aim at. The bowl shape of the plate will show a "hit" almost like a shoot-n-see target.
 
for the youngsters in the backyard...


Animal Crackers!

Lion hunting with a bb gun has never been more exciting!

Really.

Birds/squirrels handle the biodegradable clean-up, you can have a bit of fun with an Audobon guide and the young ones afterwards seeing what comes to eat the animal crackers.

If you lay down a good canvas tarp as a backstop/trap you can collect most of your bb's too.

Pop cans are still a favorite with the 22's and bowling pins for the centerfires... as always, pack out your trash. I can't tell you how much fun we had as kids making pop cans dance with a .22... they can be quite the fun 'reactive' target.
 
+1 on the spent 12ga shells. These were fun and easy to hit from my mkII 22/45. I wish I was that accurate with my .44.
 
From the archive, quoting myself:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=49132

Biodegradable targets:
Ice, suspended
Fruit, leftovers from grocery store or excess droppings from trees
Tortillas
Eggs (either left over from Easter or just extras)
Candy - leftovers from Easter, Valentines, Halloween
Necco wafers
Vanilla wafers
Saltine crackers

Targets that will take a beating:
Tennis balls suspended
Propane tanks (empty) suspended
Pots and pans destined for garbage, suspended
Bowling pins

Targets that are cool but require cleanup:
Balloons, air filled
Balloons, water filled
Balloons, ice filled
Playing cards
Bright colored post-its
Empty 12-gauge shells suspended by floss
AOL CDs
 
I like to shoot at those darn "kid's meal" toys that my kids bring home and leave all over the house. "Dad have you seen my spongebob toy??????" "Not since yesterday honey........"

Scott
 
a buddy of mine is a butcher, and once he was left with 8 smoked country hams destined for the garbage. we used them to test hollowpoint expansion :D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top