Non-Targets That Become Targets

[otisrush]

As a variant on the "What Got Shot Today?" thread, I'm wondering what people shoot (not gun/caliber, but targets) that weren't made to be targets? Empty cans are obvious. I acquire plastic milk and 2-liter soda bottles, then fill them with water before we go to the range. Today my wife suggested we throw out a 1" thick solid wood cutting board because we don't use it any more. "Just go throw it in the trash." "I think I'll save it and take it to the range." A buddy buys the mega-cheap soda from Wal-Mart and gives them a good shake before firing. He also set up a 4 ft high piece of plywood and placed nails such that ginger snaps could be rested on the nails. It worked great for a .22 "plinkfest" we organized with some friends.

What things do folks take to the range (other than paper and spinners) to see what happens to them when they're shot?

OR

 

[Rail Driver]

charcoal pieces, smarties, M&Ms... Cadbury creme eggs are spectacular but expensive at $1.00/egg, and they taste too good to shoot them all up. Ritz crackers are great targets.

 

[Messenger Guard]

paper plates.

 

[lethal industry]

Cans of red spray paint. Expensive but worth a few shots with an AK.

 

[au01st]

I do the 2L bottles, filled with water, but I add a few drops of food coloring for my school colors. I'll line up 4-5 orange and blue bottles at the 50 yard mark and practice with my Remington "sluggers" or hollow point .45 at the 25 yard mark.

 

[kmcintosh78]

2 Liter bottles with water and 3-4 Alka-Seltzer.

 

[jwsracin]

cigarette packs

 

[Coolbreeze8804]

tannerite. Inside of unloved appliances.

And yes, we police the mess and I only shoot messy items on my own property...

 

[BullfrogKen]

I'll hang golf balls from a string for practice at 100 yards with my rifle. It makes a nice challenge when the wind blows them a bit, or I just give them a push on my way back to the line.


I'll get a big bag of party balloons for longer distances. It makes it nice not having to cease fire and go 700 yards downrange to check targets. If they pop, it's a hit. If not, it wasn't. I'll blow them up to various sizes depending on the distance. Fill them up with helium, tie them to string around a rock, and they make nice variable-range targets, too.

 

[donnie_19]

Check this video out. http://g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/exclusives/64615/OFASTS-Gun-Apocalypse.html

 

[Halv]

Anything I can fill with water and food coloring. Coffee containers are pretty good. Normally I shoot at cardboard boxes though, with computer paper and a drawn on dot. I'm going to make some targets tomorrow with Shepard hooks and some scrap metal.

 

[Nick5182]

used to be anything I was not really using, electronics, appliances, old toys. Now that I belong to a range it's just paper.

 

[brandon_mcg]

whatever is available that wont get me into trouble with the wifey.

but i pretty much stick to cardboard, paper plates, and handdrawn paper targets.

i have filled water bottles with sand and tied a string to the top of them and shoot them hanging from a tree.

 

[TimM]

Eggs with the .22

 

[bigfatdave]

A tennis ball on a string can provide an afternoon's enjoyment if coupled with a .22 handgun. (indoor)

You can hang a bottle wrapped in tape and stuffed with paper, too. It doesn't last as long but the spray of confetti you get from a good hit is fun. (indoor)

If you take a paper grocery bag, cut it the long (easy) way before unfolding it, and then cut out two of the remaining bottom seams, you get an approximation of a silhouette target (indoor)

I snag the junkiest pots and pans I can find at Goodwill/Salvation Army/yard sales and hang them up as gongs. (outdoor range)

Full bottles are great, cans, cups from the car's trash can, whatever I can fill at the pond (outdoor)

I've set up wood scrap on top of the target stand and knocked it down as a amateur bowling pin match.

Clay pigeons set on the backstop after the bubbas trashed the target stand were fun (outdoor)

And last but not least, one time it had just rained and I was feeling just plain lazy ... so I blasted mug-fountains out of the backstop from ~75 yards, simply aiming at random debris and clods. In fact I sighted in a set of Tech-Sights that day! (outdoor)

 

[BruceB]

Charcoal briquettes....inexpensive, shatter beautifully, smaller pieces are tougher targets, BIO-DEGRADABLE. I have to find a way to hang them up for more action...

 

[dacavasi]

anything made by a certain PRINTER manufacturer, one of whose 2 names begins with 'H'...

 

[killchain]

I have a cheap set of those spinner targets you can shoot with your .22, just stick that in the dirt and spin those all day.

A friend of mine sets up 12ga hulls on nails and shoots them off with his marlin .22.

Otherwise, I like to use paper plates or just shoot identifiable stuff on the ground, like bottles. Sometimes I'll buy a case of soda and as I drink the cans, just huck them out half-full and start popping them.

I try to shoot as little as possible at things like glass... impossible to clean up and, let's be honest, the less I have to police up afterwards the better, hahaha

 

[littlemike]

Plywood and lumber, of course. Also, dead light bulbs (where cleanup is not an issue). Old electronics and computer gear. Old spray cans. Pumpkins (and other fruits and vegetables).

 

[potmetal]

We used to get those AOL cd's in the mail all the time, and they used to have piles of them you could pick up for free at Walmart. I used lots of those in the past. Now I go to ranges that only allow paper targets, so the cd's are safe.

 

[Chopdoktor]

Hot water heaters are fantastic man-sized targets. I somehow acquired 3, and I'm on my 3rd, with over a thousand rounds in each. They are VERY tough, and represent a realistic sized target. Fun stuff. I've also done-in 2 filing cabinets and 2 washing machines. The way they look afterward could almost pass for art!

 

[rstull85]

I have used old bedroom doors before. They are big enough to hang plenty of targets and a good way to get rid of them if you are remodeling.

 

[CZguy]

If I can find eggs that have gone past their expiration date, they can be hard boiled and when shot with a .22, they explode!

Various critters in the back yard take care of the clean up.

 

[Kristensdaddy]

At our house we shoot food. When it is time to clean out the produce drawer we carry it to the pasture, throw it in the air and shoot it with the shotguns. Onions and potatos are by far the best. Oranges, apples, etc are great too. Just don't be downwind, the stuff rains down on you.

 

[pakmcc]

I do garage sales. I pick up any and all kiddies toys. it doesn't matter what age group. It doens't matter what it is. get whatever they have that's cheap. I have a friend with land in the woods. I take the "loot" up there and I supply the guns and ammo and we shoot what ever I bring. "O" my friend supplys the food. he has clearning out it 100 yards. He through the recoil on my Hurgian steyr with lead bullets was a little stiff. But it's a fun shoot with AR's
Pat