Non-Targets That Become Targets

[mcdonl]

I have been so focused on getting my handloads tuned in, that all I have been shooting at is paper targets.

I usually shoot a fair amount of ballons though, as when pinned to the target stand they are easy to clean up and are good reactive targets.

 

[Furncliff]

Ice

It is kind of pain but if you can think ahead, fill a few of those pint size containers that you get your cole slaw in, with water and freeze. Pop the ice out of your container and set them on edge. The target is about 6 inches across and makes a satisfying effect when hit.

No cleanup required.

 

[Promod1385]

We usually have a couple old TV's or computer monitors show up in deer camp every year for sighting in purposes. We shoot them and then burn/bury the remnants just like the rest of the farm trash.

 

[oneounceload]

simple soup cans of the heavier gauge than soda cans - those, golf balls and old bowling pins will last a long time with a .22

 

[Paulgibs]

Leftover decorative pumpkins and squash. A local produce outlet had a big sale after Thanksgiving, and I backed up the truck. We have a range on the property and now the seeds are everywhere. Come spring, I'm expecting a bumper crop of targets.

 

[ArmedLiberal]

Pepsi cans.

Give em a real good throw and blast em with a shotgun.

Use Diet so it's not so sticky to pick them up and bag them.

 

[USMC - Retired]

I have a friend who's wife goes to garage sales all year long and buys indiviual dinner plates. At Thanksgiving everyone eats off of a different patern of plate. Then after dinner instead of doing dishes they take them out back, prop em on a fence rail and enjoy some family shootin.

Would never work with my family. Too dangerous gettin them all gathered for Thanksgiving, much less puttin guns in thier hands!

 

[rondog]

With a piece of cardboard and some Elmer's Glue, you can glue all kinds of things to the cardboard, like cheap cookies and crackers, Vanilla Wafers, ginger snaps, Necco wafers, etc. Things that taste nasty to begin with are the best, so you're not wasting cookies that actually taste good.

Necco wafers just suck as candy, but make great targets for .22 rifles. Pretty much anything small that will shatter with satisfaction.

Golf balls are fun, so are soda/beer cans full of water. Very satisfying to hit soda cans of water at 100 yards with an old milsurp rifle and iron sights! 1 gallon milk jugs full of water at 600 yards with an M1 is great sport too.

 

[RimfireChris]

Those little bottles that the 5 hour energy drinks come in are a fvorite of mine, challenging and if you hit one just right they'll really jump in the air. I also happen to be a fan of tomatoes, melons or other gooey and biodegradable delights. And cupcakes, I really hate them.

 

[357 Terms]

Tannerite and stuffed animals is funny. We use this adhesive at work that comes in a metal cannister a lil smaller than a propane tank, they are thinner than a propane tank but still last a long time with pistol shooting. We have an old chest freezer on a buddies property that is vented pretty good now.

 

[Webbj0219]

Back when I workd for Dish Network I used to keep the old Sat Dishs I got off of customers houses. The company never asked for them back. The receivers the did want back, any of the other hardware was fair game. I would shove a few dishs into the desert sand out in no-mans land Nevada aka BLM. Stager them at various distances. Ahh good times. the shots would show up nicely making holes in the metal, plus youd get the metalic ting noise. those where my favorite targets.

 

[Durty]

All good, well-thought out targets. I am going to try the charcoal briquette idea. I like how cheap it is and you don't have to clean it up afterwards. And I wish I had a few old satellite dishes laying around! Every so often, I enjoy cutting a hole in a melon or pumpkin and filling it with water. Makes a great explosion from 300 yards. A buddy of mine has some property with a big ditch that is full of old trash. Countless glass bottles, cans, dishwashers, and old car, plates and other random dishes, etc. Its fun to load the truck with 5 or 6 different rifles and pistols, set the bottles and cans up at different distances and see who can hit each one first. My go-to long range targets are balloons stapled to a piece of plywood. Not exciting to talk about but very cheap and effective. ...As I sit and think of the fun we Americans have had over time shooting anything and everything, I feel sorry for those in others parts of the world that are not allowed by their governments to take part in similar activities.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I was disappointed in the saltine crackers I used for .22 rifle targets. They would not even break unless I clipped a corner; if I hit them dead center they would just get a hole drilled through them. Still, cookies, crackers, fruit, etc. usually shatter or even explode when hit, and there is no cleanup needed as the remains will either biodegrade or get eaten by birds.

 

[wishin]

Hit up the mom & pop stores that sell cookies and crackers, and other good target foodstuffs that get stale, or exceed their shelf life. When you get one that's cooperative, there's a never ending supply. Sometimes at no cost.

 

[OldFatMan]

Get some bowling pins from your local lanes. (They do replace them occasionally). You can shoot them for-ever! Almost indestructable and surprisingly hard to knock down even with high power rifles.

 

[jrpbullrider]

I shoot apples I hang in trees out where I hunt. they fly apart when hit and feed the deers and hogs when I go. it works out 2 ways for me.

 

[hso]

Hard rubber dog toys soap up an amazing amount of abuse. Hung from cross bars with some paracord they make great reactive targets.

Vanilla wafers (about all they're good for anyway).

Empty freon cylinders hung on paracord. Great to wrap a silhouette target around for greater challenge. They soak up a lot of abuse before being turned to swiss cheese and recycled.

Shooting junk and leaving it behind isn't something that any of us should do if we want to restore/retain our right/hobby/sport.

 

[Corey]

Other than paper targets, I use bowling pins and steel targets. Some great fun when I lived in Arizona many years ago was for Independance Day a group of friends would get together and shoot sticks of dynamite. A very challenging target but you definitely knew it when you hit one! Back then all fireworks were illegal in AZ, but if you were over 21 and had a valid ID you could buy dynamite.

 

[theory]

BullfrogKen: I'll hang golf balls from a string for practice at 100 yards with my rifle.

Speaking of golf balls and non-targets that became targets, I once killed a crow with a golf ball. When I was about 15 or so, my older brother bet me that I couldn't hit an old crow that was sitting in a tree at the other side of our yard (about 200 feet away). I figured that it would basically be impossible and rather inhumane to hit it, so I aimed my 3-wood at the trunk of the tree figuring I could scare it and trick my brother. That little Titleist golf ball flew beautifully, and low and behold I sliced the ball into the bird. It made the most horrific "UHHGG" / crow noise you've ever heard and hit the ground dead.

Both of us were in complete shock, and to this day, I wish I had stuffed that bird. I still have the 3-wood, and if I ever find a stuffed crow for sale, I think I'll have it re-mounted with a golf ball and that old driver.

 

[Wildbillz]

Bic lighter with a 22 makes a neat puff. I have not done that one in years though.

WB

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I know I don't have to tell anyone that flammable or explosive targets should be nowhere near any trees, grass or brush.

 

[SpentCasing]

my buddy and i used those little red driveway reflector stakes. the kind you stick in the ground around your driveway to outline at night. he lives out in the boonies,so no streetlights where he's at, everyone has them out there. and im a city boy, but we always had a good challenge with those. about a 2-3" dia. red reflector on a long stake. Oh and we make use of busted xbox360s too. me and all my friends always got at least a few busted ones on hand (RRoD)from over the years.

 

[Plain Old Bill]

Zombies, when I can find them....





(ok, ok...pictures of zombies....)

 

[CZguy]

I know I don't have to tell anyone that flammable or explosive targets should be nowhere near any trees, grass or brush.

Good point, I learned that at age nine (the hard way) but not everyone may have had the same opportunities.

 

[Pat M]

Empty small propane bottles....notice I wrote Empty! They're a good size and hold up better than aluminum cans.