Shooting Games?

[Messenger Guard]

What kinds of shooting games have you devised. I find that gaming increases my ability. My shooting friend and I play a "make it/ take it" game in the back yard with the assorted range trash. We also call each others shots. If he calls one and I miss, he has the opportunity to show me how it's done. We also place skeet in the ground 15 yards or so away in rows of three side by side with maybe six inches in between. At the very center is a can or plastic bottle. Standing side by side we do an old west draw and fire. The first to clean their three skeet and nail the can wins. You cannot skip to the can but you may hit the skeet in any order. We have also played "21" by punching the cards to add up to 21.

 

[Robert]

3Gun, Tactical Rifle, Steel Challenge, IPSC. All the gaming I need.

 

[oldbear]

If I’m old fashioned sorry, but I don’t have and shooting GAMES and I don’t believe that firearms of any sort should be considered TOYS. Games are played with toys not deadly weapons. I do though have several drills or training exercises I work on.

 

[TNT in Round Rock]

maybe "game" isn't the best choice of word that some may see but sounds like good challenges

 

[Justin]

If I’m old fashioned sorry, but I don’t have and shooting GAMES and I don’t believe that firearms of any sort should be considered TOYS. Games are played with toys not deadly weapons. I do though have several drills or training exercises I work on.

People play games with extremely high-performance sports cars.
Others play games with sail boats that cost millions of dollars.
Still others play games with high-speed, low-altitude aircraft.
Further, others play games by skydiving.

Plenty of people play games that involve placing life, limb, or extremely expensive property on the line. Simply playing a game does not diminish the fact that you're using a tool capable of lethal force.

If anything, one of the great ways that humans actually learn skills is via testing their abilities in environments in which it is ok to fail, or where one can test the limits of his or her abilities.

In other words, one of the best ways for people to learn is by playing games.

 

[oldbear]

People play games with extremely high-performance sports cars.
Others play games with sail boats that cost millions of dollars.
Still others play games with high-speed, low-altitude aircraft.
Further, others play games by skydiving.

No one who has engaged in any of the above activities more than once reefers to their activities as playing.

Justin, firearms are not TOYS they are dangerous and deadly weapons NOT to be PLAYED with. When you try to justify the mindset that it is OK to play with firearms, you do yourself as well as every responsible firearm owner a disservice.

 

[M2 Carbine]

One thing I came up with lately is to hang five 8x11 inch targets on a string. The targets are free to turn and move in the wind.
The goal is simply to put at least one bullet in every target that faces you.
With a little wind this can become quite a challenge as the targets move and spin at different speeds.
Throw in shooting from different distances and moving while shooting and the game can be quite entertaining.

The only problem I have found is sometimes a lack of enough wind to spin the targets, and the shooting is so much fun I usually end up with a lot of brass to pick up.






Another game friends and I play is, "Save the hostage".
The target is 8x11 inches with about a 2 inch bad guy head.
This is entertaining in that the non shooters are free to criticize the the shooter and the shooter tries to come up with original reasons for missing the bad guy or shooting the hostage.




We also will come up with impromptu contests, like this day I said,
"OK, starting at 10 yards we each get one magazine at each 10 yards, backing up to 50 yards. The target is the 12 inch white square steel plate."
My friends had a lot of fun and it was suprising how well they did their first time shooting at a lttle distance.

 

[Sam1911]

Justin, firearms are not TOYS they are dangerous and deadly weapons NOT to be PLAYED with. When you try to justify the mindset that it is OK to play with firearms, you do yourself as well as every responsible firearm owner a disservice.

Games, drills, contests, sport, competition, play ... whatever. Let's not get wrapped around the axle over terminology.

If anything, one of the great ways that humans actually learn skills is via testing their abilities in environments in which it is ok to fail, or where one can test the limits of his or her abilities.

Exactly. "Play," by whatever name, is how we develop our skills, test the limits of our talents, develop memory and productive habit. "I shoot drills but I'm not playing," makes about as much sense as "I consume food but I'm not eating."

Most gun "playing" I've seen or been part of has followed far stricter safety rules than the less structured "serious" shooting I've witnessed.

No one under any circumstances would say that USPSA, IDPA, Steel Challenge, SASS, IHMSA, 3-gun, trap, skeet, sporting clays, biathlon, CMP, etc. are in any way "doing every responsible firearms owner a disservice." Yet almost all of us participants refer to those activities casually as "gun games."

It's a perfectly acceptable manner of speech. No reason to assume a stilted holier than thou view of your fellow responsible shooters because they accept a figure of speech you haven't adopted.

It's not like they're calling their magazines "clips."

 

[InkEd]

Well said, Justin.

Too many people don't seem to get any joy from shooting anymore. I agree it is important to practice for self-defense BUT plinking with a .22 is just good FUN. You're allowed to have fun with your firearms. People seem to have forgotten it's okay to relax. I don't think the old-timey shooting galleries on boardwalks were designed to provide sniper training for when the cartoon yellow duckies attack! Just sayin.'

 

[hey_poolboy]

We have done all sorts of things over the years. For instance, Saturday we shot clay birds, then pulled out the handguns and started calling our shots cleaning up the "live" ones on the ground. We took turns shooting at the same targets. It was a lot like "PIG" in basketball.

As long as all of the rules of safety are followed I very much enjoy playing games with guns. It is a very good way to challenge one another to become a better marksman.

 

[au01st]

Local range has a decent drop off after the 25 yard mark (and hills at the 50 and 100 yard marks). We'll put 30pack boxes of beer (empty of course and not consuming before/during times when guns are out) about 5 feet in front of the drop off. Turn based game trying to see who can knock the other's box off first (shooting straight: the box in front of me is my opponents, the box in front of him is mine).

We'll also break out the Red Ryder BB guns and the small plastic clay holders and put them at the 25yard mark and see who can knock all the orange off first.

 

[killchain]

I play "betcha."

"Betcha can't shoot the P out of your score keeper target from here."

"Betcha I can!"

...and I did.

 

[gfpd707]

If I’m old fashioned sorry, but I don’t have and shooting GAMES and I don’t believe that firearms of any sort should be considered TOYS. Games are played with toys not deadly weapons. I do though have several drills or training exercises I work on.

I dont hunt and have only one gun for home defense. All my other guns are for fun (a.k.a toys).

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Trap, skeet, sporting clays and five stand are "games" I enjoy playing whenever possible. I've also played IPSC and IHMSA in the past. Plinking with the grandkids and our .22s is another great game.

As long as all the safety rules are observed, I see no problem with playing games with firearms.

 

[Justin]

No one who has engaged in any of the above activities more than once reefers to their activities as playing.

That would come as a surprise to any of the people I've met who engage in such activities.

Ever attend a Poker Run conducted with speedboats or motorcycles? If that isn't a game (albeit one of chance) then I don't know what is.

Ever attended a football game? Far more people are injured every year playing football than are injured participating in every shooting sport combined. Is football no longer a game because there is an element of physical danger inherent to participation?

Justin, firearms are not TOYS they are dangerous and deadly weapons NOT to be PLAYED with. When you try to justify the mindset that it is OK to play with firearms, you do yourself as well as every responsible firearm owner a disservice.

Have I ever, in any of my posts here, or at any time I've handled firearms in real life, made the claim that it was ok to handle weapons frivolously, under any situation, "gamer" or not?

If anything, the gamers I've spent time with are more safety conscious than any other group of gun owners I've ever associated with. If the term gaming implies frivolity or a lack of safety to you, perhaps it's time to consider updating your definition of what gaming can involve.

 

[Art Eatman]

"No one who has engaged in any of the above activities more than once reefers to their activities as playing."

Aw, c'mon. Back before they put the dogleg in the main straight at Road Atlanta, I could hit right at 200 mph before the bridge turn. Generally, before a practice session or a race, I've actually commented, "Well, I guess it's time to go out and play." Hey, life begins at 180!

What's CASS, if not a bunch of folks playing games?

 

[BullfrogKen]

Dueling trees are a fun game.

A race to pop the most balloons first at 500 yards is a fun game.

I've played other assorted "games" in shooting schools.



They all had a purpose behind them, most of which was to induce an element of peer pressure to the challenge.

 

[Jon Coppenbarger]

I always wondered what came first the video game or ipsc? Just kidding!

Never understood the competition thing myself as everything I always have done as always been focused on doing the best I can.

As even in team sports if you do the best you can you help the team. I have seen plenty of folks who just lived to be the best and for individual glory and not for the better of the team.

And as far as who ends up ahead at the end of the day heck I'ved finished about every where in the standings and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose so who cares just do you best.

hey tcm is have our gang shows on tonight. nothing like spanky and the gang!!!!!!!!!

 

[QUICK_DRAW_McGRAW]

poker mainly. me and a buddy with our .22's or mosin's at 100 yards. makes for a fun afternoon when you play with real money.

 

[Calibre44]

One of my clubs annual competitions is both challenging and fun.

A 6 inch paper target is attached to the base of a 2 foot pendulum. The pendulum is held at a 45 degree angle by some wire attached to a 1 inch chalk disk. You use a semi-auto .22 (I use a Ruger 10.22) at 25 yards and have 10 shots only.

First you have to shoot the chalk disk, which releases the swinging pendulum. You then have 15 seconds to use the rest of your ammunition to hit the paper target. Timer starts when you smash the chalk disk.

It puts the onus on you making sure your first shoot hits the chalk disk!

 

[AOK]

Dot torture drill is a great way to train and compete with others. If you google "dot torture drill" it will come up.

 

[skwab]

I understand where oldbear is coming from. Owning, maintaining and becoming proficient with a firearm is a serious endeavor and shouldn't be taken lightly. At the same time, you can be responsible and still have fun. If shooting were a chore, many of us wouldn't be so enthusiastic about it. But it is fun.

Driving is fun, but you have to be responsible or not only will you get hurt but so can others. Scuba diving, skydiving, rock climbing - these are all recreational activities that require tremendous attention to detail and responsibility because if you get your mixes wrong, pack your chute wrong, secure your lines wrong - your dead. But to each is own. I enjoy shooting and coming up with different ways to test my skills, and whether you call them games or drills or whatever, as long as you are responsible with how you do it, it really doesn't matter IMO.

 

[Clifford]

Oldbear, Webster defines a game as...

"A physical or mental competition conducted according to rules with the participants in direct opposition to each other."

I didn't see anything there saying you can't use a gun I shoot weekly steel matches, most of the people out there are just shooting for fun. Even if you are not a competitive shooter playing, these games properly are a good way to home your skills. Try shooting or even just watching a match some time oldbear, it'll put a grin on your face.

 

[CoastieShep]

I like to play "backyard safari" with my pellet rifle. It consists of animal crackers placed in different spots along my shooting lane. Kinda fun.
Also, spelling out words on an old keyboard. Only problem is, can only use each key once, since they totally shatter.
With the .22, I like to see how high I can make the coke can flip in the air.

 

[Dr.Rob]

I taught many a youngster with animal crackers and a BBgun. Fine sport!

As for gun games? IDPA, tactical rifle, rounds of skeet or trap. My brother and I are notoriously competitive when we shoot against each other, we both shoot better.

I've only tried a dueling tree a few times but they were fun. The 'ultimate gun game' looks like some of those 'zombie' shoots out in PA. Or the 'charging buff' stage at a dangerous game clinic.

But I play roller derby for fun, so what do I know?