Subversive 4th of July Picnic idea: The return of the shooting gallery.

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That is an awesome idea RUN with it! Make sure though you use pictures of Osama to make sure that everyone realizes you are trying to make America safer. I wish I could do something like this where i live I think you have an excellent idea!
 
I'll admit, my airsoft knowledge is somewhat lacking compared to general gun stuff. But, most spring guns will do. Anything with "hop up" is better than anything that doesn't have it. The guns me and my friends bought were UHC mp5sd3 (I think that's the model it said it was). accurate, high capacity, and fun. The down side is you have to "cock" it everytime you want to fire it, but this will make things easier. These guns work best with the .2g white bb's.

I highly suggest putting up sheets, or other materials to keep stray shots from hurting people, or property. maybe if you put a few easy-ups in line you could get the range 15-30ft (20 being optimum).

As for targets, reactive ones are better, if you cut them out of thin sheet metal they will likely survive long enough to get some use out of them. Also, for your "impact range" hand the sheet in such a way that it will catch all the BB's and have them drop into a 5lb coffee can at the bottom and then re-use them.

Generally, since it's a back yard event, I'm inclined to say don't give away prizes unless you're charging for trigger time. Teach them instead that shooting is it's own reward. Maybe get 1-3 guns, and then maybe do timed competitions, so people can shoot competitively against each other. Maybe make a cheap version of a dualing tree. I think the firearms field has already invented many of the games people will find fun. Try to make these work for you.
 
The down side is you have to "cock" it everytime you want to fire it, but this will make things easier.

See, with inexperienced shooters, this to me is an upside. Just like I should have learned all my bad habits with a bolt action or single shot rather than an autoloader, the "one shot at a time" shoot will not only be safer (after all, it's hard to accidentally cock an airsoft, but easy as pie to accidentally pull a 20g plastic hair trigger) but should encourage better marksmanship, at least IMO.
 
I have found that popping a balloon with a airsoft pistol is hit or miss. Also if your looking for a good gun to use, there is a set up out there that I have seen at GI Joes, Sportsmans and Fred Meyers that is a P99 with a sticky target and a few hundred pellets for $20. I have 2 of these sets and the guns hold up better than any of the cheap Chinese stuff I have ordered online.
 
aweseome

Geek,

Great idea. My dad and I did a similar thing one year at fall fest that our community church sponsored. We used paintball guns, but it worked great. As a safety precauton we made the kids wear eye protection and we fully enclosed our gallery with plastic tarps stretched across a pvc frame. It seems like an enclosure that was 20' long was just about right.

Be ready to be really, really busy. Kids these days are as trigger happy as we were!

Best of luck to you,

RS
 
Suggest you post the 4 rules of gun safety, and also print up a batch with several copies per sheet - cut up and give a cc to each participant & the parent: so introducing an educational component, and helping making guns less "scary".

You could add a suitable message. One might be "You could make a "Stick Gun" and practice these rules." or "If you ever find a gun, don't touch it - tell an adult instead."

C
 
no balloons!

Unless you have compressed air bottle to blow them up, plus you wouldn't believe how EXPENSIVE they get.

I strongly suggest some kind of cheap knock-down targets. Saltines leave a mess, anything reactive is not worth the work of gluing to a stick.

I'd try some cheap plastic figurines from a toy store, and lots of them so you don't have to reset the targets every time. Dinosaurs, toy soldiers, Barney. Or just styrofoam cups. You can stack those.

I'd shoot everyone off a long Walmart plastic folding table and out of a chair. Bring a booster for the kids. No offhand until they have shot a few times.

This is a great idea, by the way. Ought to be done everywhere.
 
I'd use clamps and 1X2 to construct the target array. If you hang a few foil pie-pan gongs that turn in the air they will get some attention. For walls I'd use clamps and clear plastic paint drop cloths. If it's breezy I'd pass and just tape off an area with construction tape and designate a range fan. The less work the better.
 
I just wanted to add a serious post about the power of these plastic pellets. They do hit with enough force to could physical harm. Someone here posted secure them so they cannot be stolen. I say secure them so they cannot be carted off 10 feet and "toyed" with.

My daughter and I fire these in our basement. Even at 35'+ these plastic pellets will dent a cookie sheet, or a steel lunch box. I like to practice with them for Advanced Tactical sessions in my basement. They can cause physical harm. Wearing googles is a must.

Doc2005
 
Doc2005 is right on the money.

I used to do the Mallninja thing and run around the woods/disused nuclear bunkers with cartloads of full-auto electric airsofts shooting at other idiots in paintball masks and goggles and pretty much every time I'd have a few cuts and plenty of little bruises to show for it.

If you get hit -anywhere- there's dense tissue or bone close to the skin (knuckles are the worst and in a close range shootout, I -always- got shot in the hands) at short(ish) range, you get little crescent shaped tears in the skin from the spinning ballshot. They'll usually bleed a fair bit so you can imagine the mess they'll make of an eye or ear canal (and yes, I've been shot in the ears a few times).

Oh and the electric guns and spring guns at short range can and will penetrate those $3 wraparound safety goggles they sell in hardware stores. I found that out the hard way.
 
There is a good thread about airsoft reactive targets on the Brian Enos forum, with some plans and links to other ideas: Airsoft plate racks

Sounds like a great worthwhile project, wish I had events like this here.
 
(Can airsoft pellets pop the average balloon?)
Pretty sure they can't. I only have pistols though, so the velocity is lower.

Keep the targets close... say 20 feet or less
I have noticed with my pistols that the grouping tends to be rather open. I like to keep it within about 15 feet. Also, beyond a certain distance they have pentration problems as well.

A) Has anyone ever run anything like this? What worked, what didn't?
B) For the "plinking" range, the more interesting the stuff to shoot is, the more attention/fun it will draw. Is there a collection of directions on making cheap but interesting active targets that are easy to reset?
C) For the target range, considering most will be n00bs, what's a challenging but appropriate distance and target size?
D) What's the best model airsoft rifle for this purpose?
I would have the targets be on 8.5x11 paper. should work fine. I shoot 20 LB paper from my printer without much problem. One issue is that the the holes are more tears rather than neat clean holes as you get from a traditional bullet or 4.5mm pellet.

I have seen a couple of airsoft specific targets that are pretty cool. There is some variety- including dartboard looking targets, and sticky targets (might be a good idea).

Some of the dedicated airsoft traps on the market use a mesh net to catch the BB's. Maybe you could use a net system of some sort.
 
That reactive target looks like a good idea.

Stock up on eyes and 6mm BB's!
 
Hey geek... fellow geek here... your event sounds like a blast! I hope things go smoothly and everybody has fun.

As regards the folks who "wanted the rootin' tootin' shootin' gallery removed"... just be nice. I hardly need mention it because I'm sure you will. Just because they don't want their kids playing with toy guns doesn't make them bad people or your enemies (I know you were talking tongue in cheek). Lots of Moms don't want their kids to play with toy guns and I can mostly respect that... just be gracious and safe... set a good example! Kindness and forethought opens minds. My parents don't approve of guns and they are WONDERFUL PEOPLE. Maybe one day they'll change their opinions.
 
Don't give out "cheapo" prizes. That just undermines the shooting sports. Give INEXPENSIVE quality prizes. A copy of our Declaration of Independence or Constitution would be nice.

Also, it would be real patriotic of you if you reconsidered you posture about "speaking the truth" take the opportunity to inform people who get to your stand that firearm Ownership is an individual, Constitutional Right in the USA.
 
Lots of Moms don't want their kids to play with toy guns and I can mostly respect that...

I wouldn't let my kids play with toy guns when they were growing up, either. They had plenty of real ones to play with any time they wanted and I had a free minute or day. I bowed to pressure when the squirtgun wars started in the neighborhood. Since it was an outgrowth of the garden hose wars I had started and organized, I felt it was only fair to let the supersoaker predicessors into the game. :D However, they were out only while I or another vetted adult was around. The basic rules were: Don't shoot a suit'n'tie (I worked for IBM at the time:neener:) and no frontal head shots.

Pops
 
Also, it would be real patriotic of you if you reconsidered you posture about "speaking the truth" take the opportunity to inform people who get to your stand that firearm Ownership is an individual, Constitutional Right in the USA.

So, blakenzy, you suggesting I'm truth challenged? :neener:

The direct approach is in the cards, maybe someday, but not this year, which is all about good clean American fun. Of course, if someone asks me directly, I'm going to tell them that it's _their_ choice to have a gun or not, and nobody's business to decide for them.

Relax, pull up a chair, and I'll relay a relevant story.

There's a lot of awful things in this world, and one of them is FGM, female genital mutilation. Basically, the clitoris, which is a significant structure associated with female enjoyment of sex is sliced off under unsanitary conditions. Sometimes it's a right of passage ritual, sometimes it's sprung on surprise. It's primarily practiced in African societies who have that sort of thing as part of their tribal past. Women with intact genitals, fully capable of enjoying sex are not considered marriagable, and therefore effectively sentenced to a life of hardship, deprivation, and social censure, assuming they're not clean thrown out of the village, which could well be a death sentence.

As a husband and father of daughters, the whole thing makes me sick, and I would righteously send to the hospital, in several pieces, anyone who laid hand on anyone I cared about with such intentions. Actually, I would righteously send to the hospital, in several pieces, anyone who laid hands on anyone at all in my presence with those intentions.

Be that as it may.

As you can imagine, several organizations have tried to intervene over the years on this, trying to get people to stop crippling themselves, and they've found that some approaches work better than others.

The approaches that don't work at all are the ones where the westerners show up and directly try to get them to stop, boldly proclaiming the wrongness of their ways.

They're dismissed out of hand.

The approaches that get better traction are the ones where they show up, and spend some time working in the village, not even mentioning FGM for like a year. Instead, they do things like instruct the villagers how to improve their crop yield. During this time, everyone gets to know each other, and some trust is built. More to the point, once the improved harvest comes in, it hammers home that the westerners know what they're talking about, at least on that one point, and this creates some credibility that perhaps they might know things on other topics as well.

So, I'm spending some time wisely, being smart. I'm learning who my potential allies and opponents are, building up some trust and face time with the folks 'round here.

Grandstanding and speechifying feels good, but it's for the choir, not the pagans waiting to be converted. ;)
 
Yep

Keep it fun and safe. Moonbat hippie wannabe pagan tree hugging hypocrite mommie might not get it (if ever), but the kids will. Wow! Guns are fun, and nobody magically died from being in vicinity of such an evil object (not real guns but...).

The next step is a youth 3 position bb gun team.

I remember those full auto bb tommy guns. My favorite thing at the fair. Those old time gallery ranges look like a hoot. Forget bowling.
 
looking at the price of bbs and balloons, those are the least of your worries for expense. Assuming 10 shots, and 10 hits on 5" balloons, the cost of that is 5 cents. I don't know if you charge small fees for this, but for a community size group, it probably won't be a problem and the organizers should have helium bottles on site anyway for balloons.
 
Still pretty good, for $35. They have the occassional fliers, which sadly introduces an element of chance into what should be a game of skill. Using the heavier .2g ammo reduces, but does not eliminate the fliers, and you have to dial in the hop up system. It seems that bb guns are inherently more consistent. Also, the sights aren't _really_ adjustable for windage, which is a shame, because both rifles shoot about 1 click left.
 
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