Fun stuff to shoot at!

[Lisa]

So...what does everyone here shoot at just for fun?

I have shot at rats (it was a date with my hubby, sigh...he is so romantic ;) ), apples (they explode really nice), water jugs and blocks of ice shatter really well and are somewhat impressive.

I am looking for some other ideas. When we are home on the farm we often bring out the air rifles and set things up for the kids to shoot at. Any suggestions?

[mrhnau]

So...what does everyone here shoot at just for fun?

I have shot at rats (it was a date with my hubby, sigh...he is so romantic ;) ), apples (they explode really nice), water jugs and blocks of ice shatter really well and are somewhat impressive.

I am looking for some other ideas. When we are home on the farm we often bring out the air rifles and set things up for the kids to shoot at. Any suggestions?

Aside from the usual jugs and cans, I'm planning on trying an expended can of hair spray next time. I'm curious to see how it explodes :) not done it yet, so I'm not sure how dangerous it would be. I figure you need to keep your distance. Bottles are always nice to see shatter, but lots of pickup afterwords. I'm going to have to try apples. That sounds fun!

[dubljay]

Well one day a friend of mine had some old spray paint cans. We set out an old white sheet set the cans on it and plinked them with .22 hallow points. It was pretty cool. I've got some old phone books that I'm going to use to see how far a bullet (various calibers) will go through them.

Stuffed animals and shotguns... that makes a helluva mess. I was picking up fluff for over an hour.

:mp5::ak47::uzi::shotgun::sig::biggun::shooter:

[HKphooey]

Old stuffed animals. You can find them at tag sales for a quarter. :)

[Grenadier]

Plenty of possibilities.

Cherry Kool-Aid filled balloons: Great effect, and it's environmentally friendly. Don't use sugar if you want to avoid attracting insects.

AOL CD-ROM's: We use them for rifle range fun, but instead of trying to hit the CD (that's too easy), we try to hit the hole.

Self-sealing targets: Just don't use hollowpoints, or you'll really shorten their lifetimes.

[Kensai]

MMA'ists... JOKE! :mp5:

Used to enjoy the shooting range back in my ol' RN days, plus a little bit of towed targets at sea. Used to trail targets from ships, and blow the bejesus out of them with 20 mms, SA-80s, GPMGs. I can honestly say, if you had had a bad day.... Talk about stress relief! Lol...

[Lisa]

Well one day a friend of mine had some old spray paint cans. We set out an old white sheet set the cans on it and plinked them with .22 hallow points. It was pretty cool.

That sounds like lots of fun. You could get canvas and spray them, call them a new form of ballistic art and make millions! :D


I've got some old phone books that I'm going to use to see how far a bullet (various calibers) will go through them.

I have heard of others doing this with wet Phone books. Not too sure why they wet them but it sounds like lots of fun.


Stuffed animals and shotguns... that makes a helluva mess. I was picking up fluff for over an hour.

:mp5::ak47::uzi::shotgun::sig::biggun::shooter:

LOL! My daughter would be devastated to see any stuffed animal blown to pieces but it sounds like a helluva lot of fun! :D

[Lisa]

Plenty of possibilities.

Cherry Kool-Aid filled balloons: Great effect, and it's environmentally friendly. Don't use sugar if you want to avoid attracting insects.

AOL CD-ROM's: We use them for rifle range fun, but instead of trying to hit the CD (that's too easy), we try to hit the hole.

Self-sealing targets: Just don't use hollowpoints, or you'll really shorten their lifetimes.

Awesome ideas! Thanks! :D I will go and buy a big bag of ballons before we head out to the farm for our next visit!

The CDs sound like a good challenge, will have to try that!

[arnisandyz]

I have heard of others doing this with wet Phone books. Not too sure why they wet them but it sounds like lots of fun.


People wet the phone books to try to simulate living tissue (human body is made up of a high % of water) to see how the bullet expands and penatrates. Its not just wetting them, they need to be soaked overnight. Not really a controlled enviornment, but wet is more tissue like than dry.

Sometimes I'll use a phonebook (or thick magazine) behind my target as a backstop when shooting my CO2 airgun in the garage. After a couple hundred rounds you either get a confetti effect for visual confirmation or if the books are wet get a nice "thwack" sound for an audible confirmation.

A "normal" target thats fun is the dueling tree. If you've never shot one, its a vertical post with 4 targets on one side and 4 on the other. When you shoot one it swings over to your shooting buddies side. Winner is the one who ends up with the least amount of targets. Only done it a couple times, but we start from a draw and include several mag reloads. GREAT FUN! Here is one but it has 6 targets (could have sworn ours had 8) http://www.policeone.com/products/press-releases/76746

[MA-Caver]

Ceicei's husband has a side business of repairing/upgrading computers, when the left over parts like motherboards, monitors (lots of fun... but we need to hook-em up to a power source like a portable genny to get that full blown tube effect :D ), and so on.

This is at a shooting range on public lands and things not wholly shot up the first time are usually obliterated by the next visit from other shooting enthusiasts.

[Lisa]

Ceicei's husband has a side business of repairing/upgrading computers, when the left over parts like motherboards, monitors (lots of fun... but we need to hook-em up to a power source like a portable genny to get that full blown tube effect :D ), and so on.

This is at a shooting range on public lands and things not wholly shot up the first time are usually obliterated by the next visit from other shooting enthusiasts.

When my husband was shooting hand gun stuff his club had a "Appliance Night" once a month where members could come and bring old TV's etc. to be destroyed. Never actually attached them to a power source but lots of fun nonetheless! :D

[OUMoose]

When I was shooting, we'd have fun nights which mainly involved 2 activities.

1) Lighting a candle in the trap and shooting it out without hitting the wax with all the lights out.
2) Setting up a normal playing card sideways (edge facing you) and shooting the card in half.

:) I still have one (well, 1/2 of one) of a King of Hearts. :)

[Lisa]

Shooting mainly with air rifles, we have "aspirin" shoots every once in a while to just have some fun. We stick and aspirin on a target with a small piece of sticky tac and shoot it. :) Lots of fun!

[MA-Caver]

Shooting mainly with air rifles, we have "aspirin" shoots every once in a while to just have some fun. We stick and aspirin on a target with a small piece of sticky tac and shoot it. :) Lots of fun!
Ok now take that same asprin and put it about ohh... 500 feet away... on white paper... :D Now go ahead... shoot!

[pstarr]

We used to put hot water and red jell-o in an empty gallon (milk) jug and then chill it - makes a nice splash when you hit it.

[dubljay]

We used to put hot water and red jell-o in an empty gallon (milk) jug and then chill it - makes a nice splash when you hit it.

Hmmm I kinda like this idea... :mp5:

[Jonathan Randall]

So...what does everyone here shoot at just for fun?

I have shot at rats (it was a date with my hubby, sigh...he is so romantic ;) ), apples (they explode really nice), water jugs and blocks of ice shatter really well and are somewhat impressive.

I am looking for some other ideas. When we are home on the farm we often bring out the air rifles and set things up for the kids to shoot at. Any suggestions?

When I used to drink a lot of aluminium canned energy drinks and still had a functional pellet pistol, they were my target of choice. They're extra nice for avoiding ricochets (pellet traps aren't always great, in my experienc). As to real firearms, I don't know enough.

[bw_ryukyukempo]

Most bowling alleys have some old pins they are willing to give away.

Bowling pins are cool reusable targets. They last a long time. With .45, 9mm, .22, bullets don't even come out the backside. Took my buddies SKS to see the first exit wound!

[crushing]

Most bowling alleys have some old pins they are willing to give away.

Bowling pins are cool reusable targets. They last a long time. With .45, 9mm, .22, bullets don't even come out the backside. Took my buddies SKS to see the first exit wound!


My brother also says bowling pins make great targets. Now I know what to get him for his birthday. :)

[Cryozombie]

The local outdoor range has a "plinking pond" We shoot Marshmallows with a .22, if you hit them right they "pop" out of the water and then land back down.

[Carol]

When I used to drink a lot of aluminium canned energy drinks and still had a functional pellet pistol, they were my target of choice. They're extra nice for avoiding ricochets (pellet traps aren't always great, in my experienc). As to real firearms, I don't know enough.

Wasn't that kind of an old west thing as well? Shooting guns at cans? Or was that just in the movies? ;)

[dubljay]

The local outdoor range has a "plinking pond" We shoot Marshmallows with a .22, if you hit them right they "pop" out of the water and then land back down.


The real test of a marksmen would be to hit the marshmallow on the way back down.:snipe:

[Don Roley]

One thing I used to do a long time ago was to take simple air balloons and let them lose upwind. The guy who let them lose (we took turns) was at least 20 yards upwind from the line of shooting and would still run like hell to get behind the rest of us. Once he was there, the rest would let loose on the moving targets.

Another one we did whenever we got an area that was slightly at an angle was to get an old tire, fill the hole in the center with a peice of cardboard with a bullseye painted on it and roll it past the shooters. That actually works best if you have only two people since they can take turns and compare their scores without confusion. When you got a lot of people shooting at the same time, the balloons are better for feedback.

I am thinking of getting some of those standups they sell for targets. There are several availible for Star Wars and are life size. I use air soft now, so they should last for years. I can't seem to find Hillary anymore. But the clone trooper, Boba Fett, Darth Maul and General Grevious should be nice to plant around the yard for multiple person drills.

[arnisandyz]

One thing I used to do a long time ago was to take simple air balloons and let them lose upwind. The guy who let them lose (we took turns) was at least 20 yards upwind from the line of shooting and would still run like hell to get behind the rest of us. Once he was there, the rest would let loose on the moving targets.

Shooting shotguns I hope.

[Kreth]

Wasn't that kind of an old west thing as well? Shooting guns at cans? Or was that just in the movies? ;)
I'm reasonable sure there were no aluminum cans in the Old West... :uhyeah:

[Don Roley]

Shooting shotguns I hope.

No, that was the challenge. You needed a self loader with a full magazine. Targets that small moving unpredictably are really hard to hit. But it is great practice.

I used a Ruger 10/22 and don't want to say how many balloons I usually got before I had to reload.

[Sigung86]

I guess I'm not all that much fun. The vast majority of my shooting is done at human size targets, practicng practical application type shooting like double tap to the torso, followed by one to the head, done from various distances.

For me, my body is the challenge. For instance, at 12 to 20 feet (the range most gunfights appear to occurr in), it is all good. But I seem to have the greatest challenge at 50 - 60 feet with my .357 with the 2 1/2 inch barrel. Then it seems to become a matter of the quality of the training of the human machine and not the Smith and Wesson machine.

Although I am not adverse to shooting can up in the air. :)

[Lisa]

I guess I'm not all that much fun. The vast majority of my shooting is done at human size targets, practicng practical application type shooting like double tap to the torso, followed by one to the head, done from various distances.

For me, my body is the challenge. For instance, at 12 to 20 feet (the range most gunfights appear to occurr in), it is all good. But I seem to have the greatest challenge at 50 - 60 feet with my .357 with the 2 1/2 inch barrel. Then it seems to become a matter of the quality of the training of the human machine and not the Smith and Wesson machine.

Although I am not adverse to shooting can up in the air. :)

I have never tried to shoot cans in the air, it sounds like fun. Just a little worried about embarassing myself with my lack of..uh...precision :D

[William]

Cans, water bottles, deer, etc are all fun. I want to shoot one of thos damn BlackBerries.

[arnisandyz]

For those of you shooting cans in the air with pistols/rifles or balloons floating in the air with a rifle..just remember safety rule #3. Be sure of your target and know what lies behind it. If your shooting projectiles up in the air at an angle how do you know what lies behind it a mile away? Thats why I made the "shotgun" comment.

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