New shooting game in development

[C7AR15]

Hello,

Years ago we used to shoot bowling pins off a table and see who could do it the fastest. But a serious ricochet problem shut that down.
But I always liked it, especially the side by side shoot offs. So now I'm trying to come up with something similar.

So using tennis balls sitting on top of pop cans . You place 5 ball / can onto a table, equally spaced apart. On the buzzer , start shooting, clock stops when all the balls are off the table.
Now you might have to stuff the tennis balls with rags or sand or ? ? So the bullets don't just zip through.

I can't try it here , because I shoot at a gun club . Getting permission from the executive would take forever.....

If one of you could set this up and try it , I would be interested in knowing how it goes.
How long do the tennis balls last ? Did you have to stuff the tennis ball?

Are the pop or beer cans OK acting as a tee ?

What's a good distance to shoot from , so that everyone can enjoy it ?

Do you think club members would like it ?

And finally, was there anything dangerous about this activity?

Thanks in advance for trying!

 

[Bob Wright]

One of my favorite targets years ago was ice cubes made with colored water. Made an impressive display when hit, and no mess to clean up.

Bob Wright

 

[Bob Wright]

Why not just slabs of wood? Pieces of pine 1 x 4, or 1 x 6 with some sort of stand.

And florist's Styrofoam or similar material. But the light weight is a problem and wind will blow it over easily. Maybe impale the foam on a nail or spike.

Water filled drink bottles make impressive targets, too.

And don't forget balloons.

Bob Wright

 

[PushPuller]

I have always used balloons..... Go buy a few thousand orange/yellow or pink balloons, buy several dowel rods 2-5 feet long and stick them in the ground. Then just blow the balloons up and before you completely tie the knot, slip it over the dowel and viola! before I used dowels I use to just staple balloons to a board or some old dead tree trunks.


Me and my buddies like to set two rows of dowels 5 yards apart starting at 5 yards and going to 30 yards. 1 person per row of dowels and a third person to run a timer. First one to shoot all their balloons with the most amount of ammo left in the mag wins the round.


Best part is you can extend those distances for different guns, and if youre by yourself its relatively fun to do untimed and unscored as well. It also allows your body a break from constant shooting in turn maintaining some stamina over the course of a couple hours

 

[buck460XVR]

Having my own shooting range, I've tried lots of different types of shooting games. I don't like those shooting games where you have to go downrange and replace targets or check to see if you hit the ball on top the can or the can holding the ball.(why I enjoy my steel gongs so much) For years we used the bowling pin hanging from a shepherd's hook. Easy to tell if and when it was hit, hardly ever needed resetting and was a moving target after the first hit. Using soft swagged lead or JHPs reduced ricochets to a minimum. Lately, have substituted 12" lenghts of 4X4 or 6X6 scrap painted brightly hanging from the hooks. Don't hold up near as long as bowling pins, but also make the target smaller as the game goes on. Another good target are LaCrosse balls. Hard rubber, almost self sealing. Take a small screw eye and insert and hang it from a hook or target stand. Like the bowling pins or scraps of wood, they are easy to tell when hit and start to swing after the first hit. Give each shooter the same amount of time to see how many hits they can get.

 

[MrBorland]

Couple o' things...

First, it doesn't take much to deflect a bullet, so I wouldn't assume you're immune from ricochets if you switch to tennis (or lacrosse) balls (or frozen ice bottles). The "target" is also close to the table top, so you could ricochet a bullet off the table top as well.

Secondly, I'd be loathed to use anything that leaves stuff behind that needs to be cleaned up. If it gets completely cleaned up each and every time, great, but inevitably, some (or a lot) will get left behind. If it's a public range, it becomes a public range with more trash left behind, and if it's a private range, your matches will get shut down pronto.

One thing you could look into are biodegradable clay pigeons set in target stands. In this case, I'd put a tarp under the stands for easy (and mandatory) cleanup.

Third, as mentioned, re-setting targets really cuts into the "fun" factor and more time is spent resetting targets than is spent shooting.

So using tennis balls sitting on top of pop cans . You place 5 ball / can onto a table, equally spaced apart. On the buzzer , start shooting, clock stops when all the balls are off the table.

And what if the ball(s) leave the table because the can (or the table close to the can) got hit?



In the end, I think good ol' steel plates against a timer are the best alternative to pins. JMO.

 

[RickB]

The tin-can-and-tennis ball deal sounds more appropriate to airsoft.