Novel Target ideas...

[Rob Pincus]

I was chatting with someone today about differnet target ideas and wondered what you guys might use (no this is not a contest entry...

)

anyway, I like ot use business cards for point shooting. stapel a few up on some ply wood and have at it, from 3' to 30 yards.
you can go to almost any print shop and get boxes full of cards with mistakes on them that were undeliverable.. or if you're like me you have boxes from short lived careers lying around... hehe.

Anyway, this works even better if you use a few different colors and have a buddy call out diffenet colors, you draw and fire on the indicated target (s). (BTW- don;t try this your first time to the range please.. drawing and firing should only be attempted by properly trained shooters...end of disclaimer)

What do you guys shoot at besides the normal paper plates, bowling pins, etc. ??

 

[jwong]

Sometimes when I go to an indoor range, I bring along construction paper and just draw my own targets on it to shoot... Usually just a simple "x"... Fast, easy and cheap...

 

[ShadedDude]

we sometimes put clay pidgions on the back berm at our range and shoot at them. Also burnt out circuler saw blades. And ocasionaly we try to find large bugs, like crickets, put the scope on max power and see if we can get them Anything to stay away from reguler paper targets! =D

 

[JBP]

I have a pack of poker targets. Has faces of all 52 cards. Get competition going between friend and myself. Five shots; high hand wins.

 

[Kodiac]

Fruit and Veggies... Around the end of summer my wife has so much freakin Zuccini it makes me choke. I find that I'ld rather drill those things than have another loaf of Zuccinin bread... She's like Bubba Gump of the Ziccini world "Boiled Zuccini, Broiled, Zuccini, Fryed zuccini, Zuccini sandwiches, Zuccini salad, stuffed zuccini, BBQ'd Zuccini, Zuccini cake, Zuccini... TWO DAYS LATER... Zuccini casarole, Zuccini ah'la'mode... Well I gues thats its."

I just have to shoot the dang stuff - either that or climb a bell tower...

 

[Rich Lucibella]

Well, I hate to get dirty, but it's been said that "All is fair in Love and War"....certainly HCI believes in this philosophy. If you believe we're in a war to protect our right to a peaceful and polite society, you might consider ordering some paperwork from http://www.handguncontrol.org/about-main.htm .

It doesn't make the perfect target unless you stencil a pattern on it, but you can always use it for a backing to business cards, playing cards, zucchini and the like. Unfortunately, it costs HCI money....hmmm.
Rich

 

[Orion]

AOL cds work great. I've accumulated a bunch from my mail alone. They really light up when the sun hits them. They are also very aerodymanic when placed in hand-held clay pigeon thrower. Mossberg munchies! 8^)

 

[Rob Pincus]

JBP-
I used to go to a range a lot in GA where they had a weekly competition with those poker targets. Some of those guys REALLY got into it, I think they were wagering and everything!

Kodiac, you reminded me of one of my favorite annual traditions. The first week of November "Pumpkin Shoot". I can usually FILL the bed of my full size Pickup with pumpkins for about $50 a day or two after Halloween. Add friends and ammunition and you got an instant party!

 

[fal308]

When I was younger and could see I used to use shotgun shells at about 50 yds. Used to aim at the glare from the sun shining on the brass.

 

[Kodiac]

Yeah, those red casees shot shells make good targets.
Any one try those exploding targets you see advertised in catalogs? Those look fun... but are they worth it?

 

[Rob Pincus]

Is there a reason that "shotgun shells" and "exploding targets" were in a post together?

(insert standard -don't do this- disclaimer here)

I've shot at the primers of Shotgun shells pushed into plywood with .22's before. Not very exciting. those other exploding targets are cool for kids and real newbies, but I kinda think they are over priced for what you get.
Personally, I'd rather pay about 18 cents a piece for those no-name-citrus-tingle sodas at a big supermarket and shoot them.

 

[Donna]

Kodiac,
Your hatred of Zuccini is pretty damn funny, I think after all that zuccini I'd shoot the damn things too.

I have to second Rob on the cans of soda, I shot at those at a Ladies Pistol Charity classic and boy were they fun, talk about a reactive target. I love how the soda hoses out of the bullet hole and I also like the sound it makes.

 

[Kodiac]

Empty shot shell hulls Rob, my friend, empty. They react well to hits... When stood on end, upside down. There is no reason to shoot live ammunition.
But those exploding targets look like they would be a lot of fun - If the exploded nicely and remained safe.


Soda can are fantastic targets even for little 22s. When hit with .223 they just about evaporate... big mist of carbonated spray... wonderful reaction... could exploding targets be more fun?

 

[ShadedDude]

ok...I have to admit...one time I shot a soda can at point blank with a 12 guage shotgun.

Talk about vaporizing.

Also used a broken lawn mower once.
yeah I know....(disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer)

but it was fun! =)

 

[Mikie]

I bought a cast iron, reactive target(moves when you hit it with a round) for my 22 rifle. It has 3 sizes of round targets that hang from the cross bar and if you hit one, it spins around. You're supposed to use lead only so even though they make similar targets for larger calibers you shouldn't shoot jacketed bullets at it.

 

[Nestor Rivera]

Somo of the guys I know tried this and I am going to have to try it some time. OLD hard Disk Drives and Floppy Disks. Afterword you can tag it Infected wiht Stoned 9mm Virus and take it to the office.

 

[Plainsman]

I can't believe no one said anything about WATER FILLED JUGS!! I know it's not as much fun as pop cans but WOW, DO THEY BLOW UP WHEN HIT BY A 230 gr. HOLLOWPOINT! I save two and three liter pop bottles, 1 gallon milk jugs, juice jugs, and plastic liquor bottles. I fill them about once a month with water and load them in the truck and head for the range.

A friend that used to shoot on a military handgun team was shooting at the CAPS at 20 yds...You should have seen those JUGS BLOW! One even sent a cap that he centered right back at him! I also hear colored water has a better effect!

Old toy soldiers and animal crackers or any kind of crackers are neat too! Especially if you take a kid shooting!

Not to mention, the old stand by of empty pop cans and see if you can make them flip into the air!!
Enuf of my babbling...sorry it got so long!
Plainsman

 

[ShadedDude]

Ok....I'm caught...the last post makes me have to come out in the open....but remember.....DO NOT TRY THIS!

We filled a 2 ltr bottle with gas once...yep...like in a car...put a candle on top of the closed bottle...zip a 230 grain .45 bullet into it...instant fire ball.

There is no doubt that you have hit your target...best done at long range when sober.

 

[Rob Pincus]

WEll, if we if we are going to start talking about silly things to do.....
nahh.. let's wait until we are in person. No offense SD, but there are people out there who don't need to be given any ideas, once those banners start getting out in to the public and un-enlightened masseses

invade our group of intelligent, well versed firearms elite, we may meet some of them. We don't need Johnny's mommy on TV saying "Some guy named Rob told my son it was "cool" to shoot at 12 gram co2 cartridges with an AR from about 50-75 yards and he did, so then a fragment came all the way back into my little Johnny's eye socket and now he's dead, so please take away everyone's computers and their guns!!"
(Just MHO.... and yes, it is "cool")

 

[Spectre]

Heck, yeah. Let's get together, SD. I think I have about 50 or 60 gallon water jugs...