targets (not paper)

kcub

New member
Well, I suppose you could you could throw the messy perforated food cans into a plastic garbage bag and toss it all into your trunk or the back of your truck and drive home with it only to have the the sharp edges of the bullet holes poke through the bag and leak the mess out...... Or, having forseen that, be tempted to just leave the mess and let wildlife injure their mouthparts on the sharp cans as they try to eat......
Nope, there's nothing good about shooting cans full of expired food.
Water is environmentally neutral, so no harm there.

You need to use 357 mag on up and it cleans them for you too.

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Pathfinder45

New member
The Mount Hood National Forest has several areas that are severely degraded by careless target shooting. Whether we like it or not, even if we disagree, these vandals with firearms represent, or misrepresent, all of us that shoot on public lands. Their bad behavior will cost us more of our freedom as The Forest Service, BLM, and State Foresters will increasingly restrict our access in the interest of protecting the land from those who abuse it. Most of the damage on this forest is done by shooters; criminal shooters, clearly, but shooters none the less. If I were a non-shooter and I saw you shooting up there, l would naturally assume that you are wrecking our forests and need to be stopped, even though you might actually be cleaning up more than you are responsible for. And, concerned citizens, John and Jane Doe, are not likely to go up to some guy shooting up the woods to correct them for their allegedly bad behavior to find out that they might actually be doing some good. If you ask the Forest Service if they mind if you shoot canned food on public land, what do you suppose they will say?
A better use for canned food that is expired but really perfectly good, might be to hand it out your window to that one-legged veteran begging at the off-ramp that he sleeps under. You know, the guy that gave his leg and shell-shocked brain so that you and I can continue to exercise our rights.
We ought to behave in a way that reflects well upon the the right to keep and bear arms. That includes our choices of targets. Tweetybirds, anyone? We need to teach our children and grandchildren better than that.
 

Sevens

New member
Your position and thoughts are duly noted and obviously come from a good place -- but you REALLY seem to be pointing a finger at the handful of people here, and that's ludicrous. The folks here are the most passionate fraction of a percent of shooters in the entire country and it really comes off as if you are ranting to THIS audience.

That's grossly misplaced.

I have never once, in almost 30 years of recreational shooting ever left a single place worse off than I have found it. And frankly, I have never left ANY PLACE worse off than I arrived at it, and this includes any park, playground, forest, hunting grounds, retail store, movie theater, sports arena, restaurant or residence.

So consider the audience a bit when taking such a grand position.
 

smee78

New member
Ya Pathfinder, give it a rest. People can be shooting on their own property and do whatever they want up and including Tannerite. Before you get up on your soap box consider your audience. It sounds like most people here dont even shoot at a National Forrest.


Back to the OP's question, I am a fan of golfballs, I place they on a used shotgun shell and my shooting buddies each take turns teeing off to see who can drive the ball the longest. I also like to use Ritz crackers as mentioned above, makes excellent 100 yrd targets. Clays work good for point & shoot pistol work.
 

Erno86

New member
On windy days...party balloons, tethered to a 4 or 5 foot long string, that is tied to a seven foot long post.

It's usually a study in frustration.:D
 

4runnerman

New member
Awesome post Pathfinder. It is a treat we get ( Free Target ranges). The range I am a Member to lives on Membership only. It would be very benificial to the Members and Non Members to keep it clean. All it takes is one meeting to say- Ya know we spend more Money cleaning the place up then it's worth, lets just shut it down. I see, Tv's, Microwaves,Propane tanks,Computers, ect,ect out at our range.
 

Pathfinder45

New member
I don't really have any objections to tannerite as it leaves little to nothing behind. But it has been recently banned on our National Forest, presumably as a fire risk. I just don't want to see more rules that restrict what little freedoms we have left. I don't mean to point my finger at anyone in particular, but rather, to increase awareness of a bad problem that is increasingly widespread. And I don't claim to be 100% innocent. I'm trying to judge myself in this too. Sometimes it's a bit discouraging to clean up after others at all when the problem is so bad in some places that it seems to make no difference. There are places I used to shoot at that I can no longer use as it becomes guilt-by-association since you can't make a noticeable difference even if you filled your pickup truck full of the debris others have left. I know it's unbelievable if you haven't seen it. But anyone who is familiar with the Memaloose road in the last decade and a half knows exactly what I'm talking about. Now that area is closed to shooting too. Yes, back to the original question: I like fun reactive targets that lend themselves to an easy cleanup. I apologize if I have offended the innocent. If I have provoked thoughtfulness, I hope that's OK.
 

FrankenMauser

New member
Pathfinder, you're preaching to the wrong crowd.
If you want to make a difference, you need to talk to the people that are causing the problem; NOT fellow shooters that are just as angry with the dirt bags that leave trash and destroy public places.


A better use for canned food that is expired but really perfectly good, might be to hand it out your window to that one-legged veteran begging at the off-ramp that he sleeps under. You know, the guy that gave his leg and shell-shocked brain so that you and I can continue to exercise our rights.
A) That's actually illegal in my area, possibly in multiple ways if the circumstances are right.
-1. It's illegal to donate food that's expired, missing the label, visibly damaged, contaminated (say, rodent droppings on the top), or not marked with an expiration date. Too many 'needy' people have gotten sick from other people's "generosity".
-2. We have some anti-vagrancy laws here, due to the ridiculous overabundance of panhandlers that come with living at the confluence of two major regional interstates.
-2.a. Handing anything from a vehicle to a person on the street, sidewalk, embankment, or easement is illegal, except under specific circumstances like paying for event parking before entering a city/county lot, or interacting with LEOs ("license and registration please"...). (Resulting in accidental death of fire-fighters' "Fill the Boot" drives.)
-2.b. Handing anything to anyone actively panhandling is illegal.

B) If you want to help the guy, give him some DECENT food. Not the expired trash that you don't think is fit for your own consumption. Writing your statements intended to belittle the members here under the pretense that they're bad people for not thinking of it, while simultaneously suggesting that we give expired food to a homeless veteran is not just an insult to the metaphorical veteran, but an insult to all veterans, an insult to all homeless people, an insult to all aid associations that deal with helping needy people, and an insult to the entire membership here.
Very much not cool.... :mad:
 

rickyrick

New member
Yes the food was on private property. When I lived on west Texas, anything edible would disappear very quickly. The cans are easy to pick up. Leftover amazon.com boxes are great for picking up range debris.
 

Pathfinder45

New member
There are some good points made here. Especially about not giving junk to those in need. (I haven't been doing that.....) No insults were intended. Real insults are always an intentional thing. I have seen a lot of shot up canned foods and personally didn't much like the results. Airing my objections to it is not the same as blaming anyone here for what I've seen there. Since everyone here behaves responsibly, perhaps my objections aren't needed here. I withdraw my objection and offer my apology for the unintended offences of my comments. I did, however, think it was worth discussing in the context of this forum and that it wasn't way off topic. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.
 

Eazyeach

New member
I don't want to pile on but it stinks when fun threads get derailed by stuffy posts. Someone had a great thread started called "the answer" and it was to show what your answer would be to terrorists and people started posting pics of "freedom dispensers".

Sadly it was closed because the thread turned into "experts" spouting off about other things not at all in the spirit of the OP.

(Kicks soap box over and storms out!)
 

JTMcC

New member
Balloons are our friend.
The kids (and the grown ups???) love to see a balloon pop when the trigger is pressed successfully.
A scrap 2X4, a bag of balloons, a bunch of those little clips they sell at staples (we used to use thumb tacks but some 2X4's are hard).
Gotta have hands on deck to blow them up, but that's never a problem around here.
Balloons let you factor in ability (kids and adults), so vary the range and size as is appropriate. Gratification is instant.
Cheap, fun, reactive. Works for IDPA or USPSA "masters" down to brand new 6 year old kids starting out.
Easy clean up after. Our range is on our property so we don't have restrictions.
We love to shoot balloons.
For hunting season, appropriatly sized balloons at longer ranges, shot from field positions, will learn you a lot : )

If you can place a 2X4 or 2X6 on flat terrain, A number of 2X4 or 2X6 pieces cut to say 4" or 6" tall will flop over when hit. And last thru many hits before being trashable.
Kids (and the adults around here) LOVE to see results of a solid hit.
Easy clean up when the fun is over. Pick the size and range to suite the shooters.
JTMcC
 

rickyrick

New member
The best thing is repurposing things to shoot. Things that would go in the garbage gets sent to the range first then the garbage.

I have no qualms about anyone shooting anything that they can clean up... Ok done with that topic.

One time I bought a product that was pancake batter in a pressurized whipped cream can... It wasn't very edible. It made a fine target when hit with a varmint grenade
 

4runnerman

New member
kcub- They go flying, depending on how you hit them. Like I said in my post. Grab some cheap wood screws, and some fishing line. It's a blast to shoot at 300 yards or more. Up close (100 ) with a 223, The bullet seems to pass right threw them with minimal damage most times, depending on where you hit it. At 300 yards with a 308 and 168 Serria, not much left to find:D
 
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kcub

New member
I could have sworn the guy I know who told me he shot them said they unraveled but he is mainly a 1911 pistol shooter.

What about something real slow in a rifle like 45 Colt? Still goes flying?
 
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