What do you guys shoot at when shooting "just for fun&q

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Biggjimm
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What do you guys shoot at when shooting "just for fun&q

Post by Biggjimm » Mon May 28, 2012 4:09 pm

Nothing is any more fun then shooting some type of reactive target whether it's some kind of spinner or the balls that you throw on the ground & they jump around when you shoot them. When I was a teenager my geepaw would take old shotgun shells & open em up & remove the buckshot & he put a small amount of black powder in them & sealed them back up with candle wax. He had drilled some holes in a 2X4 framed thing he made & stick the modified shot shells snugly in the holes in the 2X4 and we would shoot the primer & have a heck of boom & a big ole puff of smoke from the black powder. I remember shooting those quite alot & it was a blast. Literally. I've got a bud that works at a local fireworks manufacturer & he's gonna get some stuff that has different colored smoke & some type of fireworks pyro effect when we shoot em. See if I can cobble up something for my kids to shoot like I remember doing with my dear ol' G-Paw. Kinda like they have on Top Shot or the Boomershoots I watch on TV. There's a couple yahoos down the road that like to shoot LP gas tanks but that's a little dangerous sounding. The folk down there had to lock up their grill tanks or they would come up missing. I hear shooting oranges with a .22 hollow point is alot of fun as well buy haven't tried it yet. What other kind of fun shooting do you guys do?

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Post by charlesb » Tue May 29, 2012 9:03 am

I think that this is part of the draw in varmint shooting. When a high velocity small-bore projectile hits a varmint, the target is pretty 'reactive', more often than not.

Here we shoot watermelons for fun.

Once we tried a side-by-side watermelon shoot comparison between an H&R Handi-Rifle in .22 Hornet and a Marlin 1895CB in 45-70.

The Hornet literally exploded the watermelon, chunks went everywhere but some of the meat was intact.

The 45-70 just split it the melon in half, lengthways - but when we looked inside, all of the meat inside of the watermelon shell had been reduced to a slurry.

On another occasion, I saw something that is hard to see. After shooting a watermelon with the .243, I saw a pink cloud hovering about a foot above the exploded watermelon - that instantly precipitated into watermelon-juice rain that fell down to the ground in large drops. - All of this happened within the span of a second or less. - I actually saw the "rain" precipitate from a cloud of mist and fall to dry ground in big round drops.

You have to look quick to see things like that. :!:

When I go to the shooting club, I will often find unbroken shotgun clays on the way out to the 100yd. target butts. - I pick them up and line them up on the target stand, and plink at them with a .22 while my high-powered rifle cools down between shots. - I use my Ruger Mk III Hunter model with the 2X scope most often for that and am gratified every time at how well this .22 pistol does at 100 yds on those clays.

I have the pistol precisely sighted in for thirty feet - but strangely enough, no hold-over is required at 100 yards. - It just worked out that way, and I'm not complaining. - Something about the height of the scope above the bore, and the ammo that I am using.

After I bust a clay, then I go after the remaining chunks. It's amazing how much amusement I can get out of a discarded ( missed ) shooting clay.

Now that I have a tack-driver load for my .243, I'm planning on replacing the inexpensive 3-9x40 scope I have on it and buy something with more magnification - Maybe a Nikon Buckmaster 4-12x40. - I've had one of those before and liked it OK.

With the new scope, the plan is to set up and shoot plastic "army men" toys at 100 yds.

I used to do that with a BB gun at more modest ranges, as a child. - I guess that I never really grew up, eh?

I figure that a 99 cent bag full of plastic army men ought to keep me amused with that .243 for as long as my ammo holds out. ( I only load 50 rounds at a time. )

It will be good practice and if it gets to be old-hat, I can always move them out to the 200 yard target butts. - If I can see them to shoot at them.

Another good, cheap reactive target for smallbore and air rifles are the NEKKO candy wafers. - Coin-sized candies that are brittle and blow up when struck.

Returning to my original theme, I have discovered that my .17HMR rifle has no kick to speak of, and that I can watch the bullet strike through the scope with that rifle.

The 17HMR has got to be the ultimate cartridge for observing the hit on a reactive target - or on a varmint for that matter.

As a kid, I took the opposite approach and developed reactive ammunition for my .22 caliber pellet rifle. - I hollowed out the pellets, filled them with powder from a firecracker, then affixed the very center of a cap gun cap onto the flat nose of the pellet. ( Crossman )

The trick is to make the hole through the nose of the pellet ( for ignition ) large enough to pass the primer flame - but not large enough for the powder and primer to be shot out through the nose of the pellet by the pressure from the air-gun.

If I hit a flat, hard surface with one of these, they would pop just about every time.

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Post by blue68f100 » Tue May 29, 2012 2:28 pm

I use the tomatoes and peaches that the birds have gotten into. These are pretty reactive when you hit them. Self decompose so I don't have to clean up. I do use the self healing reactive targets, ball and others. The ball I hang on a string so I don't have to chase it. It's suspended in such if you miss you have NO idea where. I did find that using a dot sight just made it all to easy. But with my center fire and aging eyes (don't see the sights clearly) make it more challenging. Water balloons work pretty good to. The Clay birds are pretty cheap, I just don't like cleaning up behind them.

Of course the Nilla Wafer, and other cookies that work but what a waste for a good cookie......
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Post by bgreenea3 » Tue May 29, 2012 4:13 pm

Tin cans are a hoot, if you hit 'em low they jump up a few feet. if you hit 'em low with a .223 they jump 10-15 feet straight up. :lol:
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Post by Bullseye » Tue May 29, 2012 6:16 pm

Wafer candies are good and challenging targets. Balloons are another good form of challenge especially if they are tied to sticks with string. A little breeze can really increase the scope of the challenge.

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Post by ruger22 » Wed May 30, 2012 11:05 am

Being strictly rimfire, I get pretty good mileage out of golf balls. I'm good at "chasing" them up the hill at my Forest Service range with either my Mark III or Bearcats. I'm amazed at all the balls people leave that only have a nick or two on them. People are pretty lazy anymore, and I've never had to buy any yet.

I also have some of the self healing orange rubber prairie dogs that spin when you hit them. I made two stands for them out of old front riding mower tires. The ground at my range is like cast iron.
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Post by Biggjimm » Wed May 30, 2012 3:40 pm

I just ran across this on Midwayusa
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/228652 ... S015615192
They are exploding targets. It says it takes at least a velocity of 2200fps to detonate them so they aren't for rimfires but it sure sounds like alot of fun.

Ruger22 I was looking thru some old posts last night & I seen your prairie dog stand you made out of the lawn mower tire & that was a good idea. The ground where I shoot is solid clay & sometimes I have to use a hammer to get my target stand in the ground so I might have to cobble something like that up. It looks pretty handy.
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bgreenea3
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Post by bgreenea3 » Wed May 30, 2012 5:47 pm

I love the rubber spinners too, except when someone hits the wire frame and knocks it over! (greener says hitting the wire is more of a challenge than the spinners)
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Post by bearandoldman » Wed May 30, 2012 5:56 pm

bgreenea3 wrote:I love the rubber spinners too, except when someone hits the wire frame and knocks it over! (greener says hitting the wire is more of a challenge than the spinners)
Sounds like the Big Greener
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ruger22
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Post by ruger22 » Thu May 31, 2012 12:57 pm

The lawn mower tire stands only work good for rimfire, too light for centerfire. I still sometimes set a couple of fist size rocks behind the tire. My range has lots of rocks.

Some day I'll stick a good sized bolt or something in the tire to add weight.
* 2 Ruger Bearcat stainless, w/ EWK ejector housings & Wolff springs
* Ruger SP-101 .22LR, w/ Wolff springs
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arizona-hermit
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Post by arizona-hermit » Tue Jun 05, 2012 7:12 pm

I prefer balloons, golf balls, bowling pins, aspirin tablets, clay pigeons... all depends on the distance and preferred stance.

Totally agree that reactive targets are FAR superior to paper for the 'fun' of it.
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Biggjimm
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Post by Biggjimm » Tue Jun 05, 2012 7:28 pm

Hey Arizona-hermit, how well do golf balls hold up to being shot with a .22 pistol. Rifle would probly destroy them I suppose. My daughter sometimes shoots quarters with the 22-45 & it just bends them at about 30 yds. I shot one with my 10-22 (with the same ammo) & it punched a hole clean thru it. I guess I didn't realize the velocity was that much higher from a rifle vs. from a pistol barrel so I won't be shooting these golf balls with the rifle. I'm trying to put together some target scenarios where my daughter could train & hone her skills with out breaking the bank or having to constantly replace target items. She wants to start some competition shooting so I'm trying to come up with some different things for her to shoot so she can practice & keep it interesting at the same time. I thought maybe golf balls suspended by a small length of rope would be good if they hold up at all. Thanks. Biggjimm.
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Post by Bullseye » Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:38 pm

Tennis balls on a string would hold up better as they can absorb many hits with their "self sealing" properties for .22 bullets.

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arizona-hermit
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Post by arizona-hermit » Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:51 am

Golf balls are good actually (tennis balls would be better though).

I can usually get 10-15 hits on a golf ball with a .22

My Mini-14 normally destroyed them in 1 or 2 hits.

I also love shooting hard drive platters if you can get your hands on them. Luckily, I had a near unlimited supply due to my previous occupation.
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Post by Hardball » Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:19 am

22 cases with my Hammerli Air pistol

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