Cheap and Fun Target Ideas

[MrBrian]

So shooting at paper targets gets old pretty fast... and steel targets are fun but expensive... let's hear some inexpensive targets that are fun to shoot...

[Guest Aces&8s]

Paintballs are becoming a favorite target of mine of late... Set them on golf tees in front of a sheet of poster board and you get some pretty cool splatter. I also sometimes tape them to my zombie targets. I have been known to set up the little green army men at 100 yards to shoot with my 17HMR, too...

[Guest xlearguy]

Fill clear empty plastic soft drink containers with water colored with food coloring.

[Guest pfries]

Fill clear empty plastic soft drink containers with water colored with food coloring.

and hang them from tree branches (twine and electrical tape work well)

[bajabuc]

We had a 3" steel disk on a rod and lever deal we made. You're standing on the line loaded...it's your turn. The guy behind the tree pulls a cord. the disk pops up...he counts to three (onetwothree) and lets go of the cord. You have to shoot the disk and knock it down before it falls down. No shot is the same as a miss...one chance. Great fun. 50 yards

Edited June 10, 2011 by bajabuc
measurement.

[ProjectDexter]

I like using target clays. Got a box of 90 for 6 bucks at DICK'S, they're bright orange and when you shoot them they explode into dust. Plus they're biodegradable so you can just leave the pieces where they lie.

[kesava]

Tannerite Exploding Targets Official Website

Pretty cheap when used sparingly.

[bajabuc]

I like using target clays. Got a box of 90 for 6 bucks at DICK'S, they're bright orange and when you shoot them they explode into dust. Plus they're biodegradable so you can just leave the pieces where they lie.

Dicks sells clays? the one in Knoxville has nothing firearm related...I asked the greeter at the door...she said they stopped carrying anything to do with firearms...was I lied to?

[ProjectDexter]

Dicks sells clays? the one in Knoxville has nothing firearm related...I asked the greeter at the door...she said they stopped carrying anything to do with firearms...was I lied to?

The one in Franklin/Brentwood area had shotguns, rifles, and all sorts of ammo last time I was there. So unless they stopped carrying them in the last month or so ...

[Guest drv2fst]

Cans of Sam's cola shaken (not stirred) in July or August really explodes well. You can buy them in bulk pretty cheap. Cleanup sucks though.

Coconuts explode well when you hit them low (below the fluid level). They are also biodegradable.

I kayak around a local golf course and pickup golf balls that fell into the river. Shoot em at 300 yards with a good rifle and scope.

I haven't tried them but someone told me they use raw fresh eggs. Nice splatter, cheap, biodegradable.

[strickj]

I love shooting old tennis balls. They bounce when hit which gives you a random directional moving target. They'll bounce around like a squirrel. Loads of fun with a 22.

balloons strung up with a string in the wind is also fun.

[bigwakes]

Fruit is fun. My wife prefers shooting Mountain Dew in the can.

[Guest BungieCord]

I like European Starlings and English House Sparrows.

[wcsc12]

Dicks sells clays? the one in Knoxville has nothing firearm related...I asked the greeter at the door...she said they stopped carrying anything to do with firearms...was I lied to?

The back section used to be all guns and such for hunting but they moved all of that to the store in Alcoa because of the remodel but that's what I was told about a week after it happened when I went in to look at their selection.

[Guest DELETED]

I like shooting crab apples out of trees with my AR even though it requires a bit of space to do so.

[McAllyn]

Since I have a clay thrower, I always have some pigeons around. I just made a target stand with a line of screws in a board. I hang the pigeons on the screws and go to town with 22s. Works pretty well with a 9 or 40 also, but the board won't last very long shooting centerfire. The zero cleanup part is the greatest thing.

Mac

[Guest m&pc9]

[LazyAce]

You guys are having too much fun. All I can afford is the free bowling pins I get from my sister-in-law`s bowling alley. I hang them in trees and when they are used up I just toss them in the wood stove for fire wood. They will take a lot of hits and keep on swinging.

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

What's that on top of the log?

[bigwakes]

Looks like a Helium tank you buy at Walmart for about $20 bucks. I have one in my garage ready to light it up when I'm not at a proper range.

[dats82]

I think this thread is support for the line about TN being the patron state for shootin' stuff.

The target I enjoy most as of late is a little duelling tree type thing I made. It works fine for .22 fun, but I don't think the metal is hard enough for much else.

I made a swinging plate to use for longer rifle shots, but it turns out, it is not as hard as I thought. It is 1/4 diamond plate, but a .223 goes through it like butter. I have not tried with any other rifles. Maybe it would handle something lower velocity like a 30/30.

[KahrMan]

Some great ideas in thread that I am going to have to try out. Golf balls on tees are always fun.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Eggs are always fun and cheap.

Dolomite

[Oh Shoot]

Here's a different steel .22 thing I'm throwing into a Sportsmans Guide order to try.

Impact - 22 Rolling Steel Target, Shooting Accessories, Brand Not Specified, Impact 22 Impact-22 Rolling Steel Target Shooting at Sportsman's Guide

- OS

[Mike.357]

What's that on top of the log?

freon tank, or whatever they recharge your home AC with. I swipe them from the dump all the time and use them as rifle targets. At 122 yards .22's will penetrate but not exit, .30 cal makes a pretty good mess of them.

I like using leftover food cans filled with water, shoot them from the top down and they are fairly reactive with water coming out the top. Fill up used pop and beer cans with water and the explode on the first hit.

I especially like shooting OS's garbage too.