Good Ideas For Homemade Targets, Tell Us Some Of Your Favorites And Ideas

wolverine350 · January 23, 2007, 01:10 AM

I thought this would be something interesting to start, looking for different ideas for homemade targets and general things to use, spinner targets, spring loaded bounce back targets, target holders anything fun to make an outing enjoyable, I have used different things from tin cans, apples, oranges, lemmons cause there easy to see but only good for one good shot, i think my favorite to see how good ya are are to place popsicle sticks in the ground in various ranges, lined up, staggard, even old shotgun shell casings, shooting them and watch them fly for no telling how far, am gonna make me a pvc rack to put misc, round disc of different sizes on made of metal and hung up by wire so i can watch them swing as i bounce the lead off of them, i like to shoot 22's a lot and always looking for different things to do, what is some of your favorite homemade targets. nothing is to dumb because its all for fun

rantingredneck · January 23, 2007, 01:14 AM

Take a dozen or so 16 or 20 oz. Diet Pepsi bottles (yes the brand matters) and glue or screw lids to a 2x4. If you use screws use some rubber washers. Fill the bottles with water and screw them onto the mounted caps and then invert. Aim for the little round part of the logo. It's impressive when you hit them with .30-06 ballistic tips at 200 yds......lotsa water flying.

You can use 2 liter bottles if you like too.

chris in va · January 23, 2007, 02:35 AM

Bowling pins. Alleys give them away free usually. Drill a hole in the top, swing them from a tree limb.

Tannerite.

1# propane tanks.

Old scuba tanks (empty).

Clays.

Golf balls. Hit them dead center, they fly like Tiger hit them.

PSP · January 23, 2007, 07:24 AM

Nothing exotic, flamable or explosive, but I go to this site for indoor targets that I print off the computer. Maybe you'll see one you like.
http://www.fortliberty.org/military-...-targets.shtml

wolverine350 · January 23, 2007, 11:31 AM

all sounds like cool stuff, always looking for new ideas

macmuffy · January 23, 2007, 11:55 AM

Try vanilla wafers.
Cheap, tasty, and good for the enviroment.

stuckon308 · January 23, 2007, 12:38 PM

I really enjoy filling water/milk jugs, pepsi cans, etc with water and freeze them. Not hard to do in winter here, but even if you have a freezer with a little room you can do it. The jugs dont empty quite as quick with .22's. Shotguns also make nice patterns. High power rifles kind of destroy them quickly though. I blew a 2L Pepsi bottle with a ghetto muzzle loader which was REALLY fun. Random sheet metal is kind of cool too. ust make sure your load will go through them.

TimRB · January 23, 2007, 01:24 PM

"Old scuba tanks (empty)."

I've always wanted to get an old tank that fails hydro, bribe someone to fill it one last time, and take it out to the desert...

Tim

skeeter1 · January 23, 2007, 02:33 PM

I've used all of those "AOL" CDs that just seem to show up in my mailbox. I'm very careful to pick up the remnants.

Another good target is Necco wafers candy. A little on the small side, but at least biodegradable.

deanadell · January 23, 2007, 02:54 PM

My daughter and I have an annual "Easter Egg Shoot" to get rid of all the rest of the dyed eastereggs....after we've had our fill of egg salad samdwiches

mustangdan1963 · January 23, 2007, 03:10 PM

along the same line as the vanilla waffers, I use saltine crackers...hang them from fishng line and hit them as they move in the wind, or just rip a groove in a board and stand them up. they break nicely to show hits, and there is no cleanup afterwards!

brotherwolf · January 23, 2007, 06:43 PM

The ticks off ole Blue are fun.

robc · January 23, 2007, 07:21 PM

We get horse food (oats and molasses) in 50 lb. bags. The picture of the horse on the bag is perfect for 10-25 yd. handgun or any range scoped rifle. It has a somewhat cathartic appeal, given my wifes propensity.

pumpkinheaver · January 23, 2007, 09:29 PM

Charcoal briquettes, eggs and old fruit are some of my favorite plinking targets.

Dilbert · January 23, 2007, 10:40 PM

For close up old brass works nice, farther out shotgun shells, olives, old pumpkins, random chunks of metal, and my personal favorite old cars.

Ausserordeutlich · January 23, 2007, 10:45 PM

Paint balls @ 100 yds.

Jacobie · January 23, 2007, 11:06 PM

Big plastic Santa's, reindeer's and snowmen. Usually a couple bucks after christmas, and fun to shoot at. Always get a few wierd looks at the range, but after the first few rounds to Rudolfhs nose, the looks turn to envy

Alot of looks that say "why didnt i think of that". Obviously not a great idea if there are little ones around

dixierifleman · January 23, 2007, 11:19 PM

charcoal briquettes has already been mentioned.
anything filled with water.
old potatoes.
apples.
eggs.
spraypaint cans.
bottles filled with baking soda and vinegar.
balloons filled with liquids/powders.
CDs.
shotgun shells.
old propane tanks(with a little propane left)
shook up sodas.
old lightbulbs.
beer bottles.
old toys.
tannerite.
golfballs(they fly far if you hit them right)
cigar tubes.

Jseime · January 23, 2007, 11:40 PM

Squash, Zucchini, Pupmkins

Actually pretty much anything from the garden

Pop cans filled with water, old cans of stuff (propane wd-40 whatnot)

Old CDs, old cars

When i bring out the 597 remington at 25 yards i have to shoot hairs off of mosquitoes cuz thats the only thing small enough.

rugerdude · January 23, 2007, 11:43 PM

When I went shooting with one of my friends, we used old shotgun shell that we threw into his pond. They float by themselves until you hit them directly, and because they sink, there's no cleanup.

Oh, and shooting an intact PC monitor with my Lee Enfield and having the entire screen turn to dust sized particles AND having the monitor do a backwards roll because of the impact has got to be my favorite plinking moment.

Also, with rifles chambered in 7.62x39 on up, bricks are fun. .303 will turn them to dust inside of a hundred yards (probably even farther).

towerclimber37 · January 24, 2007, 02:45 AM

usually, I'll dip into the pantry, and find all the cans of stuff that no one will ever eat (those canned beats that have dust on em from 1936)..and take them to the range..not only do they splode, but if its soup then you get a weird gory splatter too! It keeps it fun for the kids and me!

Maser · January 24, 2007, 03:39 AM

You guys know how to make coke bottle bombs? Those are awsome for airgun or rimfire shooting. Not so good for centerfire guns because the muzzle report is louder than the exploding bottle. Another good twist on the coke bottle bomb design is the drano bombs. The the cool thing with that is if you put a lit candle next to it and then shoot the bottle and it explodes, the hydrogen gas that builds up inside the bottle explodes with a good fireball.

Now here is my personal favorite. Be sure to do this in a wide open area where there's nothing flammable nearby. All you need is a large garbare bag. The biggest you can find. And a oxygen and acetelyn tank. Fill the bag with the oxy-acetelyn mix until it looks like a huge balloon. Then get back at least 100 yards (depending on the size of the bag you use). Shoot the bag with a tracer bullet and then check your pants!

The concussion sound is tremendous and the heatwave it makes is very impressive.

Other than those fun devices, I like to shoot my brother's and my old toys and stuffed animals. No, i'm not mean, I don't do it without his consent. He used to be really into that Pokemon stuff and had Pikachu doll. My shotgun made mincemeat of it.

Action figures work good too. Especially the kind with removable limbs. You nail the feet down to a piece of wood and with your rifle you can shoot off indvidual limbs. Water balloons are cool to especially on a hot day. Have a friend throw it in the air and shoot it with a shotgun. It then rains down on you for a quick cooling.

Just experiment with whatever you got laying around the house. And use good judgement especially if you try the first 2 devices I mentioned in this post. Shoot safe and have fun!

*Note to moderators*
If you feel the first two things I mentioned is too dangerous then please edit it out or PM me and i'll edit it myself.

dixierifleman · January 24, 2007, 03:50 AM

yea, i would have mentioned the drano one, but figured it get deleted. so i went with the bakin soda/vinegar one. not flammable, but pretty loud. also, the oxy/acy one... use a garbage bag, then tie a looonnnggg string to it, make a little fire, back up, pull it over the fire and booom. takes away the expense of tracers. also i heard if you shoot it with shotgun itll go off. but never tried it. oxy/acy is too expensive to experiment on.

DesertShooter · January 24, 2007, 10:49 AM

Over-ripe watermelons! Other over-ripe fruits, out-of-date eggs. If you're in a "wilderness" area, no clean-up necessary, and the crawly critters will love you!

Helium-filled balloons for shotgun. Put a small amount of powder (talcum or ?) in the balloon before you inflate for a smoke effect.

Movie posters and/or full-sized printed cardboard cut-outs. Sometimes, the movie theatres will GIVE you their old posters or the cut-outs of actors. I got several full-sized "Crocodile Dundee" cut-outs with Dundee holding a Foster's beer, from a local liquor store. (Funny story: Before shooting Dundee, two of my buddies stood beside the cut-out for a photo. It looked like Dundee was a REAL person in the photo, and someone who wasn't there at the time asked, "How did you get him to go out shooting with you?")

Cardboard boxes or paper bags filled with shredded paper. Blast them enough, and it turns to confetti.

Mild steel plate suspended between trees. I have one that I've used for 10+ years, since it's only for .22's. "GONG!" Just bang out the dents and give it a fresh coat of paint after it has been "splattered" sufficiently.

Cheap 4x4 R/C vehicle. No, not the vehicle! Tie a long piece of string on the rear, then add an empty soda can on the other end. Moving target! When the soda can is full of holes, drive the vehicle back to you for a fresh target. This can also be used with helium-filled balloons that are tethered to the 4x4 vehicle. Just be sure to not hit the tow vehicle!

Rope and pulley: You need a high side and a low side. Attach a fairly long (3') piece of wood onto the pulley, then attach either wood or cardboard targets to the other end of the wood.
On the high end, put an "eye" screw in, thread some string through it, then tie it to the pulley. The string should be long enough to allow the moving target to reach the low end AND to where your shooting position is. Pull the string so that the pulley/target goes to the high end, then let go of the string and allow gravity to send it to the low end. Pull the string to re-set the pulley/target at the high end again. Great for handgun shooting at moving targets, but be sure to have plenty of "safe" shooting space!

rwilson452 · January 24, 2007, 11:03 AM

Using corn starch in a ballon works as well. and it's biodegradable. whereas talic is just ground up rock. I do believe its cheaper too.

Helium-filled balloons for shotgun. Put a small amount of powder (talcum or ?) in the balloon before you inflate for a smoke effect.

January 23, 2007, 01:10 AM	#1
wolverine350 Senior Member Join Date: November 27, 2006 Location: ponca city ok Posts: 746	Good Ideas For Homemade Targets, Tell Us Some Of Your Favorites And Ideas I thought this would be something interesting to start, looking for different ideas for homemade targets and general things to use, spinner targets, spring loaded bounce back targets, target holders anything fun to make an outing enjoyable, I have used different things from tin cans, apples, oranges, lemmons cause there easy to see but only good for one good shot, i think my favorite to see how good ya are are to place popsicle sticks in the ground in various ranges, lined up, staggard, even old shotgun shell casings, shooting them and watch them fly for no telling how far, am gonna make me a pvc rack to put misc, round disc of different sizes on made of metal and hung up by wire so i can watch them swing as i bounce the lead off of them, i like to shoot 22's a lot and always looking for different things to do, what is some of your favorite homemade targets. nothing is to dumb because its all for fun

January 23, 2007, 01:14 AM	#2
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	Take a dozen or so 16 or 20 oz. Diet Pepsi bottles (yes the brand matters) and glue or screw lids to a 2x4. If you use screws use some rubber washers. Fill the bottles with water and screw them onto the mounted caps and then invert. Aim for the little round part of the logo. It's impressive when you hit them with .30-06 ballistic tips at 200 yds......lotsa water flying. You can use 2 liter bottles if you like too. Last edited by rantingredneck; January 24, 2007 at 01:16 PM.

January 23, 2007, 11:55 AM	#6
macmuffy Member Join Date: May 17, 2004 Posts: 66	homemade targets Try vanilla wafers. Cheap, tasty, and good for the enviroment.

January 23, 2007, 07:21 PM	#13
robc Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2007 Location: Minnesota Posts: 422	We get horse food (oats and molasses) in 50 lb. bags. The picture of the horse on the bag is perfect for 10-25 yd. handgun or any range scoped rifle. It has a somewhat cathartic appeal, given my wifes propensity. __________________ "If it bleeds, we can kill it."

January 23, 2007, 09:29 PM	#14
pumpkinheaver Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2006 Location: Missouri Posts: 294	Charcoal briquettes, eggs and old fruit are some of my favorite plinking targets. __________________ Just because your paranoid don't mean they aint out to get ya.

January 23, 2007, 02:35 AM	#3
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 13,806	Bowling pins. Alleys give them away free usually. Drill a hole in the top, swing them from a tree limb. Tannerite. 1# propane tanks. Old scuba tanks (empty). Clays. Golf balls. Hit them dead center, they fly like Tiger hit them.

January 23, 2007, 07:24 AM	#4
PSP Senior Member Join Date: June 2, 2006 Location: Bowling Green Virginia Posts: 4,487	Nothing exotic, flamable or explosive, but I go to this site for indoor targets that I print off the computer. Maybe you'll see one you like. http://www.fortliberty.org/military-...-targets.shtml

January 23, 2007, 11:31 AM	#5
wolverine350 Senior Member Join Date: November 27, 2006 Location: ponca city ok Posts: 746	all sounds like cool stuff, always looking for new ideas

January 23, 2007, 12:38 PM	#7
stuckon308 Member Join Date: January 17, 2007 Location: Backwoods of Manitoba Posts: 86	I really enjoy filling water/milk jugs, pepsi cans, etc with water and freeze them. Not hard to do in winter here, but even if you have a freezer with a little room you can do it. The jugs dont empty quite as quick with .22's. Shotguns also make nice patterns. High power rifles kind of destroy them quickly though. I blew a 2L Pepsi bottle with a ghetto muzzle loader which was REALLY fun. Random sheet metal is kind of cool too. ust make sure your load will go through them.

January 23, 2007, 01:24 PM	#8
TimRB Senior Member Join Date: May 18, 2004 Posts: 1,049	"Old scuba tanks (empty)." I've always wanted to get an old tank that fails hydro, bribe someone to fill it one last time, and take it out to the desert... Tim

January 23, 2007, 02:33 PM	#9
skeeter1 Senior Member Join Date: April 11, 2006 Location: Northeast Ohio Posts: 3,403	I've used all of those "AOL" CDs that just seem to show up in my mailbox. I'm very careful to pick up the remnants. Another good target is Necco wafers candy. A little on the small side, but at least biodegradable.

January 23, 2007, 02:54 PM	#10
deanadell Senior Member Join Date: April 19, 2005 Location: Upstate, South Carolina Posts: 639	My daughter and I have an annual "Easter Egg Shoot" to get rid of all the rest of the dyed eastereggs....after we've had our fill of egg salad samdwiches

January 23, 2007, 03:10 PM	#11
mustangdan1963 Member Join Date: November 7, 2005 Location: missouri Posts: 74	along the same line as the vanilla waffers, I use saltine crackers...hang them from fishng line and hit them as they move in the wind, or just rip a groove in a board and stand them up. they break nicely to show hits, and there is no cleanup afterwards!

January 23, 2007, 06:43 PM	#12
brotherwolf Member Join Date: July 12, 2005 Location: On the Firing Line Posts: 47	The ticks off ole Blue are fun.

January 23, 2007, 10:40 PM	#15
Dilbert Senior Member Join Date: March 17, 2006 Location: DMAFB, AZ Posts: 342	For close up old brass works nice, farther out shotgun shells, olives, old pumpkins, random chunks of metal, and my personal favorite old cars. __________________ Gun Control-gun con·trol n. definition 1. The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker received that fatal bullet wound. 2. The ability to hit what you are aiming at.

January 23, 2007, 10:45 PM	#16
Ausserordeutlich Junior member Join Date: May 27, 2006 Posts: 996	Paint balls @ 100 yds.

January 23, 2007, 11:06 PM	#17
Jacobie Senior Member Join Date: April 5, 2005 Location: Ky Posts: 325	Big plastic Santa's, reindeer's and snowmen. Usually a couple bucks after christmas, and fun to shoot at. Always get a few wierd looks at the range, but after the first few rounds to Rudolfhs nose, the looks turn to envy Alot of looks that say "why didnt i think of that". Obviously not a great idea if there are little ones around

January 23, 2007, 11:19 PM	#18
dixierifleman Junior member Join Date: November 30, 2006 Posts: 355	charcoal briquettes has already been mentioned. anything filled with water. old potatoes. apples. eggs. spraypaint cans. bottles filled with baking soda and vinegar. balloons filled with liquids/powders. CDs. shotgun shells. old propane tanks(with a little propane left) shook up sodas. old lightbulbs. beer bottles. old toys. tannerite. golfballs(they fly far if you hit them right) cigar tubes.

January 23, 2007, 11:40 PM	#19
Jseime Senior Member Join Date: December 31, 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 1,775	Squash, Zucchini, Pupmkins Actually pretty much anything from the garden Pop cans filled with water, old cans of stuff (propane wd-40 whatnot) Old CDs, old cars When i bring out the 597 remington at 25 yards i have to shoot hairs off of mosquitoes cuz thats the only thing small enough. __________________ I love the smell of fresh shotgun in the morning.

January 23, 2007, 11:43 PM	#20
rugerdude Senior Member Join Date: July 6, 2004 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma Posts: 1,443	When I went shooting with one of my friends, we used old shotgun shell that we threw into his pond. They float by themselves until you hit them directly, and because they sink, there's no cleanup. Oh, and shooting an intact PC monitor with my Lee Enfield and having the entire screen turn to dust sized particles AND having the monitor do a backwards roll because of the impact has got to be my favorite plinking moment. Also, with rifles chambered in 7.62x39 on up, bricks are fun. .303 will turn them to dust inside of a hundred yards (probably even farther). __________________ "The SKS is a rifle, made the way they should be, out of a heavy block of crappy commie steel, set in an inletted semi-reshaped 2x4." Not my quote but I agree completely.

January 24, 2007, 02:45 AM	#21
towerclimber37 Member Join Date: January 22, 2007 Location: tn Posts: 25	man.my next trip to the range is going to be FUN!! thanks guys!.. usually, I'll dip into the pantry, and find all the cans of stuff that no one will ever eat (those canned beats that have dust on em from 1936)..and take them to the range..not only do they splode, but if its soup then you get a weird gory splatter too! It keeps it fun for the kids and me!

January 24, 2007, 03:39 AM	#22
Maser Senior Member Join Date: May 21, 2006 Location: Mysterious Cities of Gold Posts: 920	You guys know how to make coke bottle bombs? Those are awsome for airgun or rimfire shooting. Not so good for centerfire guns because the muzzle report is louder than the exploding bottle. Another good twist on the coke bottle bomb design is the drano bombs. The the cool thing with that is if you put a lit candle next to it and then shoot the bottle and it explodes, the hydrogen gas that builds up inside the bottle explodes with a good fireball. Now here is my personal favorite. Be sure to do this in a wide open area where there's nothing flammable nearby. All you need is a large garbare bag. The biggest you can find. And a oxygen and acetelyn tank. Fill the bag with the oxy-acetelyn mix until it looks like a huge balloon. Then get back at least 100 yards (depending on the size of the bag you use). Shoot the bag with a tracer bullet and then check your pants! The concussion sound is tremendous and the heatwave it makes is very impressive. Other than those fun devices, I like to shoot my brother's and my old toys and stuffed animals. No, i'm not mean, I don't do it without his consent. He used to be really into that Pokemon stuff and had Pikachu doll. My shotgun made mincemeat of it. Action figures work good too. Especially the kind with removable limbs. You nail the feet down to a piece of wood and with your rifle you can shoot off indvidual limbs. Water balloons are cool to especially on a hot day. Have a friend throw it in the air and shoot it with a shotgun. It then rains down on you for a quick cooling. Just experiment with whatever you got laying around the house. And use good judgement especially if you try the first 2 devices I mentioned in this post. Shoot safe and have fun! *Note to moderators* If you feel the first two things I mentioned is too dangerous then please edit it out or PM me and i'll edit it myself.

January 24, 2007, 03:50 AM	#23
dixierifleman Junior member Join Date: November 30, 2006 Posts: 355	yea, i would have mentioned the drano one, but figured it get deleted. so i went with the bakin soda/vinegar one. not flammable, but pretty loud. also, the oxy/acy one... use a garbage bag, then tie a looonnnggg string to it, make a little fire, back up, pull it over the fire and booom. takes away the expense of tracers. also i heard if you shoot it with shotgun itll go off. but never tried it. oxy/acy is too expensive to experiment on.

January 24, 2007, 10:49 AM	#24
DesertShooter Member Join Date: September 19, 2006 Posts: 67	Over-ripe watermelons! Other over-ripe fruits, out-of-date eggs. If you're in a "wilderness" area, no clean-up necessary, and the crawly critters will love you! Helium-filled balloons for shotgun. Put a small amount of powder (talcum or ?) in the balloon before you inflate for a smoke effect. Movie posters and/or full-sized printed cardboard cut-outs. Sometimes, the movie theatres will GIVE you their old posters or the cut-outs of actors. I got several full-sized "Crocodile Dundee" cut-outs with Dundee holding a Foster's beer, from a local liquor store. (Funny story: Before shooting Dundee, two of my buddies stood beside the cut-out for a photo. It looked like Dundee was a REAL person in the photo, and someone who wasn't there at the time asked, "How did you get him to go out shooting with you?") Cardboard boxes or paper bags filled with shredded paper. Blast them enough, and it turns to confetti. Mild steel plate suspended between trees. I have one that I've used for 10+ years, since it's only for .22's. "GONG!" Just bang out the dents and give it a fresh coat of paint after it has been "splattered" sufficiently. Cheap 4x4 R/C vehicle. No, not the vehicle! Tie a long piece of string on the rear, then add an empty soda can on the other end. Moving target! When the soda can is full of holes, drive the vehicle back to you for a fresh target. This can also be used with helium-filled balloons that are tethered to the 4x4 vehicle. Just be sure to not hit the tow vehicle! Rope and pulley: You need a high side and a low side. Attach a fairly long (3') piece of wood onto the pulley, then attach either wood or cardboard targets to the other end of the wood. On the high end, put an "eye" screw in, thread some string through it, then tie it to the pulley. The string should be long enough to allow the moving target to reach the low end AND to where your shooting position is. Pull the string so that the pulley/target goes to the high end, then let go of the string and allow gravity to send it to the low end. Pull the string to re-set the pulley/target at the high end again. Great for handgun shooting at moving targets, but be sure to have plenty of "safe" shooting space!

January 24, 2007, 11:03 AM	#25
rwilson452 Senior Member Join Date: June 10, 2004 Location: Tioga co. PA Posts: 2,647	Balloons and such Using corn starch in a ballon works as well. and it's biodegradable. whereas talic is just ground up rock. I do believe its cheaper too. Helium-filled balloons for shotgun. Put a small amount of powder (talcum or ?) in the balloon before you inflate for a smoke effect.