What "fun" targets are your fav's

Rocks. Not the safest, but never suffered and incident in 50 years.

We used to have matches with a baffle box on a post behind the firing line. You started with the gun primed and loaded. You then dropped a ball into the top of the box and had to cock, aim and shoot before the ball made it through the box and rang a bell. Also, we used to shoot golf balls stapled to strings at 25 yds. Those suckers would fly when you hit them!

Lippy984 said:

I’m another one that loves saving my gallon milk jugs with water. I just let ‘em pile up outside, and if they freeze, they freeze.
Steel plates are also a must. I have half a dozen of assorted sizes.

But one other fun thing to try when you have some friends around, are soda bottles (half filled with water/soda) and pressurized. Makes a big BOOM in quiet woods. They work. I have a different brand off eBay, but here is a link to one if anyone is interested. If you dig around, you can find them for A LOT cheaper
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1544832632...Lp1X_plQmW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Click to expand...

Yeah, those things are a ton of fun, and LOUD! Always get a bit nervous when that pressure getus up around 100psi in those soda bottles but any less and you don't get the bang!

My favourite FUN target is a piece of paper with a solid black spot in the centre.

We've got lots of lava rocks around here. A 54 round ball breaks them real pretty. A 425 grain conical makes lava dust! You guys are very creative. Gave me some great ideas. Can't wait till spring. I'll be out in the snow, all your fault!

I think I screwed this post up. Anyhow, it is supposed to go with the photo of a guy shooting a ml. The photo might be here or else this turned into 2 posts. Oh well.
Hope you will enjoy hearing about the 2022 Fall Hunt sponsered by a local ml club. One member made 20 of these phywood targets. Cut to shape of a big game animal then painted. The bulls have antlers. The kill zone on each critter is a hinged metal plate that swngs and dings when hit. Get a hit, get your card punched. Bonus pts for period correct clothing.
Targets included: bear, caribou, deer, moose, mt goat, elk, mt sheep, antelope, buffalo. They were set up at various distances out to about 100 yards. Off hand shooting only. No shooting sticks, no rests.
One member is a rancher; he donated the use of a coulee on his place to set up the shoot. Stroll up or down the coulee for a quarter of a mile and shoot from the designated stations.
The Falll Hunts were followed awards for the top shooters and a potluck.
If you enlarge the photo, you'll see a 2nd target at the base of the spruce just above the muzzle of the rifle.
I was able to make 2 of the 3 Fall Hunts held in 2022. It gave me confidence to hunt with ml for the first time, and was able to drop a muley buck with a rest at 90 yards. Hope this provides other clubs with ideas for setting up for a hoot of a shoot.

SOLANCO said:

This thread brought back an old memory. There was a pin ball arcade I passed on my way home from school. At the rear was a shooting gallery with all sorts of targets. Many of them moving. There were several .22 unmentionable pump rifles chained to a counter. You paid and the attendant would load your rifle from a brass tube of .22 shorts. The rifles were old and rickety, but both front and rear sights were on the barrel so as long as I held the rifle stable it didn't matter.
I concentrated on moving ducks and moving "clay" pipes. Very rarely missed. In hindsight I wonder if the attendant wasn't taking bets on me.
This place was on Market Street in downtown Philadelphia and is, of course, long gone. I wonder if there are shooting galleries like that anywhere these days.

Click to expand...

Indiana Beach amusement park North of me still has a shooting gallery. Although it‘s been converted to light guns. Still fun, and has some interesting targets.

I got a lot of cases of old skunky beer from a friend. They really explode when a 50 hits 'em! Sometimes I'll put a whole six pack out and see how many will explode from hitting one or two cans.

This is a target I built for our club. Not shown is a steel plate in the mouth opening. The target is attached to a cable and rolls about 80 yards down the mountain directly toward the shooter. The shooter starts with his gun on a rack next to him. When he says go, the target is released and he must hit the steel plate before the target gets to a stop aproximately 25 yards away. It is the first part of a Hugh Glass event. The event is timed and involves the charging bear, hawk throw, knife throw, trap setting and ends when the contestant gets flame with filnt and steel. The score is based on target hits with a tie breaker being the fastest time. Lots of fun!

I have more than a few JC steel targets, he made this one a few years ago.

I shot it last weekend @130 yards with my .50 cal. JBMR. Hard not having anything to hold the sights on since you’re aiming over the top of his head.

First shot to his mouth, second shot went into his beard. Yes that’s Osama bin Laden.

Kind I can eat.

Another favorite of mine when I want to shoot paper is to use a fluorescent green (or orange) painted aluminum pie plate covering the black bullseye. Much easier to see and I get an extra "jolly" from poking a hole in metal.

All you steel guys are lucky. Our range does not allow ANY steel targets. We do have bowling pins on ropes at 25 & 50 yards tho

I apologize ahead of time as I don't have a schematic on this idea but its pretty basic.. This target setup is a combination between whack a mole and shooting an image of Osama bin Laden..
This is a shoot for a minimum of 2 shooters....
Construct a 2 pulley system that can be controlled from the firing line.. (Requires 50 yards of rope or non elastic cord) .. you set pulleys up on a board with a lollypop target with a wooden rod and configure so when you pull the cord, the second pulley lifts the rod up. When you releasee the rope, the rod and target go down .. Simple.
You protect the pulleys and lollypop behind some sandbags and when you pull the cord the only thing that is presented to the shooter is a cardboard disc with an image of Bin Laden on it (or fill in whatever nefarious rascal you want)... That rises above the sandbags like he's takin a look.
Now comes the challenge.. Shooter takes the line with a loaded and primed rifle. The man on the rope has 5 playing cards .. A 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.. He shuffles them and lays em out so the shooter does not know in what order they are. Each number represents the number of seconds that Bin Laden is peeking over the bags.. Then he takes cover as rope guy releases pressure.
Now shooter doesn't know how long he really has to aim and shoot. If he takes to long and Bin Laden takes a duck, he looses a shot in penalty. Score a hit if you hit the varmint and a miss if you miss. Depending on who or what you are shooting at this has lots of potential for some good fun.. Similar target was seen earlier with a turkey and it gave me this idea.
Also,, any number of variations can spin off of this.

At 130 yards…

Necco wafers!

Silent version of the rattle trap….
It takes about 2 seconds for the ball too hit the bucket..
Target is up the hill 40 yards or so.,
Bear shaped plate.


It’s 2’ tall or so, but you better be quick!

The fella that runs our turkey shoot, puts a turkey target on top of a remote controlled truck. Up to him how it moves about. Neeat challenge. We keep it close so noone hits the truck. So far so good.

Most any reactive target: gong, cans, clays, etc.