Items for Targets

Back in the '70's when I was in college the local range was a gravel pit/dump. My favorite "target" was a washing machine. .38 special LRN would penetrate the front and stop inside the tub.

We also used pumpkins, coke cans, and since it was a dump LOTS of beer bottles.

When I was in LE, off-duty officers would go to the city dump for "Rat Shoots" (gopher rats).

Whoever got the most was "King Rat" and everyone bought him a beer. Weapons would range from Iver Johnson .22s to my S&W M58 41. mag

I will tell you that shooting a rat running through garbage with a handgun at 25 yards is not easy, but very satisfying when you connect. Excellent practice too!

Steve (ex-King Rat)

On formal ranges that are sensitive about glass or clay targets, we used to take clear plastic soft drink bottles of different sizes, take an eyedropper and drop a drop or two of red or orange food coloring into it, fill it up with water, and shoot at it. Cleanup is the only real issue with most ranges when you do this. These are good pistol targets and are really super for testing the zero of scoped rifles at longer ranges.....a hit on a 16 oz. Aquafina bottle with a pistol at 25 yards or on a two liter coke jug at 200 yards with a rifle are mighty satisfying.

Jer

Favorite thing to do on the way to the club range is stop by roadside produce stands. Often times they will have overage or low priced targets.

Example Potatoes are about the size of a Squirrels body. Spread half a dozen over 100 yards and see how hard it is to hit one at unmeasured distance. Watermelons or Pumpkins for Pistol targets but to be fair I put them at long range.

Boats

AOL CDs.

ROFL!

My Dad is in the scrap metal business, and he gives me lots of spray cans and those small non-refillable propane tanks to shoot up. (you know, the kind used for camping stoves or hand torches) They have to have holes poked in them before the scrap yard will take them, so what better way than to do than then using them for target practice!
They are fun, especially if there's a little something left in them!

Also, I used to work at a floor covering store, and I would bring home all the scrap ceramic floor and wall tile I could to shoot at.
They'll shatter pretty neat when shot; cleanup is a little hard though.

Every once in a while - especially if I'm introducing a friend to shooting and she's hesitant - I buy a case of the cheapest soda I can find. Root beer is the best - the most carbonation. Anyway, the cheap stuff doesn't cost more than 2 bucks for a case, and when you connect it makes quite a show! Shake em up before you set em out, and they blow everywhere.

Never fails to bring me a smile, especially when my friend screams "let me shoot another"!

Sheetrock! Scrap sheetrock is everywhere, it dissolves back to nature, and it's a target that nobody seems to know about. Whenever you hit it you'll see a glorious puff of smoke so it's good at all ranges.

We usually shoot at Neco wafers or saltine crackers @ 100yds.
We use small pieces of clay to hold them up.
The pieces usually either biodegrade down or the birds/critters get them.
I want to try shooting paintballs this year and maybe superglue them to a 2X4.

We shot green apples once, but it was big mess.
Eggs are the same way.
We superglued a string to the top and then them off on the backrest.

golfballs at 20yds are fun. also paintballs are a challenge. for rifle, clay pigeons just laying on side of mound at 100yds do good.

When I was a youngster my Grand Dad would take a 4' piece of 2x4 and drill holes in it then stick in kitchen strike anywhere type matches and have me try to light the match using a bullet. He brought me a 22cal pump action rifle when I was 10 years old. I never lit a match but I sure took off a lot of match heads. i posted this info on another thread a while ago. I think I'll do this with my stepson this spring.