Homemade Target Options?

[arcticap]

I was at the Target department store the other day and I found a batch of florescent orange posterboard on the clearance rack for 18 cents a sheet. I'll probably end up cutting some circles out of them of various sizes to help make more visible targets. I usually apply them to the center of paper plates so that I can more easily see where I'm hitting since bullet holes have a tendancy to disappear without using optics when fired in to black targets. Last time out, I used a glue gun and applied some clay pigeons to cereal box paperboard before going to the range. I just stapled them up and enjoyed somewhat of a reactive target. Some of the pieces stayed glued to the board but none too big. There are also mini-clays manufactured as well but those are much harder not only to find but to hit. This one particular range doesn't allow steel targets which I prefer, but they do allow bowling pins which are also fun to shoot off of the available wire tripod stands. Sometimes people set them up with a rope hanging from 2 corners of a target frame so that they swing when hit. I have plenty of different factory targets but for some reason I just like shooting at the old paper plates for both economy and convenience. What kind of targets do you usually shoot at and does anybody have any other ideas for targets that they might like to share? :hatsoff:

 

[jtmattison]

I print targets from[url] targetz.com[/url]. They have black and white and different color targets also.

Happy shooting,

Huntin

 

[roundball]

Paper Plates......

I also use paper plates a lot...another alternative for "aim point stickers" is to stop by an office supply store and get rolls of colored stickers, smiley face stickers, whatever the cheapest is.

Another alternative is to make a simple cardboard template with a hole cut in it (1", 2", 3", etc)...spread out a bunch of paper plates, then one after the other lay the template over a plate, blast the hole with a shot of orange spray paint, move to the next plate, etc.

And if the edges of the aim point don't have to be perfect, just blast a shot of orange paint in the middle of the plates without a template at all.

 

[AZ-Robert]

The local public range has target stands and sells reasonably priced targets - the traditional scoring ring bull's eyes. But when the range gets crowded there are times when there are not enough stands to go around.

I have my own stand on which I most often staple up plain white paper plates. If I need an aimpoint for some reason, I use a felt marker to put a 1" black dot on the plate. Thanks to links provided by users of the forum, I think I'll start printing off and using the triangle targets when I get around to fine tuning my sights.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I shoot a variety of homemade & downloaded targets. It's not good for a hunter to get too used to a single aiming routine. Critters ain't got rings or dots where you need them. I like black diamonds with white centers, sometimes white crosses on a dark background (made from self-stick address labels & file folders). The good old 3 x 5 card on a dark background is pretty good, too.

Clay pigeons on a dirt bank are loads of fun. As are soup cans (remember to police your trash).

 

[musketman]

I get big cardboard boxes and make life-size cut-outs of critters to shoot...

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I go for walks in the desert and slay (well, I shoot at them, miss a lot also) all leering rocks I chance upon.

 

Shame they don't allow steel targets. Once my rifle(s) are sighted in I usually shoot steel targets I've made. Doesn't take much to scrounge some 1/2-3/4 steel from a junk yard and cut out reasonable representations of different game animals. Of course it does help to have a welder and a torch or access to one. I'm gonna check that "print yer own" site....

Vic

 

[roundball]

That's what I use for 75% of my weekend practice...3/4" x 6" (and a 1.75") round steel plate hanging down like an upside down lolli-pop on a cross bar that slides through the A-frame ends...love an action target that moves and makes sound at the same time...spray a fresh coat of black paint on it for the next trip...lasts for years

 

[Maynerd62411]

I work in a factory machine shop. I buy scrap steel for 6 cents a pound. I have a 1/4" plate that's 2' X 3' . I bolted steel straps for supports . It folds flat and stands solid. I use duct tape to put targets on it. Works great. :front:

 

[Deadeye]

I have lots of steel targets but like Tanstaafl there's thousands of acres of hills and valleys here that have dark brown rocks from the size of your fist to the size of your house that show a silver grey spot when shot. You can stand in one place and shoot groups on rocks from up close to as far as you can see. It's great!

 

[flashpanner]

Potatoes, tomatoes, onions, fruit. (have a garden with "extra" produce.) They explode nicely! Makes mashed pototes, hashed browns, tomatoe sauce, miced onions, and fruit smoothees instantly! A real time saver for food prep! They are also bio-degradeable.
There always seems to be unuseable food stuffs around the house once in awhil, or dumpster dive. Some grocery stores might even have some spoiled "targets" in the stock room that they will part with, just ask.

 

[musketman]

There was a farmer in my home town that grew zucchini for the sole purpose of shooting...

He sponsored the annual Zucch Shoot, 13 years running now...

 

[arcticap]

How about shooting for the doughnut "hole" without touching any inside edge? (Or maybe I can just try some cheap smallish balloons!) ::

 

[Gary]

Those plastic (looks like corrugated cardboard) poster signs that are left over from elections are a good source for backing or building targets. When they're done, stuff them where they should have gone in the first place - the trash.

 

EMPTY 20lb LP tanks make great clangers. You can hang them up on a chain or leave them on the ground. the warp just enough to slow a ball so that it drops (usually) within a yard or two so you can do some recycling.

Also, old air compressor tanks are great--about the size of a deer torso.

 

For paper targets, I prefer a "V" shape so I can aim small at the point. Can make them with a piece of white printer paper and black electrical tape.

Friend of mine mounted a plate on a fence post with a 2 inch hole cut in it and a flapper hanging behind on a hinge. Painted the plate white and the flapper black. Hit the flapper and it clatters nicely. Perfect little target for 22 and small bore BP rifles.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to roam and shoot, using a hay bale on a couple of saw horses works good to approximate an animal. Put a piece of cardboard on the back side under the bale wire to mark the shots so your eye won't be drawn to an aiming point.

 

[sherpadoug]

For our Revwar reenacting group live fire I printed some targets from downloaded drawings of Redcoats. One of our members, a long time member of the Army National Guard, said he had never fired at a target with a face before!

 

[flashpanner]

how about old campaign posters of potiticians? Use Bill Clinton(his book is good to use too "My Lie"), Hillary Clinton, Diane Fienstien, Osama bin laden, Ted Kennedy, or any other anti-gun, liberal, anti-family, pro government icon will work.

 

[musketman]

For our Revwar reenacting group live fire I printed some targets from downloaded drawings of Redcoats. One of our members, a long time member of the Army National Guard, said he had never fired at a target with a face before!

Sherpa Doug, Shame your Revwar reenacting group can't get some old crash test dummies or store mannequins and dress them up in red coats and stand them in ranks... :hmm:

Or could they? :hmm: :thumbsup: