Evening folks,

I guess i was wondering what more i could do for thrills and enjoyment with my handguns. I am really liking this shooting thing, but to be honest, i get kinda bored shooting at a stationary target. I have tried to convince the ex to spend the day dressed in an orange jumpsuit running thru the woods, but he's not as dumb as i thought he was. The other day there was a Coke can at the base of a hill that i shoot at, since i had just reloaded my revolver, i decided to play kick the can and see if i could get it up and over the hill before i ran out of shots. that was kinda fun. am wondering if anybody else has any games/exercises that they play for a change of pace?

Darned ex's anyway. I do like killing cans and they still can be recycled even with the holes in them.

There are several swinging type targets available that reset when you hit them. If you like hunting handgun hunting can be a thrill. I spent a bunch of years shooting both black bear and deer with one or another brand of 44 mag. Close range deer and bear with even a 357 is surly doable.

There are a bunch of different revolver and pistol competitions that offer a real challenge and it's always more fun shooting against someone.

Perhaps just getting someone out shooting with you so there is some competition would help.

Anyway I hope you find something that's fun it might save that ex.

Hey remmie,

I don't remember if they still make those exploding targets, but if they do, that would be fun shooting something and watch it explode into white powder. Those were alot of fun.

Have you got your brother to show you to reload yet? You need to start reloading. That will keep you busy too.

Later remmie,

Gismo

Tell her to run a zig-zag pattern.

The dangerous game- game is fun and no moving targets. Place targets at 30 20 and 10 yds and give yourself 3 seconds per target starting with the 30 and moving to the 10. Use a 4 inch black square on a 8 X11 paper. It is a charging lion so don't get nervous.

What keeps me interested is simply trying to improve my shooting. The best way to measure improvement is by shooting paper targets and keeping records.


Of course, if you don't think shooting a group .025 better than your previous best is exciting you could try shooting old computer monitors. ;)

i get bored at shooting paper targets too. i try to shoots plastic bottles now and then if i have them. I need to get something else, like one of those resetting metal targets. i do have a .22 spinner target but they're so small.

When I lived is Augusta County, Virginia there was plenty of land and landowners that would allow you to target shoot.
We would take a dozen tire carcasses out with card board inside of them for stapling a target to.
We'd roll the target down a hill and the shooter would try to hit the target. Once all the tires had been rolled we's load them up in a pickup and haul them back up the hill.
When the shooting was over we'd return the tires to the tire dealer for disposal. He was throwing them out so a few holes didn't matter.
Jim

Must be simple minded...target shooting doesn't bore me; I'm not good enough to shoot all 10's and X's.

Do enjoy a good plinking session; see it as a seperate issue from "real" shooting. Certainly is fun, and anything that bounces, jumps, rolls, bobs, falls down, or spins is always entertaining. A pocket full of .22's, some rusty cans, and the land to shoot them on might be the best mental enema...just gets rid of all the stresses and worries of the week.

Wife does Ceramics, and has quite a few molds, so she casts up a number of small animals and such that she doesn't fire, but sets them out in the sun instead. They make great targets with a small cost, and no clean up, as the residue and dust just washes away and back into the ground.

If your getting Bored Remmie, it meens you need more guns. There are Exploding targets, spinning targets, Vermin to dispatch, and always another caliber to do it with. Sounds like your Ex- husband was the Vermin type! :) So stay away from that! I set up targets (cans, plastic bottles, Paper) at different ranges. Makes for a fun day, keep moving the targets. Try a Shoot house or Pin Match for pistol. Pin matches are lots of fun. We had a gal here in NH that would give you a run for your money using a Ruger .22 auto and a laser sight. She could top each one and send them off the table! Most guys used 9mm, They were P.Oed at me for using a .45acp or 10mm. They hated her for beating them.

Get a .22 auto, find a place that has contests, and have fun.
For a $300.00 investment (pistol) you'll spend less than $350.00 a year in good ammo if you shoot weekly. (100 rounds a week)

A Nice .22lr Bolt is also a great Idea! JP

Excellent folks, thanks for the ideas. you are way more creative then i am. i especially loved the tire idea--that was great. i guess number one thing is finding somebody to shoot with. unfortunately, most that i know are anti-gun or terrified of guns. i've tried converting the fearfull--figured i had a better chance at them then the antis. i also called a local gun club and they host competitions that are free and open to the public. now i just have to get good enough! thanks and happy shooting!

Excellent folks, thanks for the ideas. you are way more creative then i am. i especially loved the tire idea--that was great. i guess number one thing is finding somebody to shoot with. unfortunately, most that i know are anti-gun or terrified of guns. i've tried converting the fearfull--figured i had a better chance at them then the antis. i also called a local gun club and they host competitions that are free and open to the public. now i just have to get good enough! thanks and happy shooting!

remmi, maybe we could pair up your ex and my ex and stand back and watch them make each other miserable. At least that would be entertaining. Only problem is mine is probably 50 years older than yours. :D :D

I have done the tire thing myself. Used it to teach an ex girlfriend how to hit a running deer with buckshot. Worked well.

I like mixing up the ranges and the shooting positions. I don't do much handgunning, so primarily my shooting is rifle practice and shotgun practice (I am a hunter). I do enjoy sporting clays with the shotgun.

What keeps me interested is simply trying to improve my shooting. The best way to measure improvement is by shooting paper targets and keeping records.


Of course, if you don't think shooting a group .025 better than your previous best is exciting you could try shooting old computer monitors. ;)

Not that I haven't done it before, but monitors are full of a bunch of nasty crap (a lot of lead) that gets airborne and will probably seep into the soil if you don't clean it up.
Somewhat anticlimactic too, a .22 from a handgun will probably penetrate if you hit it dead on (on an angle, a .22 will ricochet off a computer monitor.)

Shooting a inket printer and managing to hit the steel rod in the center with a rifle on the other hand = really impressive and will send the printer flying.

That all said, killing defective computer parts - especially parts that have been a thorn in your side for a while - can be a very satisfying experience.

i get bored at shooting paper targets too. i try to shoots plastic bottles now and then if i have them. I need to get something else, like one of those resetting metal targets. i do have a .22 spinner target but they're so small.

Fill the bottles (or milk jugs) with water. Freeze overnight if you want and have high powered rifle rounds. BOOM!

Use ice cubes for .22s - best to do this on a hot day, you have to shoot your ice cubes quickly.

Oh, and if you shoot a container of week old wendy's chilli (Dear God, that's still in here?) with birdshot, it will coat everything 20 feet behind it with tiny parts of chilli.

CDs are always fun to shoot, annoying to pick up once they've been shot. I usually have a couple dozen on hand that need killing (computer stuff, drivers, etc)

Hard drives are always impressive, but I'd rather take the magnets out - if you stick one in your pocket, you can hold a magazine "on" your pants instead of inside.

remmi, maybe we could pair up your ex and my ex and stand back and watch them make each other miserable. At least that would be entertaining. Only problem is mine is probably 50 years older than yours. :D :D



LOL!!! True, but 50 years or not it's still probably the best offer he is gonna get! The grass isn't always as green once you get there...

Fill the bottles (or milk jugs) with water. Freeze overnight if you want and have high powered rifle rounds. BOOM!

Use ice cubes for .22s - best to do this on a hot day, you have to shoot your ice cubes quickly.

Oh, and if you shoot a container of week old wendy's chilli (Dear God, that's still in here?) with birdshot, it will coat everything 20 feet behind it with tiny parts of chilli.

CDs are always fun to shoot, annoying to pick up once they've been shot. I usually have a couple dozen on hand that need killing (computer stuff, drivers, etc)

Hard drives are always impressive, but I'd rather take the magnets out - if you stick one in your pocket, you can hold a magazine "on" your pants instead of inside.


No E-waste or CD's... while i am not exactly environmentally PC, i at least know myself well enough to know i am too lazy to find all the parts.

However, the Frozen jugs would be very cool and exploding food would be fun too!!! of course, with the irregularity of my fridge cleaning, it is possible i could drive some animals to extinction! So, if you hear of animals just dropping dead in their tracks in Oregon, I was out blasting leftovers!! Great ideas, thanks!

Gotta be careful on the public range down here in SC. There is a sherrifs deputy and a game warden who routinely stop by and will ticket the snot out of anyone shooting old appliances or bottles or other trash like that. Reason being is most of it won't ever get picked up. This is in the Francis Marion Nat'l Forrest. They will write you for littering and destruction of a natural/protected area or something like that.

Kind of hard nosed, but it does help keep the range clean. Never had that problem myself, I don't go out there anymore anyway since we have a range at the hunt club, but its nice to know that shooters are policing their own and keeping the ranges clean and open for the future.

One thing I would like to get is a resetable target to shoot with a high-power rifle. Makes a satisfying metalic whack when you tag it. Then you don't have to walk 300 yards to pick it up again... although it is good exercise. A mountain bike makes it easier, and allows time for the barrel to cool.

One other thing I used to do when I was a kid (read: about a month ago) and felt like some plinking was to get some older beat up empty shotgun shell hulls and stick them on grass blades. Then, see how far I could get them to fly with 6 .22 bullets from my colt. My other favorite was to clip clothes-pins on the chicken wire we used to have to hold targets up with and have a go at them with the .22 from 100 yards. Pretty sporty to hit a clothes-pin with a .22 at that distance.

If your shooting where there is zero danger of fire and really want an impressive target try a gallon milk jug full of Kerosene. Set it out 50 yards or more with a lit birthday candle placed next to it. Slam a .223, .308, or .30-06 into it and you'll get a fireball you can feel the heat from 50 yards away. As I said make sure there is no danger of fire. Use Kerosene instead of Gasoline because gas will eat thru some of these cheap plastic milk containers. It is also less volitile. The bulk of the fuel will be blasted into a mist that ignites instantly, and burns in a big rising fireball. The results are very similar to the Napthalene bombs used in the movie industry. Bill T.

Guess all this would be fun on a private range.

Come to our local range with this stuff and you'll promptly be escorted off and asked not to return.

Go to your local sporting goods store for a box of paintballs. The kind used in the paintbal games. A large piece of cardboard and a hot melt glue gun and you can make up a large grid of paintballs as targets that doo react to being hit. You can be the next Jackson Pollack. :)

I still like hanging up a hockey puck with two screw eyes in the edge so it hangs like a gong. At 100 yards they arent easy to hit and they take a lot of hits. 30-06 looks like a pencil lead sized hole going in and about 1/2 inch coming out. If you dont put up a board backer, they spin like a spinner and are a lot harder to shoot quickly. From there you can try clipping the string at the screw eye and then chase it around the range with each shot. One hockey puck can last a loooooonng time even with a lot of hits.

http://vehiclehitech.com/pictures/Frustration.jpg

;)


edit: .45 and a .22. I've been meaning to shoot a powered on laptop one day and video tape it...

A buddy of mine took this laptop into work and brought it to his IT guy who got a real kick out of it. I think it is still hanging up in their room ;

If you do this, pull out the battery first, if you hit a lithium cell, you can get a rather spectacular effect involving fire (and I'd imagine it isn't too great to breath the gasses in).

Oh, plinking empty CO2 or NO cartridges with a .22 is fun too. Plant them in the ground and if you hit them dead on, they fly up about 20 feet in the air.
If you shoot full CO2 cartridges, they explode quite well, although you'll need a rifle with some of the hotter .22 ammo, otherwise you'll just dent it. I got 200 CO2 cartridges for $20 once and had a lot of fun with them.

Never tried shooting full nitrous cartridges, but I imagine that they would react the same way.

this would be a lot of fun with .17hmr too.

GI shooting a hp printer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dodPR7h_ytI